Asking for increased salary at a job interview

[Ladybird20201]

Hi all,

Just gathering thoughts and opinions regarding a job interview tomorrow.

I have an interview tomorrow, the pay they are offering on the advertisement is about 5k too low annually to cover my mortgage and bills, so I'm hoping they would be open to negotiating a higher salary if they take me on.
I've never asked for offered salary to be negotiated so I am unsure how to do this and if it's acceptable so looking for experience and opinions.
Would it be unreasonable to ask for 5k more than what they are offering? It will just cover my mortgage and bills. As it's already 5k higher I feel asking for even more would be even more unreasonable, and I'm nervous about even asking for this. Has anyone done this at an interview and is it a completely unreasonable amount to ask for from what was advertised?
Has anyone done this before?
Thank you x

Why would anyone attend an interview not knowing what the salary is? A pp upthread suggests pretending not to know...

Why would anyone attend an interview not knowing what the salary is?

Because many employers are very coy about advertising their salaries and when I was last job hunting it was a massive PITA and wasted a lot of time for both parties.

Also with my last job they asked what salary I was after and I was quite bold (for once in my life) and asked for an amount. They offered about 80% of that with a review in 6 months. I accepted because I could afford it and liked the company. To their credit they then whacked it up to more than I'd originally asked for. But it was a painful process!

Lots of great advice, thank you for the advice and not for attacking me, I was only asking because I was unsure what's acceptable and what isn't.

As per advice: I won't mention it until 1) if I get offered the job or 2) they mention it...

I did research and for the job role the average salary is about 4/5k higher than what they were expecting.

To those asking, as I previously mentioned, I didn't know the salary offered when I applied... I only emailed them out of the blue and it was only after digging deep that I found they posted the role for advertisement with the salary offered.

When I emailed, they responded straight away and were impressed with my qualifications, and asked for references almost straight away which is why I wondered (if they are keen after the interview) if I could possibly ask as I've never done that before so wasn't sure, I've always accepted salary that has been offered and I am not greedy, but like someone has also stated (I am one of those who will lose due to CV) I am aware many are sadly looking for a new job, but there's no point taking a job that won't see me through. On the other hand, I am keen on the role and am nervous going forth if I reject it, will I get another chance? I do feel I can bring a lot to the company given my experience and qualifications.

Sorry there were too many to tag but I appreciate those that gave me sensible and honest advice without judging. The ones that mentioned the facts about women and less pay, this is very interesting and has given me a boost of my worth. I'm saying this now with confidence but I will probably chicken out when I'm there :'-))

Because many employers are very coy about advertising their salaries and when I was last job hunting it was a massive PITA and wasted a lot of time for both parties.

These are employers who are not worth bothering with. If they are not telling you the salary it is shit.

Please do look at the women don't ask book... It's fab and a real eye opener.

Based on research

Wow! Can you go to the interview for me? 😂 @Ardnassa

I definitely will, thank you! @Iam sorry I couldn't find you to tag!

You need to wait until you have an offer.

People whinging about not going because it is what it is... give me a break. Everywhere I have worked men were paid more because they asked and women (including me) were not confident enough too. They expect negotiation.

I agree with others that interview is probably not the right place to try to negotiate salary increase above what is advertised- unless specifically asked about salary expectations. If they offer you the job, I think that is the point where you try to negotiate your salary.

Whether it’s likely you’ll be able to negotiate an additional £5k depends on a number of factors. Are there lots of people able to do this job and would this be the going rate? If yes to one or both of those, you are going to need to demonstrate why you are more (especially if yes to both). But if the role is highly skilled or niche, with fewer people able to do the job then I think you are in a stronger position. Similarly, if this salary is below average for this type of role, you may have more room to negotiate.

I think another factor may be how great an uplift you are aiming for. For example, if the advertised salary is £20k, then you are asking for a 25% increase and unless you are bringing something pretty special to the role then I doubt they’d go for it. If that £5k is, say, 2% of the advertised salary then I think you have more of a chance. I suppose it also depends on the sector- NHS has bands for instance- you could negotiate within that band but are highly unlikely to go outside of that level as they are nationally negotiated. Though I think at the top end the situation is a little different.

