It's tough out there in the job market, but don't sell yourself too short.
The laws of supply and demand are in full effect lately: There is a whole lot more demand for jobs than there is supply.
In other words, it’s an employer’s market, and many are going to try and get your salary and benefits to the bottom of the range. The down market may be here for some time. But does that mean you need to give a direct answer on how low you would go for a job? No way, says BusinessWeek columnist and careers author Liz Ryan. From her column “Pricing Yourself in a Down Market“:
- Job-seekers need to be ready for startling interview questions like “What is the lowest salary level you would accept?” in this rocky job market. When you’re asked a question like that, do you need to share a rock-bottom figure? I don’t recommend that you do. Negotiation is negotiation, whether you’re selling a house or buying a car or applying for a job opportunity. Rule No. 1 in any negotiation is to keep your counsel and share only the information appropriate for the stage of negotiation you’re in.
- The company rep who asks you, “What is the lowest salary you’d accept?” hasn’t made you an offer yet. It is prudent and appropriate at this stage to mention a conservative yet reasonable salary figure. If employers want to lowball you, that’s their business — you can respond as you see fit. No need to do it to yourself!
Negotiation is a bit of a game, especially when it comes to salary. Human resources and some hiring managers want to get the best candidate for the job, and if they can do it on the lower end of a range, then don’t be surprised or offended by the process. As Ryan points out in her column, headhunters are seeing 10 percent to 15 percent less offered on most job packages compared to last year. So expect total compensation to be lower than you’d want, but that doesn’t mean you need to talk about it until you have an offer on the table.
Ryan goes on to say the following about what it could mean when you low ball yourself:
- Employers are less likely to go with the cheapest candidate than to hire someone they’re confident can do the job and who’s also within their target comp range. Businesses know what it’s likely to cost them to get their most thorny and expensive business problems solved. They’ve budgeted for that. If they haven’t, you can bet they also haven’t banked on spending the time and internal resources that it will take to achieve the goals they’re shooting for. In a case like that, you might accept the under-resourced job and wish you’d stayed in the job market a bit longer.
Look beyond the need to have a job and toward what the actual day-to-day job situation could be if you accept a low offer: a whole lot of headaches and a continuing search for the right match. Is there anything worse than being lowballed, taking the job and then hating it? Ryan suggests that you shouldn’t expect up to take a pay cut of more than 20 percent of what you were making for the past few years.
More Negotiation and Salary Advice:
How to Pass Employer Screening Requirements
Prevent Salary Misunderstandings
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