I’m often asked by my clients when it’s appropriate to discuss their salary expectations in the interview process.  This can be especially tricky if you are out of work and do not have another job offer to use as leverage.  In particular, many job candidates are afraid of leaving too much money on the table by not asking for enough pay or, conversely, being disqualified because they are asking for too much.   

While the best time to discuss your pay requirements is when you have determined the prospective employer is truly serious about preparing an offer, you may not have that option.  For instance, if you are asked early in the interviewing process what you are expecting to earn, you may want to try to reverse the inquiry by asking, “Would you mind giving me an idea of the range for the position?”  Unless the range is significantly below what you would accept, you should let them know it seems fair given what you know about the job so far.  If the attempt to reverse the question is unsuccessful, offer a range spanning from your bare minimum to what you really hope to get and add, “It really depends on the responsibilities and scope of the position.”  You can get a sense for what represents a competitive range for your job and profession by going to websites such as monster.salary.com, cbsalary.com and payscale.com. 

However, never refuse to provide specific details about your current or previous compensation plan!  Doing so risks coming across as arrogant or combative and it could result in the abrupt end of your candidacy.  I have literally ended interviews on the spot when candidates refused to answer this question.  Why?  I simply wasn’t going to risk wasting my time or others in the organization unless I thought we had a good chance of ultimately making an offer the candidate would accept.