Just want to get some guidance - as my son starts to fill out online apps, he said some ask for expected salary. in the old days, I put negotiable but now you need a $ figure.
I told him to go to his Engineering Career Center to ask. But he’s put down $72K and $75K. He has a friend graduating in December who accepted a job at $77K - for ME.
Per the Michigan Tech table, the average ME salary is $65K.
I’m not sure that any # you put in matters short of a huge #. Companies have ranges and they’re going to pay what they’re going to pay regardless of what you entered - at least that’s my thought.
How would you suggest your student answer this question (i.e. what $$ would you ask for)?
Thanks
PS - he doesn’t go to Michigan Tech (fine school) but their table is helpful.
I can’t speak for ME specifically but here’s the strategy I usually recommend: get an estimate through the career center or (preferably) through recent graduates. Then put down a number near the high end of the range.
So, @tsbna44, if your son’s friend got $77k have your son write in that number or maybe even a bit higher. Don’t undersell by writing a lower number.
I agree. Most engineering companies will make you an offer…and that is what stands for your probationary period (that is company dependent). Then you get a bump. At my DH’s company, you get an additional bump when you pass the PE (they do a good amount of state and federal jobs).
So…yes, put down a reasonable amount…but expect that your son’s starting salary might not reach that bar at least initially.
Agreed or worst case some of the resources available through Google. Might not be perfect (CS Vs ME) but a decent proxy and seem to be born out by experience.
This depends completely on where the job will be and what sector it’ll be in. He might want to look at sites like Payscale and Indeed for the specific companies he applied to in order to get ideas. Using a single answer won’t be appropriate as it’ll be too low for some and too high for others. The range is shockingly wide.
If it is a text field, maybe he can write “Competitive salary, appropriate for my skills”. If it is a numeric field, there are two choices – 1) either leave blank or write zero, or 2) put down 85k
It is silly/unfair for companies to ask this question for an entry level job.
Although, I also don’t love this question for entry-level people, right now it seems to be important to help companies decide whether it is worth their time to interview someone.
The company my husband works at has had a lot of experiences lately with entry-level people asking for (demanding?) salaries that are 30k over the high end of the band for an entry-level engineer. I guess they must be getting that salary somewhere, because when interviewed and given offers in line with the company’s salary bands, those applicants don’t even bother declining the offer.
https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/ can be useful in checking early pay levels by major at colleges where enough students who received federal financial aid graduated in the major recently.
If there it is a write-in field, I’d suggest entering a range: $77k - $87k.
We never had this happen when our S was looking for his first full-time position (different field). I’ve always told him to never give a desired salary- it’s best to have employer make an offer and work from there.
Because the hiring process can be costly to the employer (whether or not the applicant is offered and whether or not the applicant accepts if offered), the employer is presumably concerned about yield… applicants seeking a higher pay level than the employer is likely to offer are unlikely to accept the offers, so they may not be worth trying to hire. On the other hand, an applicant with lower expectations may be easier to get if the employer’s offer is significantly higher than the applicant’s expectations.
To me, this sounds like the employers is trying to keep starting salaries low. It’s kind of a no-win for the student - ask for too much and you may not be considered - ask for a low salary and they may take you up on it (at your expense). Great for the company. For the applicant - not so much.
I think this is ridiculous. The companies have salary bands. IMO, the company needs to provide the salary range. They would get fewer “ghosts” if they’re upfront about pay. If a candidate applies based on the published salary range, they are more likely to be comfortable with a salary offer than they would be if they had no clue what the pay would be but expected more. I realize that this would be a radical shift for most companies, but I honestly don’t understand why they don’t do it.
Yes, putting a low expectation risks this, at least at employers with less standardized pay levels for entry level employees. It also becomes a higher risk later in one’s career, when one’s roles and associated pay levels become less standardized in many job areas and in many employers.
Unfortunately @neela it requires a # and not $000.
My concern is - if you ask too much, will they not interview you. I could be wrong.
If you ask too little and you get an offer will the offer be too little ? Just as @Rivet2000 stated.
Part of me wonders if this question is on there because they are using a software program or some other system and it’s just there…such as workday. But like most companies they will have an internal range and they know what they’re going to pay regardless.
My current and last company work that way.
But today, employees have the power. Companies (at least mine) are bending over backward to pacify on lifestyle and it’s still not enough. Look at the GM news yesterday about backtracking and apologizing on the office return as an example.
With the government doing its best to put the brakes on the economy, is that different when these kids graduate and does that cause a - take it or leave it, you are lucky to have a job shift ?
Obviously we all want our kids to max out so I don’t want him to undersell himself. At the same time I want to ensure he doesn’t lose any interview opps.
Fortunately he said not every company asks the question.
Will keep pushing him to go in to the career center and will of course have to look at cost of living should an offer come.
I made $4.25 an hour for 16 hours a week when I graduated and $7.50 an hr for 40 hrs in my first full time job while working 75+ at ESPN in the early 90s so really $4 an hr - boy have times changed !! My company has - on company time - soccer tourneys, golf outings, etc. It’s just a different, kinder world
Probably based on the usual negotiation tactic that the first one to name a number can be at a disadvantage. Giving a number better than the other party’s maximum expectation is like giving free money to the other party, while giving a number worse than the other party’s minimum expectation risks insulting the other party and losing the opportunity for a deal in the first place.
Career center makes sense. He might adjust his salary requirements initially, based on location/region, in effect already adjusting for COL.
I know this is just an n of 1, but suggests an entry level person writing down a much higher salary than the firm intends to offer still seems to result in an interview, at least for some companies and applicants.
