Jobs: Convincing yourself how much you're worth? (interview panic)

Tricky, especially given the current financial climate. I would tend to go a bit higher than what I want and then be prepared to negotiate - for instance, if you reckon on 22k as the ceiling, then go for 21k etc.

But if they put you in at the bottom of the scale (or maybe no matter what), do your best to get it in writing that they will review your salary in 6 months' time or something - this way you get a chance to negotiate again once you get a feel for the company.

Good luck!!

I'd go in high and straight faced. my basis for this is that my h (who is a network and voice engineer) went for a job with another company and was offered £35k basic. his wage with his current firm was £26.5k basic. his original firm counter-offered the £35k and kept him with the promise of £50k-60k on getting his CCIE, but told him in no uncertain terms that they weren't impressed that he went for another job instead of telling them he wanted a rise. i personally think that he did the right thing - they would have offered him £28k if he'd not had something else lined up, and he would have taken it and been grateful to the cheeky swine, when he's worth lots more and works his arse off on highly lucrative billable work for them, and always goes above and beyond...

but, aside from my rant, my point is this - half the people who go for IT jobs (from what my h has seen while interviewing for lesser positions) are fruit loops who don't know the first thing about anything at all, or have less than no interpersonal skills. therefore, if you know what you're doing and you don't twitch compulsively and try to lick clients' faces, you're in a strong position, but any business will always try to pay as little for you as possible.

hope that's some use, given that i don't personally know much about the sector ?

I wouldn't talk figures until you have a firm offer. At the moment you're in a weak position- you don't know whether they want you, what the other candidates are like etc- and they are in a strong position. That's not a situation from which you want to be negotiating salary. If they ask it's perfectly ok to say that you'd rather not talk figures at this point but that you're looking for a salary that reflects your skills and qualifications (or something equally vague). Good luck!

I hate this question, or the related "what are you currently earning". I guess in a job like this where it's very technical there's a narrower salary band but I've often found there's a few ways a position can be filled so it's not always obvious what salary the employer is thinking of.

In the past I've hid behind my agent and said that they asked that all salary negotions were with them, or said something like " It depends on the package as a whole, training oportuniteis, other benefits etc.

Thank you, all. This is exactly the sort of advice I was after, both on my position and direct responses that I can answer with, should it arise.

I admit to laughing out loud at the being a weirdo/"licking client faces" bit re: interpersonal skills, I know exactly what you mean by that ?

If they try and talk figures I'd ask what, roughly, the pay scale is for someone with X years/months experience in such and such a role and with X qualifications is (specifying your experience & quals here obviously). You can then ask where they'd place you on the scale. They will then probably ask you where you'd place yourself ?. This is probably a bit cheeky but it has worked for me!

I'm still gutted that in my current job the 'informal chat' as the agent sold it to me was with the decision maker who had in front of him what I earned in my last job and offered me a few quid more and I'm still on less than was advertised 2 years later! I hadn't prepared the salary conversation and just stuttered and said Yes to a job with much more travel and hours and two weeks less annual leave ?

Good luck, and stick around for a while huh? ?