Natalia, Author at The Career Success Doctor

How To Answer Salary Questions In A Job Interview

Written by Natalia

Many job seekers feel uncomfortable when asked salary questions in a job interview. I had a phone call today from a friend who is currently searching for a new job, and he told me he landed two interviews last week. That’s excellent news! And then the question arose: “The recruiter asked me about my salary expectations. What’s the proper answer to this question?”

It is a fact that interview questions like “what are your salary expectations?” are considered to be among the difficult ones. You really have to be careful because your answer could either lead you to miss a good opportunity if the wage you propose is too low, or even miss the job if it’s too high. Other trick questions like this could be “what was your last salary?”, or “would you be willing to take a lower pay than what you were getting in your previous job?”.
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So, how should you answer salary interview questions?

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Research

First of all, it is vital to do your research before the interview. This means that you have to learn as much as you can about the company including its compensation policies. A web search will help you with this if you do not know any of the employees in person. In addition, Ellen Gordon Reeves, the author of ‘Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?’ proposes to go straight to the source: “You can call the HR department of a company and simply say, ‘I saw a job advertised at your company and I’m wondering what the entry-level salary is for this department.’”

Of course, I am assuming here that you have already done your homework, and you know what salary to expect for this position according to the industry, your location, skills and experience.

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Diplomacy

Unless you are a psychic, you can’t possibly know the exact figure the recruiter has in mind. That’s why it is a good idea to give a diplomatic answer ‘throwing the ball back’ to the interviewer. Don’t be too open though (like “I’m willing to take whatever you give”), as you don’t want to sound weak.

A good example could be saying that you need more information about the job responsibilities before discussing salary. You could also ask the interviewer back what the company typically offers to someone with your qualifications, or what is budgeted for this position.

Always remember that what we say is not the only important thing. How we say it is quite significant as well. Your body language, your voice, your pauses and the way you talk are crucial to communicate your message. You don’t want to sound aggressive, right?

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Set a range

If they insist on a figure from you, it is best if you reply with a range. This will give you room for negotiation in case what you have in mind does not agree with what the company is offering. This is where all the research you have done becomes handy.

You could say something like “Based on the industry rates, my skill-set and previous experience, my requirements are in the $55.000 – $60.000 range, depending on the scope of work. Is that the range you had in mind?”

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Room for negotiation

Supposing you did your homework, the range you proposed was an acceptable one. Nevertheless, you will probably be offered a salary closer to the low end of your range. That is why it is wise to structure your proposal in a way that there is room for a counter-offer, in case you are not happy with the compensation the recruiter suggests. Lisa Gates in her article on The Daily Muse explains perfectly how to wiggle.

Negotiation conversations are made up of anchors (putting a number on the table), counteroffers, and concessions. Simplifying wildly, you need to know two things—your target (what you really want) and your reservation point (your walkaway or resentment number).

Remember to never try to negotiate anything until there really is an offer on the table.

Also, don’t forget that salary is not the only aspect of a job offer. Bonuses, employee benefits, or even share percentages are also parts of the package. If the benefits are more than you had expected, maybe a slightly lower salary isn’t so bad. On the other hand, if they are less you could use that as a justification for a higher salary.

For further reading on how to answer salary questions in a job interview, I have two more articles for you:
– The first one is by Aimee Bateman on Undercover Recruiter
– The second one, on BioSpace, by Carole Martin, provides some really good examples of Q&A’s

A Job Offer You Don’t Like? 5 Things To Consider Before Accepting

Written by Natalia

When you’re searching for a new job, chances are that you won’t like every job offer you get. Maybe the salary is lower than your standards, the required working hours don’t leave you any time for your family, or the company culture doesn’t suit you.

It is completely normal not to like each and every job offer you have. We all have our preferences.

However, there are times that people choose to accept a job offer they don’t really like. Sometimes it is due to financial reasons, especially if they are searching for a job for a long time and their savings account is getting lower. Another reason would be that their job hunt has lasted more than a couple of months and they have lost their self-confidence. In difficult times it’s easy to lose hope and feel desperate.

