It’s always a good idea to ask a candidate’s pay expectation before revealing what the opportunity offers. This is best practice for two main reasons. First, it eliminates the chances of the candidate basing their pay requirements on the max compensation for the role. A candidate runs the risk of being passed up by more qualified candidates by increasing their pay requirements just because the opportunity offers a wide pay range.

It also allows you to sell other aspects of the job beyond pay if the candidate falls little outside the range. Knowing in advance that a candidate is a little above your max pay rate gives you the opportunity to explore other interests of that candidate. Perhaps there are other areas of the job that would appeal to the candidate enough to make it worth them taking a few dollars less for a particular role.

Always remember that logic is the hardest thing to argue with, so when you are determining your strategy for negotiating a pay rate make sure there is sound logic to back you up.

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