I've always been told that you should negotiate if you are offered the job...

I'd avoid asking in the interview, but negotiate once offered definitely. I got just shy of a 20% increase by asking for 40% more, and saying if they didn't want to pay me closer to that then I would withdraw my application. I wasn't bluffing - I was successfully self employed and didn't need to become an employee, but I wanted to trade flexibility for greater job security.

At my previous salaried job, I asked for more too -- and they agreed to a slightly raised salary with a review at 6 months, and I got that, followed by another raise 6 months after that to a higher salary than I'd asked for originally.

My sister got a 55% (!!) pay rise by asking (after 1 year).

The worst that can happen is they say no, and then you're in no worse a position than you were before. You said that the average salary for your position is around 5k higher, so go armed with that information when you negotiate.

an old boss of mine once said - "if i made a job offer to someone, I'd worry i'd made the wrong decision if they didn't negotiate on salary".

alongside that i'd add "if i interviewed someone, I'd know they were the wrong person if they already started to negotiate on salary".

the interview isn't the right time, it's just not the done thing.

an old boss of mine once said - "if i made a job offer to someone, I'd worry i'd made the wrong decision if they didn't negotiate on salary".
What a twat.

@Hingeandbracket - oh, the worst, you can't imagine. she was once interviewed on TV and her niece [accurately] apparently told her she looked like Hugh Grant. but within certain limits I'd judge her exceptionally well acquainted with the 'rules of work'.

Wait until you get an offer, then you know they want you. And if they REALLY want you, they will find the extra £5k.

I thought discussions of salary expectations were normal in an interview, at least they are in my industry. They if you get offered the job they make a salary offer which you then chose whether to accept or decline.

5k is a lot to try to negotiate. If the salary was too low then you shouldn't really have applied. You would be in with a chance if you were trying to negotiate the higher end of a pay grade such as if the salary was say £25000 -32000 but you would have to prepared to say how and why you meet the criteria. They are likely to have an identified budget and not want to go out of that. I would wait till offered the post. Trying to negotiate salary at the interview stage sounds very previous.

These are employers who are not worth bothering with. If they are not telling you the salary it is shit

This isn’t always true. My job didn’t advertise the salary. They asked me how much I was being paid in my previous job (same role - different company)
I got the job and they offered me £5000 more.

I got £6K above max salary advertised, in your shoes I would try to get the job first, if they mention salary at interview then ask for what you need. If not negotiate this at offer stage

Just to update everyone incase someone reads this in future and has the same question as me.
The interview went well, I didn't bring up salary until the end when they brought it up- turns out the salary was a lot lower than advertised because it was pro rata which wasn't mentioned on the advertisement... and also it's a band scale pay so they could only go up by so much higher.
They offered me the job straight after and said they would put me on the higher band (after I asked if the salary was negotiable) as they are really keen to have me on board and didn't want me to be put off by the salary. I was honest and said I had no idea what the salary was when I emailed.
They want to get me in as soon as possible but unfortunately the salary is so low it would only just cover my mortgage. I'm thankful that I was offered it, but will have to think about what I will do.
Nervous about not finding anything else in these uncertain times...
So anyway, the answer is what PPs posted, only bring it up when they do AND yes by all means negotiate, it did work for me however it's still sadly too low on pro rata. Unsure about what to do next!

And - Thanks all for the advice!

Sorry it didn't work out for you salary wise OP. Incidentally those who can't imagine applying/interviewing for a job where you don't know the salary. Most of the jobs in my sector say 'band" or 'scale" x or # but unless you're in that organisation it's difficult to know what that means. Other industries say 'competitive'. I applied for a job outside my industry with a grand title and appearing in the salary filter I was looking for on the jobs website. I was offered the job which was a step up in duties but was going to start me on £4k less than I'm on now! That's not competitive! So like the OP I had to decline.

Given that you have little to lose, maybe ask them if they are able to offer more hours per week as you really want the job but need to be able to cover your basic bills. You may need to do a few tasks on top of those defined in the role but worth asking.

Other industries say 'competitive'.
When they say this, it never is.