Salary Expectations
Helping candidates prepare for successful salary negotiations.

In a fast-paced, changing business landscape, job seekers often feel intimidated when trying to establish what their salary expectations should be. While you may know what you earned at your previous job, and have an idea what the salary band for the position is, you usually don’t know what figure your employer has in mind.
The discussion between yourself and a prospective employer over what your salary should be is a delicate one. But, if you go in knowing what you expect to earn and are prepared for the conversation, you give yourself the best chance of securing a good position at a competitive salary.
Establish Your Salary Expectations
Have a clear idea of your least considered salary and your desired salary.
At Flexible Staffing, we always advise our job seekers to walk into a client interview with two numbers in their mind: their desired salary and their least considered salary.
Least Considered Salary
The least considered amount must be a salary that you are ready to accept if it is offered. While the salary might not be everything that you hoped for, the benefits of the position, as well as the opportunity to learn and grow, may mean that it is a job that shouldn’t be passed up.
There are many occasions where, for whatever reason, you cannot negotiate further. When this happens, having a ‘least considered salary’ baseline will help you decide whether or not to accept the offer.
Desired Salary
Your desired salary should be reasonable and commensurate with your skills and experience. It should be justifiable, and there should not be a large gap between your desired and least considered salary. The closer your desired salary is to your least considered, the better chance you have of getting your desired salary.
Salary Negotiation Tips
Sharing salary information can be uncomfortable, especially if you aren’t regularly going for interviews or are discussing salary compensation for the first time. To help the conversation flow smoothly and to give yourself a good chance of getting a fair salary, you should:
Aim High
If you know the approximate salary range for the position, you should consider aiming for the top of the band, rather than the bottom. That way, you have someroom to negotiate, and may be able to secure a salary slightly higher than your expectations.
Stay Realistic
For most positions, there is an established salary band, and your employer will be able to compensate you accordingly, commensurate with your skills and experience.
Be Confident
Employers aren’t necessarily looking to hire the candidate with the lowest salary expectations. If you can communicate why you’re worth the additional amount and remain confident and self-assured during the negotiation process, this will work in your favor.
Explain Your Logic
While you don’t need to whip out a calculator to explain how you arrived at your desired salary amount, you should be able to give good reasons related to your experience or education that would justify your salary expectations.
We specialize in helping candidates find the right position with a good salary and benefits. Give us a call today to find out how we can assist with the ideal job placement.
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