How to Answer “What Are Your Salary Expectations?” During a Job Interview

It’s increasingly common for employers to ask for your salary expectations early in the hiring process, with some hiring managers even asking you to include a salary range in your cover letter or online application form. While there is plenty of advice out there telling you not to give a number until you are further along in the application process, the truth is you might not be able to move forward at all if you don’t. With this in mind, how should you determine what number to give?

On US News and World Report – Careers, career expert Alison Green tackles this issue by highlighting a few tips to keep in mind when an employer asks for your salary expectations at the beginning of the hiring process. Here are three tips that stood out to us:

#1: Do your research

Too many nonprofit professionals think about the salary they need to pay the bills as opposed to a fair market value for the specific role, their experience, and their skillset. While it's thoughtful to consider an organization's budget during your job search, it's also important that you don't sell yourself short.

Tools like Idealist's Nonprofit Salary Explorer allow social-impact professionals to explore what real people are earning across the sector. If you want to see what fellow nonprofit staff members in your role are earning at organizations of a different size or located in a different city, simply input your title and years of experience.

Our salary calculator tool is also great for conducting research on future roles you'd like to have. Maybe you'll discover that taking the next step in your career is likely to give you a 20-30% salary bump—make sure to put that number instead of an arbitrary one into any application that asks for your salary expectations.

#2: Make sure your happy with the range you share

Once you've figured out an appropriate salary range for the jobs you're applying for, make sure that it's actually what you want to be earning. If you give a wide range like $60,000 to $80,000, then you shouldn't be surprised when an organization offers you the lower end of your expectations.

If working through these two steps makes you realize that you're unhappy with your ideal job's salary number, it may be time to reevaluate your career journey. We have plenty of tools and resources to help you discover what you'd like to do next:

• Designing Your Dream Career is a free four-part email course to help you advance your social-impact career.
• The Idealist Grad School Fair is the perfect way to connect with representatives from the best social-impact graduate programs around the world. RSVP now to attend our free fair and find out whether grad school is right for you.
• Our Perfect Resume Roadmap will help you tell the story of your career in a way that weaves your interests, goals, and experiences in a compelling way.

#3: Don't be afraid to walk away

You've done your research, made sure you're happy with the number, and shared your salary expectations with a hiring manager—anddddd they can't meet your number. There are a couple of ways you can approach this less-than-ideal situation, particularly if you're far along in the hiring process:

1. Consider whether additional benefits can make up for the lower salary number. It's possible that flex time, additional PTO, or professional development opportunities will mean more to you in the long run than an extra $5k—only you can know for sure.
2. Don't be afraid to walk away. It can be difficult to walk away from a job that you're genuinely excited about, but if the organization's compensation package isn't fair and cannot work for you, then there's little choice you have in the matter. Hopefully, your feedback can help the organization reevaluate their offerings or change up the job description for the role they're hiring for; until then, continue your job search on idealist.org to find a better fit.

Remember, your worth is not just a number—it's a reflection of your skills, experience, and the value you bring to the organization. Sharing your salary expectations early in the hiring process can be challenging, but with the right approach, you'll be able to navigate this crucial step confidently.