Ykhjuy

is it okay to refuse entirely to answer the "desired salary" question?

Yes. You can clearly refuse to answer any question you prefer not to answer, for any reason.

Are there any downsides to absolutely refusing (politely) to be the
first party to throw out a number?

Certainly. Most interviewers expect an answer when they ask a question. Your refusal to answer could be ignored, could go down as a negative, or could even cause a complete rejection.

You have to decide how important it is to you not to answer any question. While it's a fairly common negotiating strategy to try not to be first to mention a salary, this strategy has significant risks. That's particularly true when the interviewer pushes hard for an answer.

As an employee, I hated answering this question. As an employer, I realized that it's wonderfully practical. It gives me some small insight into how self-aware you are about your abilities and your sense of confidence.

Like all questions, there's two ways to look at almost anything.

A person with a nominal resume but a high-salary expectation may be...

1. Self-centered or arrogant despite the polite courtesy shown in the interview.




2. Enthusiastic but a bit shy, meaning the resume isn't the whole story.

A person with a great resume but a low-salary expectation may...

1. Be nervous, naturally self-disparaging, or have low self-esteem.




2. Have padded their resume.

A person with a good resume asking for a salary in line with what you think the position warrants...

1. May have done their research about your company.




2. May have a clear idea about their actual value.

Alone, a datapoint like this is nothing more than a flag indicating that more questions may need to be asked and what those questions should be. Am I, the employer, dealing with the perfect employee? A gem with a bit of baggage? Somebody who will blossom in the right environment? Or someone who isn't paying attention or thinks the world owes them something?

And here is where you get to discover whether or not the glass is half full or half empty. If you're the kind of person who always sees the negative side of life, you'll see this as an opportunity for an employer to turn you down. If you're the kind of person who is more often positive, then you'll see this as an opportunity for an employer to see your value.

However, in my experience, the option to tell me nothing is always bad. Yes, you certainly always have the right to decline to answer. But what are you telling me? At best — nothing. That is actually more of a reason to pass on you than telling me something. The less I know about you, the less likely I'll take a risk on you. (At worst you're telling me that you didn't do your homework, or don't understand my industry, or don't want to negotiate with me, or don't want to talk to me, don't... don't... don't...)

So, my recommendation is to give them an answer. A well-considered answer that reflects your honest assessment of your worth in my industry.

Your school should have a job counselor. This would be a great question to ask that person to get an idea of the different ways this information is used during the hiring process and how to better assess an answer for yourself.

I've often heard the advice to not say what salary you're expecting, either until very late in the interview process, or to refuse to be the first to give a number.

The reasoning is usually given as, "If you quote a number less than what they were prepared to offer, they'll then agree to this lower number when you could have gotten more."

It's certainly possible that it could work that way. But there are many other possible scenarios.

Like, the maximum the company is prepared to pay for this job is less than your minimum requirement. Then you're just wasting your time talking to them, because when you finally get to talking numbers, it's going to be an impasse.

Or, the company considers your resume and performance in the first interview and says, "Hmm, someone with these qualifications will surely demand at least $X. We can't afford him, let's look for more realistic candidates." In fact you are willing to work for much less than that. By refusing to give a number, you just negotiated yourself out of a job.

A company once tried to sell me a service contract. I asked how much it cost. The salesman said, "Not much, when you consider what you're getting." At that point I said forget it, I'm not interested. I've seen plenty of advertisements that don't give a price. I immediately lose interest. If they're afraid to tell me the price, I work on the assumption that the price must be high and they're hoping to trick me into committing before I know how expensive it is. I'm not interested.

Frankly, I think the idea that your last job paid, say, $50,000 a year but now a company will offer you $200,000 is pure fantasy. Thinking that by refusing to give a number might result in some fabulous offer beyond your wildest dreams ... it's just not going to happen.

If you want to try to maneuver the company into giving a number first, fine, go ahead and try. But if they refuse, I don't think it's worth turning it into a stand-off. Just give a somewhat high number and let them make a counter-offer.

Consider that you're entering into a negotiation and knowing what you want is simply a matter of being prepared.

I recommend digging deeper to find out what you're worth. Find as many data points as you can (ask people, similar job listings that list a salary range, sites to help you calculate your worth, data from similar positions, etc). The more data points you're able to collect, the more accurate your number will become.

Once you have a general idea, give a number that's slightly higher (assuming you're still unsure). You're better off coming in a bit high than low. By showing respect for yourself, you will gain the respect of others, and it's probably your best shot at getting what you deserve when throwing out the first number and not knowing exactly what you're worth.

Now, you could still chose to try and have them give a number first. You could ask them before they have a chance to ask you, for instance, though they may just turn the question back at you. It's a tricky game to play and I'm not sure I would advise simply refusing to answer the question.

In California and a few other places, employers are required to provide a salary range for a prospective job upon request. Even if you're not in one of those places, you might have luck responding to an inquiry for your desired salary by asking, "Can you share with me the salary range for this position?"

That gives you a very straightforward playbook. If they refuse to share the pay range, then you can say, "In that case, I'd rather not share my desired salary." If they do share the range, you can determine for yourself whether it seems reasonable. If so, you can proceed with more information. Be very careful as a recent grad about assuming that you would fall in the top half of their range—unless you have deep domain-specific knowledge, most employers will place more value on demonstrable experience in industry.

As some of the other answers suggested, you'll be well served by doing some salary research ahead of time. The Stack Overflow salary calculator is pretty helpful for tech jobs, and it gives you some idea how experience and location can affect fair salaries.

Is it okay to refuse entirely to answer “desired salary” question?

As you demonstrated yourself in your interview, it is entirely possible to put off salary discussions until later, a practice which most experts recommend. The interviewer, however, holds all the cards. If an interviewer insists that you name a salary, you don't have much choice. That's why experts recommend that you have a number in mind when going into an interview (your walkaway number), even if you never have to name it.

I don't want to inadvertently offend them with too high a desired salary

In my experience this never happens. In fact, you're more likely to offend an interviewer by not naming a salary at all, as opposed to naming a salary that's too high. If you put off salary discussions until later, and eventually get to a point where you are discussing salary, the employer likely wants to hire you, and is more likely to propose a lower counter-offer than to tell you to go home.

many of the positions I'm applying to are specialized or at specialized companies that don't have enough people working those positions/companies to give Glassdoor, etc., a handle on estimating salaries

In reality there are very few positions that are so specialized you can't glean anything from sites like Glassdoor or other job boards. You should at least be able to tell based on the overall industry, skill sets used, and years of experience a ballpark for a salary range. When in doubt, go high.

Asking salary range makes a lot of sense. If you want more than the company is willing to pay, you can stop the interviewing process right there. It would suck for you if you felt you're underpaid. You'd probably leave soon. That sucks for the company, as it has to go through hiring and training again.

You should do your homework and have a good idea of what someone with your experience in that position and place makes. Ask around and check salary websites like indeed.com.

Then give a range. Most people don't insist on a single number, and an answer like "65k to 70k per year" is fine. If you're still unsure, you can add that this would also depend on other benefits like work from home days, flexible hours, and so on.

Don't treat this as a you against the company game, where you try to trick the other player (i.e., the company). It sends the message that you only (or at least mostly) care about the salary, not about the company or the work. As a hiring manager, this would be a big red flag for me. Will you leave as soon as some other company offers 5 bucks more?