What do I say when an interviewer asks for my salary expectations? Do I need to disclose my current/prior salary?

1. What Do I Say When an
Interviewer Asks for My Salary
Expectations?
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2. Question:
What do I say when an interviewer asks
for my salary expectations? Do I need to
disclose my current/prior salary?
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3. Answer is
Here:
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4. I always advise that candidates for ego the discussion of salary and benefits
during an initial round of interviews, because you always want to focus on
whether you are a good fit for the firm, practice group, etc., in terms of your
background, experience, client base (if you are bringing portable business
with you), and of course the very important personality factor.
That being said, it is a question that interviewers, and especially partners, will
often raise in the course of an interview series, and so I always make sure that
my candidates are not caught off guard by the question.
It's best to be flexible on salary, especially the more senior you get into your
career, because firms diverge wildly on the way they structure their salary,
billing rates, bonuses, billable hours requirements, and everything else
associated with what will (hopefully) be your total compensation package
should you receive and accept an offer.
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5. I have seen candidates initially balk at a base salary number only to find out that
the firm's billable hours requirement is much lower than their previous firm, and
that because the bonus threshold starts earlier, they would end up with
comparable take-home compensation for an equivalent number of hours, with
the added bonus of having less pressure to hit a higher number year-after-year.
If you do have an absolute "floor" where it would not make sense for you to take
a salary lower than a particular number, you should definitely make sure to
disclose this to your recruiter and/or to any firm with which you are interviewing.
However, before you tie yourself to this number, I strongly advise you do your
due diligence and consider a number of salient factors such as:
How badly do you need/want a new position? If it is the difference between less
salary than you would like or no salary because you do not have a job, you would
be foolish to pass up the lower salary number.
How does the salary and bonus structure compare to the market in which you are
looking?
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6. I have had far too many candidates represent themselves as extremely eager to
relocate to a "desirable" city such as Portland, Seattle, Denver, etc., only to turn
around and complain that the salary is not what they "expected" because they
were used to seeing market-level salaries in the major cities such as New York,
San Francisco, Los Angeles, and D.C.
Smaller markets will mean smaller salaries (and lower billable hours
requirements, earlier thresholds for bonuses, lower billing rates that can help you
more easily build your own portable client base, and of course a lower cost of
living compared to the aforementioned major cities).Take the whole picture into
account before being stubborn about your number.
Getting back to the original question, unless you know what a particular firm pays
at a particular class level and/or unless you have an absolute minimum number
requirement, the best answer to give is that you would expect to be
compensated at the amount equivalent to a normal associate/Of Counsel/Partner
at your level of experience for that firm and that office.
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7. There is always the possibility of negotiating once you see the actual number, and
firms can be accommodating in a variety of ways, such as signing bonuses if their
internal policies prevent them from increasing your base salary relative to your
class year. But you do not want to scare off a potential suitor firm with an
unrealistic number, and you especially do not want to turn down a solid offer and
come away empty handed with the distinct possibility of regretting your decision
when no additional interviews or offers materialize.
A good recruiter will be able to guide and advise you as to salary expectations,
and if you are looking to embark on a lateral job search, please contact us here at
BCG.
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Expectations?” first appeared on LawCrossing is the world leader in “pure”
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