Pay to request when overqualified

[wonderstuff99]

Hi everyone,

I'm going for a job interview on Thursday that I am overqualified for (I'm a teacher and I'm going for the highest level teaching assistant post).

The pay on the advert says 19,000 - 21,000 so I was wondering if I should ask for the higher end of the payscale? I want to get what I'm worth but at the same time, would work for a little bit less if it came down to it.

I don't want to lose out to another candidate cos they could get them for £1000 less.

What do you all think? I'm a bit wary as I didn't negotiate my pay in my previous post and discovered people doing the same job were getting paid more than me.

Any opinions welcome.

I wouldn't mention it at interview. If they offer you the role, ask the salary they are offering and, if its not at what you want, express disappointment and say that you were hoping for more given your qualifications and, presumably, experience. It worked for me once upon a time (local govt, not teaching related). Bear in mind that if you are appointed at the top of the scale you won't get any increments so that will be it short of any nationally negotiated par rises which are unlikely to be significant. I understand that it's not that rare these days for qualified teachers to work as TAs so there may well be someone along soon who can give you more sector specific advice.

Thanks for the reply. I definitely wouldn't bring it up in interview but your idea sounds good.