I think I lowballed my salary expectation a little too much in an interview today. The interviewer seemed confused, even asking if it was my current salary. I quickly added $5k, but I bet it's still too low. This job has multiple interview stages, so I don't expect any offer just yet. If they do offer, can I realistically push for higher pay then? What's your advice?

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It depends on the company/hiring recruiter. My current role I asked for $120k and to my shock they offered $160k. I didn’t even realize I was lowballing myself. She was genuinely excited for me. Not all companies are trying to get people cheap. There are some who want to pay top talent what they’re worth in order to retain them.

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Nope. Just learn for next time..

What you do when they ask this questions is to counter their question with a question. It goes like this:

Recruiter: “what are your salary expectations?”
You: “First, I would like to ask what the hiring range for this position is.”
Recruiter: “it is XYZ”
You: “I believe that I am comfortable negotiating within that range.”

IF recruiter says:
Recruiter: “We don’t have a salary range for this position.”
You: “Please come back to me and let me know when the salary range has been communicated.”

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Unfortunately they've noted your salary expectation. If you get further into the interview process you'll just have to work with it or at the end mention that you realize the role requires more so you want to up your salary. Next time I would go in prepared with researched salary.

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They will not forget that u said that unfortunately but definitely try to negotiate up

Not true, good companies have a fair market value for a role and will pay you that, especially if there are similar roles in the company.

There's no business incentive in paying good talent below market rates. Frictional costs from unwanted attrition are enormous (in talent fields). A smart company will offer market rate (or better).

As a former hiring manager, I would be worried about the professionalism of a candidate who asked for a below market number... are they so disconnected that they don't know comp norms? why are they so desperate to leave their current post? why are they so behind on salary trajectory?

These can all be mitigated with the right narrative. The onus is now on you to tell it.

Our rule of thumb was that churn cost 1-years annual comp in frictional expenses (onboarding time, 6-12 months until they were productive, lost institutional knowledge). Adverse selection (losing your beat people) would amplify any costs 2-3x over.

Why introduce these costs or risks through a stupid effort to save 10 or 20% through lowballed comp?

You can still negotiate at the offer stage. Most places expect it, at least in my experience. If you get an offer, that's when you really lay out what you need.

I think you can always try to negotiate up but starting lower will make it more difficult. Not impossible though

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