Nevertheless, whatever the reasons are that drive us to accept a less-than-ideal job offer, we should never forget the power of negotiation. You’ll never know what you could have accomplished if you don’t at least try!

Of course, there’s also the option to turn it down. Sometimes, a greater opportunity could be just around the corner. If you can afford to wait for it and chase it, it might be the best move.

If you are in a situation like this, trying to decide what to do, Heather Huhman, in her article in Glassdoor, suggests 5 things to consider before accepting a job offer you don’t like.

“Imagine you’ve just finished interviewing with several employers. Out of all of the interviews, you received one job offer. It wasn’t exactly what you wanted. Do you accept it?

If you’ve experienced a long-term job search, you’re probably feeling like you should take what you can get. But when you encounter offers you don’t completely love, you must ask yourself if you will accept the job offer, attempt to negotiate, or wait for a better opportunity to come along.”

Read the whole article here: “5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Accepting a Job Offer You Don’t Love”

Success And Happiness: What Is The Connection? Which Comes First?

Written by Natalia

If you have attended our free webinar “How To Have A Career That Really Works For You”, you already know the truth about success and happiness and how they are connected.

The fact is that it doesn’t apply to career success only, but in every aspect of your life, as well.

So, what’s the connection between success and happiness? Which comes first?

We all have heard phrases like “If only I could get a raise! Then I would be happy”. Chances are we have all made similar thoughts.

We are raised to believe that if we succeed, then we will be happy. And every time we achieve our goal, we make a new one. And we convince ourselves that once we achieve that one too, then happiness is ours! And this goes on and on forever.

But that’s a myth! The truth is exactly the opposite: Happiness leads to success! You will be successful, if you have joy and positivity in your life. You might achieve success when you are unhappy, but it won’t last. Sustainable success comes from happiness.

Lenka Lutonska in her article in ‘Advantage Woman’, discusses the same topic and provides some facts based on scientific studies about how happiness drives success in every part of our lives.

– Journals from a convent of 180 nuns showed that the nuns who shared joyful content lived nearly 10 years longer than the nuns whose entries were negative or neutral
– Unhappy employees take 1.25 sick days per month or 15 extra sick days per year
– Happy people make 37% more sales
– Happiness increases productivity by 31%, and accuracy on tasks by 19%.

When we are happy, our brain becomes more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, healthier, resilient and productive. We attract effortlessly good things, people and circumstances into our lives, and achieve our goals – big or small – with ease.

Read the whole article here: “Success or Happiness – Which Comes First?”

Shawn Achor, the CEO of Good Think Inc. and the author of two best-sellers -“Happiness Advantage” and “Before Happiness”-, spent over a decade researching and lecturing at Harvard University on positive psychology and the connection between success and happiness.

According to Shawn, happiness leads to long-term quantifiable positive change. In his article for CNN, “Is happiness the secret of success?” he states:

“Scientifically, happiness is a choice. It is a choice about where your single processor brain will devote its finite resources as you process the world. If you scan for the negative first, your brain literally has no resources left over to see the things you are grateful for or the meaning embedded in your work. But if you scan the world for the positive, you start to reap an amazing advantage.”

To find out more about this research, I encourage you to watch his popular TED Talk “The happy secret to better work” on the video below.

If 75% of job successes are predicted by our optimism levels and our brain at positive performs significantly better, then the first thing we should do in order to be successful, is to get our state of mind right.

As the psychologist says, “your intelligence rises, your creativity rises, your energy levels rise. In fact, what we’ve found is that every single business outcome improves”.

Now that we’ve learnt how happiness and success are connected, and that happiness actually fuels success, the next step is to change our mindset.

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If you need any help on what to do to change your mindset, claim your spot on our free webinar.

Female Leadership: The Most Undervalued Traits

Written by Natalia

It’s not such a long time ago that we wrote about a piece of research on female leadership , where we saw that people have actually started to recognise women as leaders. After our last post on Top Qualities Of Effective Leaders, I wanted to come back on the subject of female leadership. And, believe me, not without reason!

