How to Decide on a Salary

When applying for jobs that require you to enter a salary you should always list a salary that is competitive but not way above the going rate for your position.

If you are applying for a job in the same field in which you currently work you should have a basic idea what other company’s salary pay is that position. If you have no idea there are web site available to help you with this. One of the best places and easiest places to find this info is in your local paper on line. Look under your current job and search for competitive position and see what salary they are offering.

If you are still having trouble there are searches that you can do on Salary.com that will tell you what the going rate is for your current job. You never want to raise the scale so high that they will stop looking at your resume at this point. You also want to avoid going down in pay. This makes you seem desperate and willing to take anything out there. Even if this is the case you don’t want to look this way.

This is a general rule of thumb when applying for salary position “make your salary interesting not exhausting.” Research is one of the best things to do when applying for salary job. A lot of companies will offer a counter offer after they have reviewed your resume and gone through the interview process. This is a good time to have that knowledge of what other companies are currently paying. This shows them that you are a well-informed person and are not willing to take anything thrown your way.

Remember with salary positions a lot of employers have a max that they are willing to pay and will offer less then that to you. It may be worth your time to counter offer that salary. Be prepared to sell yourself on why you think your worth the larger salary. You are the best person to sell yourself.