I recently interviewed for a leadership position at a digital media company with 5 people in the room including the CEO. The CEO asked most of the questions and for the most part I did a great job answering them. He had a smile on his face during my answers and even said things like “we’re impressed, the interest is mutual, we’ll definitely be circling back.”
Then it came time to ask me what I expect to be paid. I asked for a number $20k higher than the company’s average salary listed on GlassDoor, but the amount was still $20k less than the median salary of the job title. This is a leadership position that requires monthly travel, I wasn’t going to accept it for peanuts. The call ended shortly after this question.
3 weeks later and I haven’t heard anything. Sent a thank you email, a follow up email, no response. The interview went well and my background is clean so my only guess is that they think I asked for too much money.
How about you look up the average salary for the position you’re looking to fill so you don’t oversell a job you’re unable to afford?? These lowball companies have no idea what they’re doing. If you want to hire the right candidate, you have to be willing to pay what they’re worth.
Moving forward I don’t think I’ll ever give companies a number again when they ask. Instead I’ll just cite the average income for the position they’re looking to fill so they can look like idiots when they realize it’s too much money.