Jan 18, 2022 11:34 AM
Replying to Mary Miller
...
Regarding asking for what you are worth based on experience and skills without knowing the oraganization's budget...
In the U.S., I gave them a salary range. On the low end, was the lowest I would be willing to accept, and the high end was my guess as to what the maximum they were willing to pay.
It's not always the best strategy because a company might go for the low end. I had that happen once out of 4 interviews where the conversation came to the point of salary and benefits. However, the company was known for giving $10k-$20k bonuses depending on quality of work for the year. That was the one differentiating factor between them and the others I interviewed with.
There was once or twice when I went too high, but those gave me a sense of what the market would bear.
In short, there are trade offs. If they are giving you a lower rate, maybe they have better benefits. Sometimes hiring managers are willing to bump up the rate a bit higher if there is a skill that you have that really differentiates you from your potential peers.
As a final point (and I know you are seeing something similar), it does take a little digging to see what the market will bear. Even in the U.S. job titles can mean one thing in one organization and something else in another. In my previous org, I was a Project Manager, sometimes was called a Program Manager, and sometimes a Project Lead. In other parts of the organization, Project Coordinators are called Project Managers in private industry. I had to work with a career services company, that specializes in DC, to help translate my organization's title to the title used by the industry I planned to work in. Sometimes we didn't quite hit the mark (i.e. a Portfolio means PMO in some places), but I ended up in a good place despite that.
V/R,
Mary
