When to talk salary...

A question that I am commonly asked relates to negotiating a salary...when is it ok for me to ask about salary?

The short answer is not until the employer mentions it - typically this will be discussed at the latter stage of the recruitment process. Employers are reluctant to go down the pathway of negotiating your salary until they are confident that you have the requisite skills, experience and personal attributes to perform in the role.

There a benefits for the candidate in waiting to negotiate a salary...namely you can leverage an employer's interest in you and negotiate a more attractive salary package. In order to do this you need to undertake some research on what the market is paying for staff in your field; knowing this serves to provide you with a ballpark - you goal is to match your salary with your experience - the http://www.hays.com.au/ have a brilliant resource in their 2010 Salary Survey - this is a great place to start your research.

The aim is to provide an employer with a realistic salary band with which to commence your salary discussions - shoot too high and you risk being eliminated from the candidate pool, shoot too low and you may be perceived as lacking commercial business acumen. I'm a big fan of the transparent approach and advocate that you share your research findings with the employer...

"My research regarding salaries for Account Executives with my experience, qualifications and track record of results suggests that I would be looking to earn between $70 000 and $80 000 per year". Tell me does this fall within your salary range?

If you've accessed the right statistical data on salary and you can show that you meet the expectations of the position, then don't be afraid to nominate the upper scale of your band; the worse thing that can happen is that an employer negotiates downwards. On the plus side, you'd be amazed at how frequently an employer will meet your salary requirements - to get the right person, with the right skill-set and the right attitude, it can be a smart investment to pay a little more...