Help - Salary advice

Looking for a wee bit of advice. I was interviewed last week and gave a figure I thought was my salary when asked what I currently earn

On a call today confirming they would be offering me the position they stated my salary would be exactly the amount I'd originally stated.

Turns out I actually earn 3/4k more. Has anyone had experience of being this stupid and having to deal with this situation?

I'm going to contact the company tomorrow but got a feeling I might now lose out on the job as I can't take that level of pay cut

Did you tell them you were accepting the job today, or are you currently ‘considering the offer’?

I think I did say I would be accepting. Which is why I think I might be in a weakened position...

The company does their recruitment via a third party, so one option is to go back directly to the hiring manager and explain my error

I’m far from an HR expert, and someone might be along to give you some more sound advice.

However, one option is, as you say, front-up and just admit the error. Not ideal, but you might find they’re okay about it and your salary is still within the ‘budget’ they intended to recruit with.

The other I’d be tempted with, if it was me in this position, would be to claim I’ve been offered a rise at my current job upon them learning of my new job offer.. and say I’d prefer to take the new one but the extra money is important to me. Or, that you’ve applied elsewhere too, your first choice would have been these guys but someone else has offered more.

FWIW I know of someone who was genuinely offered more money in that position, and the other company phoned back and matched it in order to get him. Albeit that was over 10 years ago.

Like I say, someone might be able to tell you to stay away from my other suggestion or offer an alternative. You do have options though and it’s not necessarily the end of the new job offer.. the good thing is you’ll have your current (and better paid) role to fall back on if they do not budge, whichever way you choose to play it.

You could also ask the recruitment company to work on your behalf I.e do the opposite of contacting the company directly They may have the skills/relationship/ to get round it and it’s in their interest to get you hired.

You could tell the 3rd party you’re not prepared to move for the same salary and that it would need to be circa 5k from the number you’ve previously provided to make it worth doing. As you’ve said, they may withdraw the offer, but if you can’t afford the drop, you’d need to decline anyway :dunno:


Edit: WeeRussell’s idea of telling them you've been offered a wage increase to stay, and will the new company match it is a good shout

A couple of good options, thanks for advice WeeRussell

My contract with existing employer is due to end towards the end of the year, but a good tactic to hopefully get the prospective employer to salary match

👍 Good luck with whatever you decide

Did you say your salary expectations were the same as you currently earn or did they just ask what you currently earn? If it's the former I'd be saying that to take on a new role you'd be looking for a higher salary, the majority of people take new roles for a higher salary.

You could also say, and this is likely true, that to accept the role you'd effectively be taking a pay cut as you are probably going to be given a wage rise in the new financial year and to offset this you'd like a bit more money.

Depends on how much you want the role. If it's a better package with better hours and conditions etc, then of course it might be better to just accept the offer. Only you can be in a position to make that call.

If you do decide to go down the route of asking for more money then I'd offer to show then evidence your salary is actually currently higher, otherwise they may think you are trying it on.

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Originally Posted by GreenNWhiteArmy

Looking for a wee bit of advice. I was interviewed last week and gave a figure I thought was my salary when asked what I currently earn

On a call today confirming they would be offering me the position they stated my salary would be exactly the amount I'd originally stated.

Turns out I actually earn 3/4k more. Has anyone had experience of being this stupid and having to deal with this situation?

I'm going to contact the company tomorrow but got a feeling I might now lose out on the job as I can't take that level of pay cut

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I would just be honest in this situation. It sounds like you're not urgently needing to move.

They asked what you were currently on - not what you'd be looking for to accept a role. All they've done is make you an offer.

I would go back and apologise for your error but it's normal to perhaps be slightly nervous during an interview and make the odd mistake.

I would explain that "I currently earn X, which I'm happy to evidence. And to accept the role offered, I'd actually be looking for Y (perhaps a 10/15% increase?)"

They will definitely have some flexibility.

Tricky one this.

I would stay where you are, at least for the moment. The new employer may think that if you can't get your salary right when under pressure in an interview

how will you react under pressure in other situations ?

Harsh of me to say this perhaps, but take it as a sign this is not for you and bide your time.

Good luck either way.

Appreciate the responses. I shared my payslip and explained my "error" with a request for salary match.

They increased their offer by 1k, but still 2.5k below my current salary. I have a call later this morning where they will explain the bonus and pay rise increments as well as pension contributions. All of this will be offset by having to pay fuel to travel to an office once or twice a week where I currently have a work from home contract.

The only thing pushing me towards the offer is that my current contract ends in July, and with a young family to provide for becoming nervous the market might slow down

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Originally Posted by GreenNWhiteArmy

Appreciate the responses. I shared my payslip and explained my "error" with a request for salary match.

