What is your expected pay?

[Bisz]

I have never encountered that question, then again I haven't applied to that many places. Aside from coop positions in university I have only applied to the one job I now hold (I wasn't even entertaining the idea of not getting the job so I didn't bother applying anywhere else ).

I would say that they ask the question because HR is, as a general rule, evil (sorry String, nothing personal). If they were going to pay you 50k/year and you put that you expect 45k... they'll pay you 46k. Look, they just saved the company 4k/year, made you feel great cause you got more than you expected and all it took was 1 question on an application.

In the environment I work in labour is classified by letters. A labour being that which directly contributes to the manufacturing of our product, so the production guys. They are the most important because without them you aren't building the product so you aren't making any money which is the ultimate goal. B labour is the maintenance guys, you don't need them all the time but you do need them cause if the equipment goes down they have to fix it or you are back to not making any money. And so it goes through C and D labour, engineers and such being in there. The people in my office usualy venture to guess that HR is somewhere around the T, U or V labour range - 0 value added.

 

[Commander Rabbit]

I don't agree w/ those who say leave it blank, because that can be interpreted as not following directions or reading sloppily. I would put "negotiable".

 

[FordSVT]

This is always such an awkward question to me on job applications. I usually leave it blank.

But I've been submitting my resume to a bunch of places, and some of them are asking me to include my expected pay. I honestly have no idea what to say. It seems like such a weird question.

Always leave that blank. It's a bullshit question that HR freaks feel is relevant because it gives them control. They are nothing more than cattle herders and paper pushers who have injected themselves into the candidate screening process. I've had them push and bully me into telling them what I currently earn, which is none of their business. The best answer to the "expected pay" question is to state: "I've come here to interview for a position that has many expectations. I am bringing a set of skills and experience while you're offering an opportunity and challenges. Once we both evaluate each others' offerings I am certain we can agree on an equitable and fair compensation".

I leave it to the person hiring me to offer the compensation and not some knuckleheaded paper pusher.

Exactly how do you fit all that in the 2-inch wide space? Do you know what the purpose of an HR department is? One of their jobs is to screen through hundreds or even thousands of applications (and idiots) so that their bosses don't have to. Their job is a necessity, not something someone came up with to come between you and your career aspirations.

"HR freaks, paper pushers, cattle hearders, knuckle-headed".... sounds to me like someone is a bit upset they didn't get a job they felt they were entitled to and blames it on a HR department.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

"Depends on responsibilities and duties assigned but no less than $30,000/year"

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