I bet you had to Google avaricious.

Salary this and salary that.  Looking for jobs demonstrates the ridiculousness of some employers’ low-ball expectations of salary.  Worse than that, when they won’t even consider you unless you tell them your exact number.

Whatever, right? It’s a down economy, businesses can afford to treat people like they’re chattel, which makes it all that much more important to find an ethical business to team with.

When will the not-so-ethical/uninformed employers learn that Millennials don’t care as much about what they earn as long as it’s fair?  We want 1) you know what we can do for you and need to 2) know what you can do for us.  This is the question that I hate the most while looking through job listings.  Asking for salary requirements up front is like looking for your soulmate by asking how much they have in the bank.

While the question of salary is damn important, it sure as hell shouldn’t be discussed until the courtship has begun.  Not only does it encourage dishonesty, it also creates a needless negotiation war with low-ball and high-ball offers being slung back and forth. Worse, if the employee hired after this back-and-forth is even half as concerned about the salary as the business is, that employee will be bailing ship for the first greener pasture they see.

Even so, employers continue to ask.

Here’s how I answer the salary question:

1. Be Honest
   
   • If you lie about your previous salaries to your would-be employer, they’ll find out.  Be honest about what you earned and be honest about what you want to earn.  Give good supporting reasons why you are asking for the number you are and be truthful with the company if their expectations are too low.
2. Do Your Homework
   
   • If you know that an entry-level marketer makes between $40-55K depending on their specialties, don’t demand $70,000 without a damn good reason.  You can also use that average to know when you’re being squeezed too tightly – $35K is not a fair salary for that job.
3. Give a Range
   
   • Give a range of salaries.  You’ll have a lot of wiggle room when it comes to salary negotiation.  Once inside this range, though, don’t attempt to go outside of it unless something HUGE changes during the negotiation.

Salary Negotiation 101

• Do the research to find out the salary range of your website.  Do a Google Search!  PayScale.com has great salary info, but find a variety of sources.
• Ideally, the range you give should span about $10K and not have your goal salary in the middle.
• The minimum should be the lowest amount you could acceptably take and live on.  This number should be greater than or equal to the low-end of the average salary for the position.
• The maximum should be within $10-15K of the minimum, but still less than or equal to the high-end of the average salary for the position.
• Your goal salary is the number that you really want to make. It should be close to your minimum plus $3-4K.  This puts your Goal at the lower end (30-40%) of the range you provided, making it more likely you’ll get your goal salary or more.

Let’s say the job you’re applying for has a salary range of $40-55K.

In this example, citing $42-52K means that you hope to get at least $45K.  Anything above that would be a bonus to you, but still leaves a good 7K to move.

If the company comes back with a counter-offer of less than $42K (known as low-balling), you should laugh or at least ask them if they’re trying to low-ball you.  If the company came back with a counter-offer of $42K, however, and you then asked for $52K (known as high-balling), you’d be out of line.

Remember that it’s okay to negotiate for anything.  More time off, starting with a bank of time off, etc.  Just know that if you take a bonus, more vacation, or anything in lieu of salary, your earning potential ends up smaller.