aless02

I'm starting this thread as we keep having various questions about the style and etiquette of looking for a job in the US.

Current conundrum: DH has no idea what to put in for "salary expectation". We have a very vague, ballpark idea from Glassdoor what people in his position could make, but there's actually a huge range and we're unsure of how his experience 'rates' among his colleagues.

Is it better to go in high? Go in low? Make up a number but be honest and say that he really hasn't a clue? We need, obviously, to get every penny possible but don't want to scare any prospective employers away either.

SIL and BIL are no help as they've been in their jobs for 10+ years and don't know what the 'done' thing is anymore!

Better to quote an hourly rate or yearly?

tom169

I guess it depends on how in-demand your career is. Are you expecting to be competing against many people for each vacancy?

If you're wanting a salary position then you'll give them a yearly figure after you know how many hours that would be.

GeneralPowerpoint

If I've learned anything from job hunting in the states it's to go in high and big yourself up.

I rewrote my CV completely to Americanise it.

No time for British self-deprecation here. In the UK we've constructed some elaborate conversational rules to allow you to say "this was my idea and it was successful" without really having to say it.

Over here if you don't say it was your idea and it was successful they'll assume you had nothing to do with it.

aless02

We don't really know, that's the hard part! One company did mention that they had not received many qualified, experienced candidates. I guess I was wondering if there's a general etiquette or unspoken rules about how to go in with a figure?

He's already made an American-style resume and cover letter. I had to make him put in balls-y, egotistical sentences, lol.

PetrifiedExPat

At least in the academic/private research sector here in Boston, for requested salary, put 'negotiable'. Anything else and the application could get binned...company can't afford you...lack of ambition....yada yada...

ian-mstm

What does he think he's worth? That's the starting point.

If he goes in high - more than the company is willing to pay - they're not likely to bin the application if he's otherwise qualified. They'll negotiate a salary - and if they aren't willing to negotiate, they'll tell him what they're willing to offer and leave it to him whether or not to accept that salary.

If, OTOH, he goes in low, he may effectively lose a lot of money... or the company will suspect that there's a reason he doesn't want to be paid what they might otherwise offer.

There are a number of businesses that publish general salary ranges for the type of work... it shouldn't be too hard to find one that's appropriate for what he does.

PetrifiedExPat also makes a good point - he can simply put "negotiable".

Lacking any other information... if it was me, I'd go in high - that's where you stand the best chance of success.

Ian

MMcD

Americanize

md95065

In many cases the question of salary "expectation" won't even arise.
If a company is interested in hiring someone then they will make an offer at which point the prospective employee can accept the offer "as-is", attempt to negotiate a better offer, or reject the offer.

If, during the hiring process, HR people try to get you to indicate what kind of salary range would be acceptable it is, in my opinion, generally a good idea not to give them a specific answer.

AdobePinon

^^^ What he says. And never low ball it. Think of all the "£xxx.xx OBO" classified ads you've ever seen. Has anyone ever paid the "better offer"?

Nutmegger

I always thought that stood for "$20 or best offer," as in "$20 takes it now, but I'll take back-up ( lower) offers just in case."

MMcD

It does. Exactly

AdobePinon

Ah, that makes more sense. I stand corrected.

tonrob

I've been burned by hiring people who were overqualified for roles only to see them either become demotivated or less willing to fit in with a new corporate culture. I also tend to get eleventy billion applications for each job I post.

My advice would be to make sure you big up your achievements and successes without making yourself seem more senior in hierarchies than you actually were, and try to avoid going in too high on the salary front on the application form. I like to hire people who have experience yet are hungry to develop rather than having done absolutely everything before a million times.

DexterBerkeley

When I come to make an offer to someone, I usually ignore whatever salary expectation we might have talked about early in the process, I want to re-validate and see what they want now they want the job and we want them in the business. If a candidate at that points gives a figure which is way over what I can pay I just say so, laying out why, I certainly don't dismiss them as I want them on board.

Another tip, and this is a pet peeve of mine. If your emailing the hiring manager, recruiter etc. during the process, make sure to include your phone number on every email. I find it annoying to have to pull their resume just to give them a call in response to something.

aless02

Thanks, that's really helpful. He was asked directly by a company who is interested, hence why I started this thread. He did avoid giving a figure this time around, as that seemed the general advice for early stages, but all this is useful to know for interview stages (at which point it feels more appropriate to talk hard figures).

Based on the level of response he's getting, it does seem like his level of knowledge/experience is in short supply at the moment, so that's a definite positive.