Approached by in house recruiter for dream job - how to play initial conversation

[Llamasally]

This has never happened to me before so would appreciate any advice. This week I received a message out of the blue from a company I’ve always admired and wanted to work for, looking for a role which is a very good fit and asking if I’m interested. We are having an initial chat about the role tomorrow.

Firstly, the info she sent (privately, it’s a senior role and not advertised) mentions a competitive remuneration package. If I’m asked for my salary expectation- seeing as I haven’t applied to a role spec - how should I play it? On the flip side, if the question isn’t asked, in this circumstance would it be acceptable for me to ask for the salary range or is that too early (ie not at interview stage yet). My feeling is they have approached me and this is fine, but I have no experience of this and can hardly ask colleagues.

My next challenge is I’ve just agreed a return PT from maternity leave in my current organisation. Do I mention this?? I think if it came down to it and this job was FT or nothing I’d take it, as I wouldn’t want to miss out on the opportunity, but I do really want to stay on 4 days and have a better work life balance. This also impacts the package expectation side - do I think in terms of full time or my current 4 days remuneration?

I’m really excited about this but I am frying my brain and actually just want to come across as confident and assured, which is certainly not how I feel about the whole thing!

How exciting! I'm not senior enough to have much idea but bumping for you.

Just be honest about what you want and see if you can research salaries for equivalent roles elsewhere.
Remember you won’t be the only person they’re approaching and just because they’ve come to you, it’s not something you have to take, or even have the skills to do effectively.
Sometimes recommending someone more suitable will stand in your favour as you’ll be remembered and they’ll come back to you again.

@Bringmeadog no this is definitely a good fit for me in terms of the role itself. But good to remember they will have approached others as you say. Trying not to get too excited!

I think they will probably ask about your salary expectations so you need to think very carefully about that as it’s more difficult to renegotiate once you’ve put out a figure.

With regards to the part time; I would mention this but also say that you are flexible - if you are. It’s always good to be upfront about this kind of subject and see what the feedback is. If they say it’s not an option; you know from the offset.

If it's an initial chat, I would keep it focussed on the job itself, ask for more information about what's involved in the job, when is it available, what experience are they looking for. Give some relevant information about yourself and your experience so they can see that you are a good match. And be sure to be enthusiastic, you will not be the only person approached so you want to clearly show your interest.
As an initial chat, I would not bring up salary, but if they ask you I would flip the question back to them and ask what the salary range is and/or suggest a salary negotiation could be done later on if you are interviewed formally.
As for hours, if I understand you post, your part time is four full days? That's not a huge difference from full time so I wouldn't even mention it until you are actually in an application process, but then would mention it before an interview if invited for one.
Good luck! It's so nice to be headhunted.

Interesting @perimenofertility about your thoughts on PT 4 days - I thought this might be a big issue. It was a tough negotiation in my current organisation!

If it's a senior role and a chat with the recruiter rather than the actual hiring manager, I would ask about salary band and benefits package casually before they get a chance to ask you. You may ask for way less that they are prepared to pay if asked to put a figure on it first (tends to be the way). Equally you may both have completely opposite ends of the spectrum expectations, in which case better to find out now than to waste time on interviews.

Personally I'd be factual by saying you currently do 4 days and what you could negotiate on, e.g. specific working hours or days etc. Normally they'll still discuss FT wage and pro-rate for hours at the offer stage. Again I think it's better to be upfront because if they are totally against reduced hours etc then you know before wasting time doing the interview (and tbh without good explanation as to why, would be a red flag about the company anyway).

I work in HR but do recruitment and prefer for things like this to come up sooner rather than later for everyones sake.

Good luck

I've recruited people this way and been recruited this way:

1. It might be a chat but it's still an interview

1. It's highly likely that she's a gatekeeper, with a checklist to tick off that will get you through the door - depending on the place, could be about a few key skills, your industry connections, or culture/value alignment, but it could also be availability and salary expectations (not always at a senior level, but in my company we now try to talk general salary bands earlier rather than later, as it avoids wasting anyone's time)

1. If they do talk salary, really try to get them to say it first. If they ask what you are looking for, you can say have a planned phrase e.g. "As I've not been actively looking, I'd like to learn a bit more about the role and the market before setting my expectations. What is the range you are looking at?" Most will tell you at that point. Also - you should never have to say at interview what you're currently earning. It entrenches inequality, among other things, given that women and people from underrepresented groups tend to be paid less for the same work. If they say "our range is £x-£yk, what are you currently on?", you can say "in my next role I am looking for y" or "that sounds right given the expectations" or something else (unless it's below what you want, in which case say that).

