How to answer the salary expectations question

Sooner or later an application form or an interviewer asks what you expect to be paid. A number chosen on the spot can work against you, so prepare the answer the way you prepare the rest of your application: from research. This guide gives no salary figures of its own, because pay depends on the country, the sector, the role and your experience.

Research the range first

Harvard's career office advises exploring the typical salaries in your field and location for someone at your level of experience, and MIT's advice is to find appropriate ranges through online sources and your network. For the region, three kinds of source help:

• Official statistics: in Saudi Arabia, the General Authority for Statistics' Labor Force Survey publishes average wages for employees.
• Recruiters' salary guides: Hays, for example, publishes an annual salary guide for the Gulf region. Note the year and the country of any figure you rely on.
• People in your field: ask colleagues and contacts what the role usually pays, and treat each answer as one data point, not the answer.

Weigh the whole package, not only the basic salary

MIT's advice is to look at the total compensation package, not just the salary. In the Gulf this matters in practice, because the law separates the basic wage from allowances, and some entitlements are calculated on one part only:

• Saudi Arabia: the Labor Law defines a basic wage, and an actual wage that adds other due increments and allowances; and the law lets an employer replace housing or transport with an appropriate cash allowance paid with the wage, as the ministry explains.
• The UAE: the end-of-service gratuity is calculated on the last basic salary, so it does not include allowances such as housing or transport.

So when you name a figure, say whether it is the basic salary or the total, and ask how the package is split.

On an application form

Some forms ask for a figure before any conversation. Yale's career office suggests a broad range consistent with the going market rate, based on your research, and Harvard warns that some employers may default to offering the lower end of the range you give — so make the bottom of your range a figure you would accept. If the form allows it, add a short note that the figure depends on the full package.

In the interview

• Harvard's advice is to hold the salary conversation until you have an offer, or can reasonably expect one.
• If you are asked early, you can say your salary requirements are negotiable and that you would be happy to discuss a fair salary as you learn more about the role, as Yale suggests.
• If the interviewer keeps pressing, Harvard suggests asking what range they have budgeted for the position.
• If you then give a range, say what it rests on: the market data you found and what the role involves.

Practise the answer out loud

MIT's career office recommends answering sample interview questions out loud, on your own or with a trusted peer. Say your range and the reason for it until it sounds calm and plain.

Doing it in Tabhar

• Rehearse with interview practice on the Pro and Elite plans: the questions are written from your CV and the job description, and each typed answer is scored on six criteria, with a model answer.
• Tailor your CV to the job first, so the value you describe in the interview matches what the employer has read.
• Save the job description with your CV, so you can reread what the role involves before you name a figure.

Before you answer

• You have a researched range, with the year and the country of each figure behind it.
• You know whether you are quoting the basic salary or the total package.
• The bottom of your range is a figure you would accept.
• You have practised the answer out loud.

Hiring practices differ between employers and change over time. When a job posting gives instructions, follow them.