I received an email on Monday night telling me I had to read a great article published some days ago on Forbes. To be completely honest with you, even as I’m writing this, I have already read the article 4 times! And every time I see in it more people I recognise; traits of women I look up to, role models, even relatives. Glenn Llopis, the author, has written the most comprehensive article on women’s psychology and way of thinking I’ve read for a long time. And from my point of view, the most extraordinary thing is that it is written by a man.

“I was surrounded by strong-willed, hardworking and purpose-driven women. It is through their leadership that the traditions, values and legacy of our family have been upheld. My grandmother, mother, wife, and sister-in-law all possess natural leadership skills and they are masters of opportunity management – seamlessly keeping us all in check while running the family household and at the same time supporting our family businesses. They have taught me that a woman’s instincts and emotional intelligence can be off the chart. They seamlessly manage crisis and change and are turnaround experts – sensing and neutralizing any signs of danger well before it invades our path. It is because of the women in our family that we are well-organized, full of love, spiritually aligned and well-balanced. We are by no means a perfect family, but we are a modern family who embraces traditions even as we adapt to changing times.”

I could almost feel you nodding while you were reading that. And even for our male readers I bet it was difficult not to think of their mother, their sister, their wife. Throughout this article, you will see attributes of almost every woman you have ever known.

These attributes are what makes women great leaders. We are born with these characteristics. These traits are in our genes. It’s up to us to make use of these traits and become the leaders we were meant to be.

Although there has been a huge improvement over the last years on rejecting gender stereotypes that want women not to be “leader material”, we have a long road ahead of us. But we can’t expect the world to see things differently, unless we teach them how to see things from another perspective. We have to show them they are wrong. We have to show them that female leadership is not just a ‘trendy’ phrase, nor a joke. If we want to change the world, we have to show them that women can be great leaders!

Read the article here: “The Most Undervalued Leadership Traits Of Women”

I’ll close with the author’s last two sentences with the hope his wish comes true: “Rarely have I read something from a man who has been inspired and influenced by the wisdom of a woman’s leadership. Hopefully this perspective helps awaken more of us to the opportunity of learning about leadership from the women in our lives, whether in the home or at work.”

Write A Different Love Letter For Valentine’s Day

Written by Natalia

Chances are you’ve already written a card or a love letter for Valentine’s Day. It’s tomorrow after all! And I’m pretty sure that this wasn’t your first time.

However, this year I want to challenge you to do something that I’m certain you haven’t done before.

I know you are familiar with the whole “process”. Buying chocolates, flowers, teddy bears, or cute heart-shaped gifts and writing a card or a love letter for Valentine’s Day. It’s a way of showing your feelings to your loved ones. Whether it is your spouse, your boyfriend, or anyone else (I used to buy a card for my mum when I was little). But are you sure you are not forgetting anyone? (Hint: No, I don’t mean your school sweetheart that you don’t talk to anymore)

Don’t you think that in this big celebration of Love you ought to remember the person you should love the most? That’s right, YOU are the one you should care for and love more than anyone else. And you should praise that love. I know what you’re thinking; no, it’s not egocentricity.

You know and understand yourself better than anyone else does. You are together forever for Heaven’s sake! If you don’t love you, you can’t expect others to do it for you. We spend so much time waiting for others to love us for who we are, but we forget to love ourselves. How will anybody else love you if you can’t stand or judge yourself, or think that you’re not enough?

Self-love is the road to happiness and success. It is the road to freedom. If we don’t learn self-love first, we can’t truly love anyone else. We need to love us first, before we are able to love someone else. Let me borrow a famous quote:

“You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love & affection.” – Buddha

I know that despite the self-judgement, insecurity and vulnerability, you do care for yourself. Isn’t it time to show that affection? Grab a pen and a piece of paper and do yourself this favour. Write yourself a love letter for Valentine’s Day. Your inner-self will be grateful, and you won’t regret it! Take a few moments to free your mind and don’t forget to be completely honest. No one else will see it! Make this year, the first year to a more sincere and affectionate relationship with yourself. And help yourself build your confidence too.

I’ll leave you with a video uploaded by the SoulPancake team. These people wrote love letters to themselves, and the result gives a lot of food for thought. Enjoy!

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