What to Say When a Recruiter Pressures You for Your Expected Salary

Ever felt cornered when a recruiter asks, “What’s your expected salary?”

Only you and about a bajillion other job seekers.

I’m a little sick and tired of silly recruiters cornering you about this.

It’s TOO EARLY in the process to be doing this nonsense.

Why do people not show each other their “balance sheets” on the first date, amiright?!?!

Even so, your matchmaker Coach here wants you to handle the pressure with grace and simultaneously avoid lowballing or highballing yourself.

Here’s the script and I included the backdoors and escape hatches too.

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--Andy

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
So far in my conversations with recruiters they've all asked up front in the screening
interview what my ex expectations are thoughts on how to respond to this without giving any
info sarah if you rewind the clock and the tape you want to give them this script and I answered
this I answered this in the in the presentation so I'm assuming that you asked this while I before

(00:22):
I was talking but this is the script you want to give them and then if they continue to ask you I
want you on the first time that the second time they ask you meaning no I really want a number
you say no I really mean that right no that's really true if they say no time number three
they asked "I really need a number." Your your defense mechanism is okay I can see why that's

(00:48):
important to you what's your budget and then say okay that's how you handle that and you haven't
given them any information all you said was "Okay that sounds like a reasonable place to start let's
go." Am Marie I find some HR leads get tense when asked about the budget amount and one told me that
is not how they work this was a screen how to go beyond this okay so this is a great great question

(01:11):
it gives Wait am a Marie thank you for this it's a great question and folks I I I I want to say this
i I I think I I probably should have said this earlier i'm giving you everything that's ideal
and the way that I would I would want you to go about it to maximize your income okay now money's

(01:32):
not the beall endall and and I know that everybody has a little bit of a different situation right
some of somebody might be a single mom with a bunch of kids and can't afford to be out
of work and needs to take you know take the job others have dual income they can go a long time
and your personal situation is the primary driver of everything that you're going to do because how

(01:57):
I might operate might not be how you need to operate in your particular situation okay so
when a Marie asks me that HR leads get tense I'm going to give you a couple of ways that I look
at this number one anybody who's unwilling to if they want to know from me a number and they're not

(02:17):
willing to to give me if like they're insistent and they're not willing to give me a budget I
would tell them to pound sand that's me okay I know that doesn't do you any good all right so
that's me i'd be like well that's ridiculous you need to check a stupid little box that in your on
your HR form do you want to check the damn box or not because I don't like I I like I'll tell

(02:41):
you okay whatever fine that's fine so now that's me okay and I mean that and then the second thing
is okay I understand that you might not have the luxury of being able to do that right i get that
okay so in your case I want you to say something like okay now first off just realize just realize

(03:01):
the kind of employer that you're continuing the recruitment process with this is a joke so but if
you want to keep going then what you I want you to say is "Okay well um honestly you know in my
last three years or my last year or my last job or my last whatever my compensation was approximately
$100,000 for doing the same work but I'm open." Meaning I'm open to 90 i'm open to 110 right

(03:31):
so but you don't have to say it that way so what you did was you gave them a number now somebody's
gonna say "Well Andy I don't want to tell them what I earn." Who cares your negotiation power
does not come from what you earn your negotiation power comes from hearing here and how you prove
yourself and I remember they're asking you for an expected salary but you didn't give them an

(03:55):
expected salary you gave them a number of what you were used to earning or you could say "Well
my expected salary is $100,000." But then they could say "Well we can't meet that." But if you
say "Well I'm used to earning a h 100red,000 but I'm open." And they say "Oh well that's a little
higher than we can go." Then you can say "Oh well I'm I'm open." But if you say "My expected salary

(04:22):
is $100,000." And they say "Well we can only go to 90." And then you say "Well okay that's fine too."
You sound wishy-washy do you get what I'm saying there's so many tricks that I could teach you and
ways to fumble i want you to be really really careful which is why I really really want to
preach that you really really say nothing get it get it get it who loves my vault my vault i I wore

(04:49):
this because it was the closest thing I had to money color and I put this on because it makes me