At some point in your job search you will be asked what your salary expectation is for a prospective role. Taking the time to prepare yourself for the question and fully formulating your answer can be crucial.
Check job postings
First, research online to see if the company includes pay ranges in their job posting or on the career pages of their company website. Certain types of positions will clearly state wages, salary and benefits, and others won’t.
Another way to search for wage information is to look what the position is paid at other companies. Just keep in mind that you may need to make adjustments if the role is for a different level of experience or in a different location.
Understanding the range
Next, is the pay specific or a range? If the pay is listed as a range there are a few important things to keep in mind. The difference in pay for the position could be determined by a well-defined sliding scale based on your experience, education, and length of time at the company—or the range could be more loosely based on those items.
If a range is stated in the job posting, consider your years of experience, level of skill, and unique qualification and come up with where you can justify placing yourself on the scale. When you communicate where you fit in their range, be sure to be able to express why you merit that pay.
Other resources
If the company doesn’t advertise their wages along with their job postings, there are still other resources you can find online where company employees post general pay ranges and reviews for employers.
You might also want to look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics website to find what the position generally is paid. Keep in mind that this data is based on census information and will not be current. You’ll need to adjust the amount to be both current and appropriate for your location—salaries can be higher or lower overall in different cities and states.
Consider other factors
When researching compensation keep in mind that you are going to be negotiating a full compensation package. Health benefits, flexible hours, remote work options, short commute times, company car, and a host of other fringe benefits can grow the overall dollar value of your compensation package. When you compare salaries at one organization to another one, make sure you make note of the full package and not just the pay rate.
Rounding out your research with more data
Once you know how much a typical person completing this job in your location is paid, consider your historical value as well. What have you been paid for this work in the past? Have you acquired more skills, experience, and/or education since the last time your salary was negotiated?
Also, it might help to know what other professionals at the same experience level as you make in your field. The more information you know and evidence you can offer, the more confident you can feel going into questions about salary or full-fledged salary negotiations.