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I'm applying for my boss's job this week, since she's leaving the company. The application process has a field for salary expectation to see if, "... our expectations are in line."
Should I put anything in this field? I'd rather try and get them to give me a number first, and go from there. Is that bad form?
The application process has a field for salary expectation to see if "our expectations are in line". Should I put anything in this field?
Unless this is a required field, you should skip it.
The intent is to see if the expectations are in line. But that really only applies to unknown applicants.
This company already knows you and already knows what you are currently making, so you don't need to provide your salary expectation, since the implied amount would be "more than I am making now, and closer to my former bosses salary".
They already know both numbers.
I've never seen that on a job form and probably would decide it's a survey. If they specifically ask it's probably best to put in a number. In your case it's a known position up for grabs, and you probably don't know your bosses pay. So if you don't want to give them a range, then just fill it in with 'Negotiable'
Whether it is a required field on the form or not, I have never seen a candidate who had no idea of what salary to expect. If the company/manager/hiring person is not going to mention a salary, the candidate will eventually almost always be forced to mention one, or risk not getting an offer.
So, my advice on this matter is to not fight it, and always be ready with a good number. You can make the range a bit broader if you like, but try making it too broad like 50-100K a year, and you will be spotted right away as trying to be too smart. Just because you mention a range like 60-70K doesn't mean that you will be given the shorter end of it, and plenty of times, employers will even exceed your upper range because that is where their typical salaries are.
Then, there are other kinds of employers who never ask what your expectation is, what range you want, etc, etc, and simply give a hard offer with a number in it, take it or leave it.
[Making this as a community wiki so people can chime in as well.]
Required or not, you should at least put a number there. Leaving a blank does not leave a good impression. (It makes the employer thinks that you can't make up a decision)
However, it is expected of you to at least research the norm salary the job offers currently and deduct a few hundreds from it before filling in. Of course, depending on the company, such as MNCs, you can increase the number but please match it with the confidence you displayed in interviews.
