This came up when I was in library school. A fellow student, who was in her late 40's/ early 50's and getting back into the (paying) job market after a long hiatus asked a professor how to handle all this salary stuff. He advised her never to discuss salary in more that the vaguest detail until after she had been offered a job. He said that she should say something like "Once we have discussed the scope of the job and we both have decided that I am the right person for this position we can then come to an agreement on the salary." His theory was that you have more bargaining power at that point, because you already know that they want you. A friend of mine who has been a VP of Human Resources at a couple of hospitals also told me never to take the first number they offer ... he said they almost always leave a little room, because they expect you to ask for more. I have used both their advice twice now, and got big raises both times I moved, even over their early half-hearted objections. Barbara Barbara S. Reich Associate Librarian Hackensack University Medical Center 30 Prospect Avenue Hackensack NJ 07601 voice 201-996-2326 fax 201-996-2467 [log in to unmask] > -----Original Message----- > From: Medical Libraries Discussion List > [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Lee Hover > Sent: Friday, June 11, 1999 1:39 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: No salary range > > > I wasn't going to get into this either, but I have never included salary, > (present or required) when answering a position ad, and have had many > responses to my resume, regardless. Who knows, you might be underpricing > yourself! If your resume seems to have what they want, they'll > most likely > contact you.