I applied to a fintech company (remote). they asked for expected salary. i had no clue what the range was, so i just put $90k thinking they’d negotiate.
they didn’t. recruiter came back like “that works.”
now i’m overthinking everything:
– did i lowball myself
– was that actually the budget
– or did i accidentally get it right
weirdest part, there was zero discussion. feels like they’re playing with full information and we’re just guessing numbers in the dark. how do you guys even decide what number to give?
definitely realizing i need to research salary bands better before throwing out numbers lol.
I put $90k as my expected salary for a fintech role… they just said yes??
byu/KartikX9 inpersonalfinance
Posted by KartikX9
6 Comments
Too late to do anything about it right now, but you can check on blind or maybe glassdoor and see.
It’s not so hard to research the role to see what an expected salary would look like for your location. If you’re satisfied with the salary and job details then there’s no point in thinking about the what ifs.
If you actually get the job just negotiate a raise after a year if you’re under paid
You just passed the first cut. You landed in the salary band, but you have no idea whether you’re high or low.
If you get another interview, ask more questions about the role to feel out the responsibility level and experience. Compare that to other jobs with posted salaries, Glassdoor, or ask your friends. Try to build a salary goal that you are happy to accept.
If you get a job offer you can negotiate. Try to reach the goal that you’d be happy with. You can say “Now that I know more about the responsibilities, I’m targeting $100k for this position. What can you do to get closer to that?” This is normal and expected, don’t feel awkward about it. You learned more about the job and your expectations have changed. If they chose you they probably like you enough to pay a bit more than the initial offer.
You probably lowballed yourself. However, you are incorrect that you have zero information. The information is out there if you go out and get it. Glassdoor (despite how it sucks in general), levels.fyi, etc will give you an idea for what range is reasonable. You can also get the company to state the number first. If they ask for salary, tell them you are looking for a market competitive salary that reflects your skills, then flip the script by asking for the salary range for the position. Most companies don’t want to play the guessing game and will just give you their range if asked directly.
Always research what the roles pay as best you can. This is why glassdoor and others exist.
If they didnt counter then yeah you likely could have gotten more, but if you are happy with it then you cant really complain about getting what you asked for.
The only time you get to negotiate is when its a question of getting you or keeping you. Some managers might proactively bump your pay to forestall you looking elsewhere but most dont, and of those that arent proactive many of them will be reactive and use retention budget to keep you.