The Almighty Dollar

Job hunting is hard work. It requires patience, organization and communication skills. The opportunity to interview with an employer is your goal, but what is the employer really interested in? The answer should be your skills, so why do recruiters always ask salary expectations? What does that have to do with the job at hand?

As employers we should be looking at our job opening and understanding the key attributes and abilities that a person requires to be successful. Of course the next step is to prepare a job ad and start the interview process. At this point you should already have established your job requirements, qualifications and salary to have a productive search.

Candidates should have read and understood the job description, including salary

(If posted) before applying. Most people look at salary before even submitting an application, as let’s face it, money is the reason we work. Yet we are constantly asking candidates “What’s your salary expectation?” The real question should be “Does the salary we offer for this role meet your expectation?”

Why should we stop asking this question?

It’s irrelevant information that has nothing to do with the candidate's ability to perform and can create poor morale amongst the team if someone undervalues themselves. What someone is making, was making or wants to make is a personal question that should remain confidential as much as age, sex or race. A business sets a pay scale and controls all the variables when it comes to compensation so why are they asking what a candidate would expect when they already have a budget in mind?

Now I understand that some employers want their offer to be competitive and feel knowing a person's expectation is the best way to do this. This is a very invasive method for the candidate and feels a business can determine a fair compensation by following these simple steps: