Salary expectations - did I screw myself?

So I recently had an interview for an entry-level desktop support position. It's all I can really find around where I live that has given me a chance to interview and actually has great health/medical/dental benefits. The interviewer repeatedly asked me how much I expect to make. I was trying to avoid the question but then she told me the salary range was $10 to $20. That's a big range of pay. $18 an hour would have been a stretch for me. I was nervous about being rejected due to asking for anything over $15 an hour so I settled at that for halfway.

Now here's the thing, I have about 2 years of experience in IT working desktop support and have an A+. Aside from that I have 2 years of classroom (didn't finish degree though) and volunteer experience. Is it too much of me to ask for more than $15 an hour? They have to line up a second interview for me before they will decide on hiring me. The interviewer seemed to really like me so far though. If they were to offer me a job is it ok for me to ask for a little higher wage? I'm really worried about coming off as unprofessional and thinking too highly of my expertise.

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gateway

nanashi wrote: »

So I recently had an interview for an entry-level desktop support position. It's all I can really find around where I live that has given me a chance to interview and actually has great health/medical/dental benefits. The interviewer repeatedly asked me how much I expect to make. I was trying to avoid the question but then she told me the salary range was $10 to $20. That's a big range of pay. $18 an hour would have been a stretch for me. I was nervous about being rejected due to asking for anything over $15 an hour so I settled at that for halfway.

Now here's the thing, I have about 2 years of experience in IT working desktop support and have an A+. Aside from that I have 2 years of classroom (didn't finish degree though) and volunteer experience. Is it too much of me to ask for more than $15 an hour? They have to line up a second interview for me before they will decide on hiring me. The interviewer seemed to really like me so far though. If they were to offer me a job is it ok for me to ask for a little higher wage? I'm really worried about coming off as unprofessional and thinking too highly of my expertise.

If they are offering up to $20 an hour and you are confident that you will be able to deliver what they are asking on a daily basis, and you think they have the confidence in you then go for it, ask for the full amount. The positive side to this shows that you have confidence in your own ability. I know it seems like a daft thing to say but just bear in mind they may find someone who is equally skilled and confident who is willing to work for slightly less.

Have you managed to find out how much interest they have had in the position? It may give you a clue what you are up against in terms of the amount of interviews they have lined up.

tomahawkeer

Depending on where you live the 15 is probably a pretty good start. I know in bigger cities, 15 is probably about what entry level would start at (NYC an example). There was a thread on here someplace about someone got thier first job,and it was 15 an hour. With 2 years of experience, you might be able to get that bumped a little higher, maybe $1 per year to 17?

The area that I work, however, can be very under paid. One of the guys that works under me, currently only makes 12 per hour, and he has been doing help / desktop support for us for 5 years, but then again, I dont live in a very large city / area. I would say shoot for something between the 15 and 20 range. 20 might be a push, 17 or 18 wouldn't be IMO.

Anonymouse

gateway wrote: »

If they are offering up to $20 an hour and you are confident that you will be able to deliver what they are asking on a daily basis, and you think they have the confidence in you then go for it, ask for the full amount. The positive side to this shows that you have confidence in your own ability. I know it seems like a daft thing to say but just bear in mind they may find someone who is equally skilled and confident who is willing to work for slightly less.

Have you managed to find out how much interest they have had in the position? It may give you a clue what you are up against in terms of the amount of interviews they have lined up.

I'm not sure on how much interest they have gotten but I've heard that position fills up quickly at this company. I was told there were a few more interviews to do today and they would be calling people back next week on who will be doing a second interview. The only reason I'm worried about asking that much is just what you stated that they can also choose to hire someone for less money who may or may not be on my level. This fear is mostly from how bad the job market and economy have been. I currently make $15 an hour and I am barely making ends meet. I mean either way I think it would benefit me to get hired at this place because I'd have room to grow compared to the dead end job I'm at now. It's an awesome company but now I'm worried that I'll be stuck with the same pay I make now if they hire me and end up suffering to make ends meet or I can end up not getting this job at all due to them not wanting to pay me that much and be stuck at a job that gets me nowhere.

Sorry for wall of text, everyone. I just wanted to further explain my situation.

BradleyHU

I'd ask for fair market value....

Devilsbane

$15 is not bad for 2 years experience and no degree. Maybe you could get more, but maybe you could get greedy too and they decided that they have someone more qualified who wants $18.

Paart of it is going to depend on how bad you want/need the job. If you have no money rolling in, then it might just be worth it to take it. You can always try to negotiate a few months down the road after they have seen that you do good work.

Deesiel

For future reference, ask for $1/hr more than the 'minimum' you are willing to accept. My mother-in-law is a hiring manager (albeit not in IT). She told me that, in her experience, many businesses will make their offer at about $1 / hr less than what you indicated as your wage/salary requirement (if they asked of course). I recently had 2 different job offers with 2 different organizations. Both asked for my 'wage requirements', and both made me an offer at about ~$1 less than what I indicated.

themagicone

Well my uncle always tells me to say double what you want, and when they say they'll pay you half of what you wanted - you just state thats fine because I only work half the time...