What salary should be indicated in the resume?

When you get a new job, the first thing you do is provide your employer with your resume. This document is a kind of presentation of the candidate for the position, and the more necessary information he will contain, the more chances the applicant has to interest the employer and get an invitation to an interview. However, one sub-paragraph of the resume often raises questions - the level of desired salary. Is it necessary to indicate how to justify the named amount? Let's get it right.

This item is not mandatory, but if you seriously expect to get the desired position, it is worth writing, if not a specific figure, then at least the “plug” (from and to) of the salary. There are several reasons for this.

• The employer, wanting to "close" the vacancy, looks through a lot of resumes. He will be most interested in the document containing the most complete information about the skills and expectations of the candidate. Since a good leader appreciates both his own and other people's time, he will invite only those applicants who can afford them and who at the same time satisfy the requirements of the declared position for a personal conversation.
• If your resume indicates your desired salary, this means that the applicant is not only passively awaiting any offer, sometimes not entirely profitable for him, but striving for an objective assessment of his knowledge and a worthy reward.
• When mentioning the minimum possible amount of remuneration employers who want to save on an employee and rely on lesser requests from him will automatically “drop out”. And there are a lot of such people.

So what amount to indicate in the resume, so as not to scare off a potential employer, but also not to cheapen? There are several options.

• Overstatement of the cost of services. It is justified only if the specialist has unique, expensive knowledge and skills, which must be mentioned in the resume. This includes continuing education courses, professional retraining, work experience abroad or in large companies. If there is nothing of the kind in the document, the employer will not even invite a candidate with excessive requirements for an interview.
• Underestimation of the cost of services. Perhaps if you have absolutely no experience in this field, and you want to get it by working for a little less money than more qualified specialists. Most often, “yesterday's” students do it.
• Indication of the average amount. The average level of wages is a figure obtained as a result of the analysis of the job market in a particular region. If you study this issue, and your resume will have an average indicator, the chances of getting the desired position will increase significantly.
• Do not write anything about salary. Your right is not to include this subitem in the resume, but to discuss it directly at the interview if you are invited to it.

So, you have decided on the desired level of salary. Now the question arises: how to justify their requirements when communicating with the employer? Read below.

• If you worked in a similar position, you can indicate the amount that was paid to you before, adding 10% to it. When a recruiter asks why you are interested in this figure, you can answer that during your work you have gained new knowledge, experience that should be appreciated. It is also not forbidden to mention the inflation rate over the past year (approximately 8%).
• There are situations when a specialist is literally “torn to pieces” due to the presence of additional knowledge and skills. Such a lucky person can easily request a salary 30% higher than current income. Let us give an example when such a requirement is justified: the candidate's working experience in this field exceeds 10 years, he underwent additional training, advanced his qualifications, the profession is quite rare, and it is difficult to find a suitable specialist.
• If suddenly you urgently need a job, and you are ready to agree to the lowest possible level of wages in the desired position, write in the resume the amount located on the lower border of the salary “fork” of your region.

Now let's look at some common mistakes allowed by applicants in the preparation of resumes and further interviews with a recruiter.

• One sum is indicated in the summary, but during the conversation the candidate reduces it by almost half. It always looks suspicious in the eyes of the employer, making him doubt your professionalism and the availability of the knowledge that was previously mentioned in the resume. Therefore, one should never deviate too much from initial expectations (except perhaps in the direction of "plus").
• Overstating your “price” and further “bargaining” with the employer is another mistake of the applicant. A potential boss will see that you are a frivolous person, ready to give up his own opinion for the "nth" amount.
• If at the first interview you feel that you are interested in you, as a specialist, you do not need to change your requirements when passing the second and subsequent levels (with the head of the department, the general director of the company). However, it is not forbidden to ask questions about bonuses for good work, about the possibility of further career growth with an increase in the wage rate.
• If you are applying for this position for the first time and don’t know how much remuneration you can expect, it would be a big mistake to question the desired salary level inaudibly mutter: “I don’t know how much you will give, let there be so much.” Conduct a preliminary analysis of the job market in your area of ​​residence, even if just by browsing the popular ad sites on the Internet - this way you will have an idea of ​​what minimum and maximum you will be guided by.
• Do not “load” the employer with unnecessary information about why you want to receive this particular amount. All these phrases - “I took a mortgage and now I have to pay 15,000 rubles every month”, “I am a mother of many children”, “I dream to buy a car next year” are of no interest to anyone but you.