June 19, 2003 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Q. When a prospective employer requests salary requirements in a cover letter, how should they be listed?
A. That’s one of the stickiest questions that you’ll face when you’re searching for a job. On the one hand, you don’t want to price yourself out of a job you want; on the other, you don’t want to undersell yourself. When an employer asks for salary requirements, they’re usually looking for a way to weed out candidates that they can’t afford, says Janet Sellwood, director of human resources at the Children’s Aid Society, in New York.
“If your requirement is too high, you may not be selected for an interview and will have no opportunity to sell yourself,” she says. “And if it is too low, it will be almost impossible to negotiate upwards.”
Since you probably don’t know how much is budgeted for the job you want, it’s best to tactfully avoid mentioning a number for as long as possible, Ms. Sellwood advises. Obviously, this means that if you’re not specifically asked for salary requirements, you shouldn’t bring it up yourself. (See this recent Philanthropy Careers story for more advice along these lines.)
But since you were asked specifically for salary requirements, the worst thing you that you can do is simply ignore the request.
“To just say nothing is a black mark against you, because it seems like you didn’t read the advertisement carefully,” says Ms. Sellwood.
Instead, she suggests that you say something like, “My salary requirements are flexible and I will be happy to discuss them at an interview,” or “I will be better able to determine my salary requirement when I have learned more about the position,” or “My salary requirements will depend on several factors, such as benefits and future prospects.”
The only reason to name your price: if you have a minimum salary that you will not go below under any circumstances, she says, but adds, “if this is the case, you should probably not be applying to a nonprofit organization.”
