What is the best way to determine the real salary expectation of a job seeker or current employee? First, do NOT assume anything !!

This is an especially pertinent question in a time of high unemployment. Because of the number of job seekers out there, employers can offer lower-than-usual salaries to prospects. If staffing services don’t help their job seekers have realistic and workable salary expectations, they will find it hard to make placements.

A recent article in HirePlateau, an information hub for recruiters and other staffing professionals, provided some important insights for the staffing professional:

Don’t immediately negate someone’s salary expectations, even if they are unrealistic. Their response to “How much do you expect to make?” may express a wish or an aspiration rather than a firm expectation.

Focus on what the candidate is looking for besides money. Does he or she want to travel? Be able to advance? Get paid training? Work from home? Work for a large or small company? These desires are just as motivating as salary.

Ask, “If a dream job came in at (some number lower than the desired salary), would you take it?” The answer will probably be “yes” or, at least, “it depends.” You’re on your way to discovering a candidate’s true salary floor.

The article points out that if a staffing agency doesn’t work with a client this way, another one probably will, and then it will get the credit – and the dollars – for effectively managing their candidate’s job search.

Two additional points we recommend are:

Don’t mislead a candidate’s about possible salaries. We have heard too many stories of staffing professionals agreeing with (or at least encouraging) a number that they knew was too big so that they could retain a candidate. Then they go under a candidate’s bottom line to get a placement, often taking advantage of the candidate’s need for a job. The result: no one is happy. The alternative: be honest, but in a way that will actually help the candidate thrive in a placement.

At some point, ask, “Can I contact you with offers under this amount?” – And then honor the answer. This helps set clear expectations for the candidate, and he or she retains the freedom to turn down an opportunity on his or her own terms. It also establishes the staffing professional as an honest broker which, in the long run, is what really makes someone successful in this business.

Talking about annual salaries or hourly pay rates is never easy, but by heeding the above suggestions, a staffing professional can help ensure that everybody wins in the end.

Visit the eEmpACT staffing resources section for more about staffing tools and improving human capital management.