When applying to jobs, how much should you quote your minimum pay?

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Reirrac

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I have been browsing some job openings and seen how you can quote your own minimum pay per hour when applying. This particular hospital pharmacist position is quoting 40ish - 60ish per hour.

Are there any guidelines to how to best quote your own minimum pay? For example, for a new grad, should he simply put down the bare minimum? Or are there any formulas and processes involved in calculating your own worth? I still got 2 more years to go before graduation, but I would like to plan ahead in advance and apply wisely.

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You still have 2 more years to go before graduation and you care about this why?!? Your response will be as followed:

Desired Salary: Desperate.
 
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I'm trying to get some input on the math involved in hourly rate estimation, nothing more. I'll worry about the job market when I graduate.
 
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Well, realistically, put down the minimum that you would be willing to work for. Would you take the job for $10/hr? Then that is what you should put down. If you would not work for less than $60/hr, then you should put that down. If you are hired, its unlikely you will get more than the minimum you put down, so don't put down a minimum that you aren't willing to work for.
Of course, if you put down to much, you might not be offered the job (then again you might, but at a lower pay than you put down.) If you put down to little, you may look to desperate and like a potential problem, and not get offered the job for that reason.
The formula is to be reason able in your expectations (what you put down should be within a reasonable salary for the job you are applying for), but also be honest about what you are willing to work for.
 
Do employers expect us to put down one or two numbers at all, or do they already have in mind what they're going to pay you? Would NOT putting down a number during job interview make you look 'bad'?
 
Ok, let's roleplay a hypothetical scenario.

Let's say there is this new grad from a reputable, well established school with 5 years of hospital pharmacy experience who is familiar with most roles except Rph work. He applies for a staffing position (not clinicals!) and quotes a minimum hourly rate he's willing to work for at 55/hr (expected: 50 + 10%). As a hiring manager, what would you do? The range listed on the application is 40-60. Hire? Negotiate? Reject?

This is all new to me, so let's do some practice rounds.
 
Okay, different field, but still applicable:

I am looking for contract and per diem work as a nurse. I am mid-profession, highly competent, and should be able to command a mid to upper range rate of pay. However, my last position, where I spent several years, was paying me close to what they pay new grads. I had been too loyal to an organization that gives pathetic raises (1%), and that has a reputation for paying poorly. I had my reasons for loyalty, but it was extremely expensive in terms of wages that I could have earned elsewhere.

There are positions for which I am qualified that were recently advertising rates up to $45/hr (plus benefits, 13 week contract). When they heard what I had been making, they tried to offer me a rate in the low 20's. I compared notes with another nurse who was quoted a lot more than me. She was less experienced, but her last job had been paying her better. I held my own, explained that I knew my worth, and the offer went up close to the top of the range. That would have been acceptable, except that once I checked out the job, I realized that they couldn't pay me enough and I declined the contract.

This is business. You don't have to worry about hurting someone's feelings by asking for too much, or try to be "nice" by asking for too little. Everyone wants the best possible deal they can get. They want to pay the least amount possible for the best quality, and you want your paychecks to make you feel great about going to work.

If you see a range and say that you are willing to work at the bottom of it, you aren't going to be offered a place in the middle. Consider what salary you would be happy with, where you would feel that you were being fairly compensated for your work and that your value to the organization was being appreciated. Then add 15-20% or so to that figure and ask for that. It is reasonable to negotiate salary, and you need to have some room to give up ground without ending up underpaid. If they accept your number without any negotiation, that is a sign that you probably left some money on the table and could have asked for more.

Check out Glassdoor and Salary.com for some real figures on what others like you are getting paid. Don't ask for the minimum you would settle for, because that is probably what you will be offered, or some trivial pittance above it. HR folks will try to sell that number as "just what we are offering," as if they have no discretion. Rarely is that true. And if it is, it is better to walk away from a job that doesn't pay you decently, so that you can be free to find a better offer down the road.

The rate you get for your first job is important. Subsequent employers will look to your salary history as a relative measure of your worth, and if you set the bar low to start, it is going to cost you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars across your career.
 
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That is most helpful advice, now I got a more clear idea on how to proceed. Would it be reasonable for a new grad to quote the maximum pay rate and confidently state he can perform toe-to-toe with residency trained applicants, based on work experience and not empty words? I'm speaking of regular staffing rather than the clinical pharmacist roles.
 
