Q & A Table of Contents
Are My Expectations Realistic?
From: Mary, Frederick, MD
Question: Salary? I'm a Department Supervisor with 3 years retail experience with a national department store chain making $10.31 per hr. I retired from a government job where I was earning $60 thousand per year.
I submitted my name for an assistant store manager for a new store opening up in the Northeast. To move there I would need a lot more money.
I intend to ask for at least $40k per yr. The managers in this area earn 45k to 55k based on experience. Is my salary expectation too low for this position in a high cost area? Please advise on how to negotiate for the right amount of money.
Response: I am mystified as to your reasons for planning to ask for a lower salary than you know managers are making in your part of the country. Do you think you are less talented than they are? Do you expect the work of managing a store in the Northeast is less demanding than doing so in the Maryland area?
You need to examine your needs, comparable salaries within your company and in similar companies -- both in your current area and in the area to which you hope to move. Recognize that the salary you request reflects the value you place on your own efforts as well as the value you will bring to the new position.
Your research should also include learning about the cost of living in the Northeast, how much it will cost you to move, and such other issues as the psychological implications of changing your job, the place where you live, and having to go through the process of ending relationships with one set of colleagues, neighbors, and friends and establishing yourself with new people.
More generally, you should ask for a salary at or near the top of the range of new managers. Don't say, "You've got to pay me $55,000." A more intelligent approach is to say you are looking for a salary in the "mid-fifties". That sets the bar reasonably high but lets your supervisors know that your mind is not closed to negotiation.
Don't devalue yourself; if you do so, you will certainly reduce your value in the eyes of others.
Good luck,
Steve
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