How to handle salary Expectation Questions tactfully in an interview?

We always try to find the best answer for the question “How much salary do you expect for this job?” and surely we feel confused and embarrassed to answer it. We are frightened to say a certain number.

Maybe it will be too much for the employer, so he will exclude us from the list and we will lose the job opportunity since the salary is too high and exceeds the budget. Or if we put a lower salary, it won’t suit the job description, so that it will make us feel regret or injustice. Let’s find out what exactly shall you do when you face such a tricky question.

The best answer for “What is your expected salary?”

Sometimes they ask you this question before giving you the specific job description and the required tasks, so you won’t know how to determine it accurately.

1- The first point, you have to think well about your own salary expectation especially that sometimes you can’t ignore this question especially in the online application form.
2- Secondly, if you faced this question during the interview you can answer like the following:
A – The expected salary suites my qualifications and skills
B – If this job was the right job for me I’m sure that we can reach a satisfying deal
C – It doesn’t connect to me, It’s all about the job, What is the salary in your budget?
D – I got a new certificate so the previous salary has no connection with the current salary

In some cases the interviewer needs to hear a specific number so you have to be ready to determine a specific range or number for your target salary, you can do this according to your capabilities while you’re looking for a job when you were fresh, so it’s a must to have an answer at any interview or even if the interview was via phone. Otherwise, you’ll leave a bad impression of yourself.

How to set your salary expectation?

If the new job matches with the previous one and has no extra tasks or change in missions so you can set your salary according to your own experience, and surely you can request a raise in salary as for the last one between 15-20%.

In the meantime, if the new job has more responsibilities and with a higher rank or in a different field. Then you have to make research about the average wage for the job.

Making a research about the average wage:

Each one should start making a research about the average wage of his own job, and there’s a lot of websites which help in this issue such as Salary.com, Payscale.com, Indeed.com and you can compare your salary with the same job title in those sites then you could find a sensible number, but be careful while making the research to specify the area of work since this will make a difference according to the standard of living.

Suitable replies for this question:
You can set a certain number or average as the following:

• I know that the average wage for the job which applied for is between x and z
• I did some research about the average wage for such kind of jobs and I found out that its salary lies between x and z

In the end, you need to recognise that if you make good research about the job you will be able to estimate the suitable salary for you which comes up with your efforts and your own qualifications, thus you will answer this kind of question with full confidence.