So how should we answer this question?
Many experts have recommended different answers to this question. However, no matter how many experts you listen to and how many answers you read, if you try to reciprocate them, it sounds like a cosmetic answer regardless of how well you practice it.There are several reasons due to which candidates are not able to answer this question correctly. In the job interviews I've conducted, most candidates reply by saying "Since I have XYZ degree or have ABC experience, my salary expectation is ###." The most common one is "I'm currently drawing ### from my present job, so anything plus would be fine." These might sound like good answers, but from the interviewer/employers' perspective, this is not what we'd like to hear.
Why? Because, first of all, having XYZ degree or ABC experience doesn't guarantee work performance. Likewise, just because your previous employer paid you ### doesn't mean we're obliged to value you similarly. Secondly, with our experience, candidates having certain degree or experience have actually not justified their credentials. Many of our clients and industry experts have pointed out these two reasons for doubting candidates' credentials with future job performance. Thus, employers are becoming ever so conscious about how much to offer and always looking for salary bargain on prospective employees in an interview.
Here are a few steps candidates, especially freshers, can follow to crack the salary expectation question with great perfection.
How much do you spend?
Do you know what your monthly expenditure is? Whether you're employed or not, you do spend on different utilities on regular basis. Have you ever kept track of your expenditure? If you have a source of regular cash flow, do you ever do budgeting? Keeping track of your expenses will give you a clear picture of how much you need to earn in order to be financially secured.
In today's age of smart-phone, you can easily download one of the many free budgeting apps that not only records your income and expenses but also help you to generate reports for your analysis.
Talk to working professionals from the industry
After calculating how much you spend every month, you need to find out working professionals from the industry you're trying to get into, and talk to them. They could be your parents, relatives, friends, friends' parents, friends' friends, faculty members, etc. While talking to these people, discuss requirements that are not mentioned in the vacancy notice, skills that might give you an edge over other candidates, etc. Once you have this information, try developing the skills you don't have or polish those you already have so that you can later showcase it as a unique selling proposition while bargaining for salary.
Do your own salary survey
After having discussed about skills and qualifications with working professionals, you can talk to them about the salary trend of the industry. Organizations such as banks have specified salary range especially for entry-level jobs. In this type of organizations candidates won't be able to negotiate much on salary. Therefore, doing your own salary survey will help you to answer the big questions while limiting the figure within the range the organization normally offers.
Brand yourself
If you cannot sell yourself, you cannot sell anything. In the recruitment process all you are doing is trying to sell yourself. Just like how you pay for a product/service as per its brand value, the companies are willing to pay high salary to those candidates who have branded themselves better than others.
There are many ways to brand yourself, and it starts with your cover letter and resume. Have you created that lasting impact on your employers by composing an impressive cover letter? Have you followed a professional yet distinct resume format? Have you highlighted your credentials as per the vacancy notice?
Branding also reflects on how you've represented yourself in social media. Whatyou're your posts like in Facebook and Twitter? You might argue those are your personal accounts and you're free to post whatever you fancy. But remember, social media is meant to be social, not personal. Similarly, if you have published article(s) in college magazines or national print media, maintain blog where you frequently write about your areas of expertise, and have significant achievements in extracurricular activities, talk about them while demanding salary from your prospective employer.
Acknowledge the stage of your career
The amount of salary expectation also depends on the number of opportunities you're getting in your career. If you are in the early stage of your career, then you can take risk on existing opportunities for better ones. You can state your salary expectation as much as or higher than the market rate, given that you have perfected all of the aforementioned steps.
However, if it's the only interview you've been called for after a long wait and you're in desperate need of a job, then you cannot risk asking for more. In this situation, you have to prove yourself in an interview and state your salary range with regards to the company policy and also let the interviewer decide how much they want to pay you.
The harsh reality of Nepali organizations is that they consider an employee as a liability rather than asset. And sure enough salary in an organization's financial statement seems to be a fixed long-term expense. Thus, it goes without saying that employers are always looking to offer less to prospective employees. However, while acknowledging this fact, smart candidates need to showcase themselves as an asset of the company; and in order to be an asset, you should be useful and have valuable quality.
All the best!
The author is the Managing Director of Jobs Dynamics Pvt Ltd. He can be reached at rajiv@ jobsdynamics.com.
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