How can I recover from too high salary expectations through follow up email?

Question

I recently had a phone interview, where the recruiter told that my salary expectations were too high. I responded in the phone call saying that I was willing to negotiate. Would it be wise to reiterate that I'm willing to negotiate again in my thank you email to the recruiter?

Answer 1

Would it be wise to reiterate that I'm willing to negotiate again in my thank you email to the recruiter?

There isn't a great outcome from this. You say you're willing to negotiate, but are you taking a substantial pay cut? You'll hurt yourself if you take a job below your market rate. Or did you just throw a high number out there hoping the company would go for it? This will make you seem opportunistic and will hurt your final negotiations if you get there.

I recommend doing your research to discover your market rate and state that you want around 10% higher than that number. You can pick a different percentage higher, but I usually do 10% higher because it's not too much higher and I can negotiate down some if need be.

I've had recruiters react negatively to my salary expectations saying it was too high, but sometimes it's just a tactic to get you to work for less. For a second I believed them too, but I managed to get an offer $6K greater than what I quoted that other company.

Answer 2

There is nothing to be "recovered from", you're not at any "fault".

It is as simple as your expectation did not match up with that of the company's (or sometimes, safe to say, the recruiter's). There's no "fault" of yours.

There's two possible outcome:

• They will get back to you with your terms accepted.
• They will get back to you with a regret message.

In case the former, we're okay. In case the latter happens, understand this - if they are not willing to negotiate (or, open up a negotiation channel) and proceed to rejection straightaway, during the interview phase itself, how are they going to listen to your side once you're employed?

In case they propose to open a communication channel for (re)-negotiation, you can go ahead with the negotiation, but remember, do not sell yourself short, you'll never be happy working if you feel you're underpaid. No one wins if in a relationship one party is not happy.

Would it be wise to reiterate that I'm willing to negotiate again in my thank you email to the recruiter?

I'd stay away if I were you. You already informed about the willingness to negotiate in the last call. Do not give further reason to push down the salary reduction upon you.