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By Micki Auten
Nothing says financial literacy and career like Salary Negotiations. Micki Auten, an expert on the subject, answers a few of your most pressing questions.
What resources can help me understand salary expectations?
It can be challenging to find good market data for jobs, but you can get a gauge from tools like Glassdoor.com and Salary.com. (Keep in mind that it is more important to compare and match your job duties than your title when using Salary.com or any tool like it).
As with anything, these resources are only as good as the data compiled within them, but having a general idea of what a job commands in a specific geographic area can be helpful in figuring out where your skills, education and experience will fit into the pay range offered by the company. You can gauge if you should be advocating for yourself to receive between the 25th percentile and median or higher.
I previously worked in an area with a high cost of living. On the application I have to list my salary, but I feel like it will cause employers in this area to avoid contacting me.
You have to be truthful or risk an employer checking and finding that you didn’t disclose or you misrepresented yourself. Make sure that you indicate your understanding of the differences in location and your openness to other salary ranges corresponding to the job for that area in your application or cover letter.
I'm uncomfortable talking about money in the interview; how can I avoid the question?
It is understandable to be uncomfortable talking about money, but it is a part of the process for you to be paid fairly as well as for the employer to determine if your salary expectation is significantly divergent from what they offer.