Me: As you know, salaries aren’t usually discussed until the job offer. Does this mean that you want to hire me? Them: Oh no, we just want to know what salary you need. If it is too high, I won’t be able to pitch it to the rest of the company, so there is no point in interviewing you further.
Anyway, you get the idea: I try to refocus the conversation, and they hem and haw repeatedly until I give them a range.
Now, I know from salary surveys on the Net and from talking to people with similar jobs in the area that the range here is $35k to $45k, so that’s what I have been giving out when pressed. But in every interview so far, the interviewer has ended the interview right then or been much less interested after that.
So my question to you all is: How can I handle the salary requirements question better so I can actually get to the meat of the interview? (And can I politely point out that if they are only willing to pay a secretarial-level salary, then they shouldn’t waste my time and theirs advertising for a professional?)