They increased their offer by 1k, but still 2.5k below my current salary. I have a call later this morning where they will explain the bonus and pay rise increments as well as pension contributions. All of this will be offset by having to pay fuel to travel to an office once or twice a week where I currently have a work from home contract.

The only thing pushing me towards the offer is that my current contract ends in July, and with a young family to provide for becoming nervous the market might slow down

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If your current contract ends in a few months then does it not make sense to take this offer if it is longer term?

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Originally Posted by Trinity Hibee

If your current contract ends in a few months then does it not make sense to take this offer if it is longer term?

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That was my thought. Depending on your notice period, you may not lose on on that much.

Also worth exploring the option of your current employer extending your contract.

Difficult one this, but as others have said the new job will give you continuity if there is no hope your current one can be extended, albeit at a lower salary. I’d ask your current employer if there will/can there be an extension to your contract. If the answer is a definite no then at least this new job will keep you ticking over and keep an income going until something better comes along. It might mean some hard choices for a while in terms of spending on things like holidays or entertainment. But it’s better than potentially no income at all. Not ideal at all but on the flip side your new employer may never have been able to match your current salary so wouldn’t have offered you the position in the first place.

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Originally Posted by Alfiembra

Difficult one this, but as others have said the new job will give you continuity if there is no hope your current one can be extended, albeit at a lower salary. I’d ask your current employer if there will/can there be an extension to your contract. If the answer is a definite no then at least this new job will keep you ticking over and keep an income going until something better comes along. It might mean some hard choices for a while in terms of spending on things like holidays or entertainment. But it’s better than potentially no income at all. Not ideal at all but on the flip side your new employer may never have been able to match your current salary so wouldn’t have offered you the position in the first place.

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This is the crux of it and ultimately why I accepted the offer from the new employer. I negotiated the best I could and there's other perks like bonuses and annual pay rises linked to personal and company performance that kind of makes it more appealing. There was zero chance of an extension due to significant budget cuts and the risk was too high to refuse this and potentially nothing else come up

Appreciate everybody's insight, its helped me reach what I hope is the right conclusion

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Originally Posted by GreenNWhiteArmy

This is the crux of it and ultimately why I accepted the offer from the new employer. I negotiated the best I could and there's other perks like bonuses and annual pay rises linked to personal and company performance that kind of makes it more appealing. There was zero chance of an extension due to significant budget cuts and the risk was too high to refuse this and potentially nothing else come up

Appreciate everybody's insight, its helped me reach what I hope is the right conclusion

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Well done mate, sounds like the right call. All the best.

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Originally Posted by GreenNWhiteArmy

This is the crux of it and ultimately why I accepted the offer from the new employer. I negotiated the best I could and there's other perks like bonuses and annual pay rises linked to personal and company performance that kind of makes it more appealing. There was zero chance of an extension due to significant budget cuts and the risk was too high to refuse this and potentially nothing else come up

Appreciate everybody's insight, its helped me reach what I hope is the right conclusion

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Glad you got sorted bud, that’ll give you some peace of mind :aok:

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Originally Posted by McD

Glad you got sorted bud, that’ll give you some peace of mind :aok:

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Thanks mate, especially with 3 kids I sort of lost all ability to rationalise my thoughts so the input from yourself and others on here helped significantly

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Originally Posted by GreenNWhiteArmy

Thanks mate, especially with 3 kids I sort of lost all ability to rationalise my thoughts so the input from yourself and others on here helped significantly

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It’s a tough situation which I can relate to, as I’m sure many others on here can too, it’s understandable when you’re worrying about your family and your home, really glad you’ve got things sorted now, you’ll probably sleep a bit easier (unless any of your kids are like mine and wander through to your bedroom in the middle of the night :greengrin)

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Originally Posted by Tyler Durden

I would just be honest in this situation. It sounds like you're not urgently needing to move.

They asked what you were currently on - not what you'd be looking for to accept a role. All they've done is make you an offer.

I would go back and apologise for your error but it's normal to perhaps be slightly nervous during an interview and make the odd mistake.

I would explain that "I currently earn X, which I'm happy to evidence. And to accept the role offered, I'd actually be looking for Y (perhaps a 10/15% increase?)"

They will definitely have some flexibility.

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Honesty is the best policy. Actually had a friend do the exact same recently, he explained and they offered him the increase.

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Originally Posted by McD

It’s a tough situation which I can relate to, as I’m sure many others on here can too, it’s understandable when you’re worrying about your family and your home, really glad you’ve got things sorted now, you’ll probably sleep a bit easier (unless any of your kids are like mine and wander through to your bedroom in the middle of the night :greengrin)

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And somehow always head straight to "dad's side" of the bed!?? 🙈 wouldn't have it any other way though