Fearless Interviewing- He thinks of a reason (for example, it is difficult to com-
pare salaries in a small company with those of a large
company). Other reasons could be the following:- A change of geographic area (for example, from
Seattle to Atlanta) - A change of level of position (for example, from man-
ager to director) - A change of industry (for example, from travel to
telecommunications) - A change in the type of pay structure (for example,
from commission to hourly wages or a salary)
- A change of geographic area (for example, from
After he establishes that a comparison can’t be made, he turns
the question back on the interviewerby saying, “What salary range do
you think would be reasonable for a person with my skills?”
Notice he stilldoesn’t ask for an exact number. An exact number
would partially “close the door.” Alex crafts his responses so that
the door stays open.
Also, he does not ask for the salary range for theposition. He
forces the interviewer to look at what he, as an individual, can
contribute. If he had not done this, he may have been offered
only $30,000 in base pay. In the space of a moment, he was able
to increase the offer by 50 percent. This is a very dramatic case,
but it really does happen in this way for many of my clients.
Now that we’ve analyzed Alex’s conversation with the inter-
viewer, lets look at a few examples of how other job candidates
have been able to receive optimum compensation. Here’s a story
of Wu-lei, a marketing specialist:
QUESTION: What are your salary expectations?
ANSWER: Actually, moving from the semiconductor industry
to the clothing industry, it’s very hard for me to
judge. Maybe you could let me know what sort of
salary range would be expected for a person with my
background.
QUESTION: We could start you anywhere between $50,000 and
$62,000.