That is most helpful advice, now I got a more clear idea on how to proceed. Would it be reasonable for a new grad to quote the maximum pay rate and confidently state he can perform toe-to-toe with residency trained applicants, based on work experience and not empty words? I'm speaking of regular staffing rather than the clinical pharmacist roles.

You can ask for top pay, if you truly think that you are worth it. If you are a top performer, who can provide value to your employer that greatly exceeds the rate of pay you are requesting, then absolutely ask for it. Be prepared to demonstrate, with concrete examples, why you deserve the rate you are requesting.

You might not get what you are asking for. That may be because you haven't convinced them that you are that valuable, or it might be that you would be coming in at a higher rate than what they are paying current staff, or that they feel that they could fill the position with someone else for less. In all of those instances, they are still more likely to counter offer a lower bid than to let you walk just because you asked for too much. Consider it from their standpoint. It costs a lot to attract qualified applicants. It would be foolish to allow one to slip away without even a negotiation. I think the only way to turn someone off from even wanting to negotiate is if you came in with a totally ridiculous offer. If you know they are offering 40-60 and you ask for 100-120, expect not to hear back from them. But if you roll in asking for 60, that is a situation ripe for further negotiation.

What you can't do is start with a low bid and talk them up from there. If you go in asking for the minimum, they aren't likely to volunteer to pay you much more than that out of the goodness of their hearts. If you ask for the max, you probably aren't going to get it, but you might... and you will certainly get a better offer than if you bid too low.
 
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What school you go to means nothing when hiring
 
Is it common/appropriate to ask them first, "What is the range that you offer people with my qualifications?"
 
You also have to consider total compensation packages when going from one employee to the other, that's especially difficult because a lot of the information is not easy to obtain. Inputting a salary match could actually be seen as a massive raise request if the new place has a significantly larger total comp deal.
 
I now know how to navigate the job market when it's time to go job hunting for real. I really appreciate the input, Promethean.
 
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I've always wondered what are some reliable websites to look up these data...

Glassdoor is pretty awesome. People report on what their salary and working conditions were like at various firms, in various markets. You obviously have to use your critical thinking skills, since there is potential for someone to say terrible things because they are disgruntled, or for companies to have sock puppet accounts that say wonderful things about them. So, you have to be able to take it all with a grain of salt, but you can still see trends. If 80% of reviews of a company are negative, maybe stay away, and vice versa.
 
I've looked at that before. Is it pay or something? I feel like I had a hard time accessing all the information.
Either pay or register and report your own income.
 
Okay, different field, but still applicable:

I am looking for contract and per diem work as a nurse. I am mid-profession, highly competent, and should be able to command a mid to upper range rate of pay. However, my last position, where I spent several years, was paying me close to what they pay new grads. I had been too loyal to an organization that gives pathetic raises (1%), and that has a reputation for paying poorly. I had my reasons for loyalty, but it was extremely expensive in terms of wages that I could have earned elsewhere.

There are positions for which I am qualified that were recently advertising rates up to $45/hr (plus benefits, 13 week contract). When they heard what I had been making, they tried to offer me a rate in the low 20's. I compared notes with another nurse who was quoted a lot more than me. She was less experienced, but her last job had been paying her better. I held my own, explained that I knew my worth, and the offer went up close to the top of the range. That would have been acceptable, except that once I checked out the job, I realized that they couldn't pay me enough and I declined the contract.

This is business. You don't have to worry about hurting someone's feelings by asking for too much, or try to be "nice" by asking for too little. Everyone wants the best possible deal they can get. They want to pay the least amount possible for the best quality, and you want your paychecks to make you feel great about going to work.

If you see a range and say that you are willing to work at the bottom of it, you aren't going to be offered a place in the middle. Consider what salary you would be happy with, where you would feel that you were being fairly compensated for your work and that your value to the organization was being appreciated. Then add 15-20% or so to that figure and ask for that. It is reasonable to negotiate salary, and you need to have some room to give up ground without ending up underpaid. If they accept your number without any negotiation, that is a sign that you probably left some money on the table and could have asked for more.

Check out Glassdoor and Salary.com for some real figures on what others like you are getting paid. Don't ask for the minimum you would settle for, because that is probably what you will be offered, or some trivial pittance above it. HR folks will try to sell that number as "just what we are offering," as if they have no discretion. Rarely is that true. And if it is, it is better to walk away from a job that doesn't pay you decently, so that you can be free to find a better offer down the road.

The rate you get for your first job is important. Subsequent employers will look to your salary history as a relative measure of your worth, and if you set the bar low to start, it is going to cost you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars across your career.


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