1. Also, don't mention part time until it gets closer to the end, if you're looking at 4 days and open to 5. I say at second round that flexibility is really important to me or similar. I interviewed last year and had 2 offers, both were open to part time after offer - I said in both cases that I could do 5 days but was currently on 4, both were open to 4 days. In some ways being senior can help, because you'll often be doing some extra anyway, they're less concerned that you'll be unreachable after 5.02pm on a Thursday. The downside of that is occasionally having to take a Friday meeting, but it works for me.

1. It's not quite as much a candidate's market as it was before Christmas, but it's still crazy out there. You should feel confident, and with 5%+ inflation, don't undersell yourself! Do get some sleep though

Good luck tomorrow.

@Llamasally

Interesting *@perimenofertility* about your thoughts on PT 4 days - I thought this might be a big issue. It was a tough negotiation in my current organisation!

@Llamasally If you were asking for 2.5 days instead of 5 I'd think yes that's part time and needing a conversation, but 4 days is really not much different to 5, especially if you can do some home-working for extra focus, for example. Perhaps it varies by job/industry. I'm in the civil service, pretty much everyone I work with does some form of flexible working - reduced hours, or compressed hours, or home working, or working around school pick up, etc. It's not even really a negotiation, you ask for what you want and as long as the work can be done it's fine.

Wow thanks for all the great advice, really appreciate it

@OverTheRubicon that’s a great way to flip it round, I’ll keep that in the bank 😊

I’ve been head hunted for a number of serious roles and of course recruited my own teams. As a general rule salary is not discussed until after offer.

Almost certainly the person conducting the initial chat and the functional interviewers won’t know what the salary is, because it’s a complex question that depends on so many variables.

In my experience this is something HR manage but only after you’re really serious with a candidate .

Regarding part time, as someone had already said this person is the gatekeeper, your objective is to get through the gate. Since you’d want to take the role even if FT, don’t mention it until much later when they love you and are committed to the idea of hiring you.

Good luck.

I’ve been head hunted for a number of serious roles and of course recruited my own teams. As a general rule salary is not discussed until after offer
Has that been recent? Especially in the current market, we are usually sounding out or even talking to potential recruits about salary in the early stages, junior roles usually at the HR screen but even high six figures possibly when being told about first round success, because some expectations are so high in this market, and there's no point wasting anyone's time with a long process if the numbers are too far apart.

How was the interview OP?

Has that been recent? Especially in the current market, we are usually sounding out or even talking to potential recruits about salary in the early stages

I haven’t looked at a role since pre covid but I’ve recruited a number of senior positions to my team in past 24 mths and don’t think salary has ever come up until offer stage.

Plus the base salary is one element, stock options, RSUs, bonuses & other allowances all of which can vary massively need to be calculated and IME that wouldn’t be done prior to offer stage.

So far so good, I’ve got through to formal interview- they asked me about my current salary, I used some of your phrasing @OverTheRubicon which ended up being incredibly helpful 😊

@Llamasally

So far so good, I’ve got through to formal interview- they asked me about my current salary, I used some of your phrasing *@OverTheRubicon* which ended up being incredibly helpful 😊

Glad it helped and congratulations!

@PegasusReturns and anyone else looking to move / hire for the first time in more than a year, I would emphasise that as OP experienced, there's been a pretty fast change in norms on salary, and many or even most recruiters will raise salary and overall package expectations at screening or soon after, including in very senior jobs. It's never a comfortable point as a candidate, but it's much better if you're ready for it!

Good luck with your next round

I had an approach last week and spoke to the recruiter on Friday. I asked what the budget for the role was before she had the chance to ask my expectations, but if she’d got in first I’d have turned it round. She’s still asking me to confirm my current package and I’m not going to.

Feel free to PM

I'd be open and ask for the salary range . Use the call for fact finding and working out if you're motivations are aligned

@PegasusReturns

I’ve been head hunted for a number of serious roles and of course recruited my own teams. As a general rule salary is not discussed until after offer.

Almost certainly the person conducting the initial chat and the functional interviewers won’t know what the salary is, because it’s a complex question that depends on so many variables.

In my experience this is something HR manage but only after you’re really serious with a candidate .

Regarding part time, as someone had already said this person is the gatekeeper, your objective is to get through the gate. Since you’d want to take the role even if FT, don’t mention it until much later when they love you and are committed to the idea of hiring you.

Good luck.

This isn't actually true sorry . Recruiter will know . Or how could they build an appropriate search?