During the interview, the company says they can't pay you what you want. That doesn't mean you should eliminate yourself or allow them to eliminate you.
One talented job seeker I was working with had this happen to her. She and the interviewer entered into the salary discussion early in the interview. She decided that the salary was below what she would want and didn't want to waste the interviewer's time. That was very considerate of her, however, one week later her friend took thatjob making $10K more than what the company said it could offer.
Lesson learned: companies will pay more if they see value in what you can do. Typically that doesn't happen within 30 minutes of meeting you.
I am not a financial genius, but I do know that there are different pots of money a company can use to pay for things. If they need to, they will gladly tap into those pots.
The thing to remember is that companies don't really know what they are looking for until they see it. Job descriptions, in many cases, are either a laundry list of things the last person did or a wish list of things the company would like someone to be able to do. In some cases, it is both. Job descriptions are only a rough guideline.
You can't get the offer with the option of negotiating for a higher salary if you don't continue in the interview process. Don't opt out.
Recent Comments