Is it acceptable to offer to take a lower salary than advertised?

abernathy

I'm in the process of applying for a new job. A vacancy I am applying for has a rather generous salary attached (more than I would expect or require myself), yet I believe I meet the vast majority of the role requirements.

Is it reasonable in a covering letter, application or interview to offer to accept a lower salary than initially offered in an attempt to be more appealing as a candidate? Or will it come across as desperate?

For example, if the job I am applying to has an advertised salary of £35k-£40k, could I offer to accept the role for £30k p/a?

The job is a fixed term contract with a public sector local authority, if that helps.

Silly idea or worth a go?

TELLIT01

It could come across as desperation to get a job. If it's public sector there will be defined salary bands for the grade so it probably wouldn't make any difference anyway.

Fireflyaway

Local government do mostly have grades for each role. In my experience of working in lg its common to start on the low end of the scale then if you achieve what you are supposed to, you are awarded an incremental rise each year until you hit the top threshold.
I definitely wouldn't sell yourself short. Seems desperate but also that you lack belief that you are worth that much. Maybe in private sector you could state you are flexible but not in an organisation that has set pay scales. Good luck by the way.

Valli

If there's an opportunity to make them aware of your current salary, in your application (sometimes you're asked to state your current salary) and it's lower than what they are offering you will be seen as a candidate who might accept a lower starting salary.

Given it's for a fixed-term contract, I would accept whatever salary they offer, and save the 'excess' for a rainy day!

But that's moot; you haven't been invited for interview yet.

Just apply, and good luck!

trailingspouse

Why on earth would you do that?

That's what the job is worth to the employer, so why would you undersell yourself? As an employer, if I was looking to take someone on and they offered to do the work for less than I was expecting to pay, I would assume that they lacked confidence in their ability to do the job, and on that basis alone they wouldn't get it.

There are no limits to how much you're allowed to earn. If you feel you don't deserve that much money, then leave the job to someone who knows how much they're worth. Or take the job (assuming you get it) and donate the spare money to charity. But offer to do the job for less?? Don't be daft.

Masomnia

Agree with the above, don't try to market yourself as the cheap and cheerful option. You're basically saying that you're not up to what they want!

Make the most of your skills and experience, show how you match the JD as much as possible and if they offer you the job then great!

Good luck.

General_Grant

Are you are worried that you don't meet all the criteria in the person specification?

I've read that women often don't even apply for jobs if they feel they don't meet all the desirable criteria but men tend to apply when they actually meet fewer of the essential.

However, you are actually applying, so you must think that you are at least close to meeting all the criteria. That's enough. Look at how you do meet what you can see is required for the job in relation to the job description. Though the person spec should be drawn up by looking at the job description, this is not always the way it happens and you may well have all the real requirements for the job.

Good luck!

[Deleted User]

It won't come across as desperate - your application will get binned

Two main areas an employer is looking for is competency and 'fit'. Offering to accept a lower wage will shout 'I'm a bit odd' and you won't fit in.

Hell, you're better off going in guns blazing and wanting a higher salary

ScorpiondeRooftrouser

When we advertise a job at £35-40K, there will a be a lot of people who basically "fit the requirements" but are paid £25K. The thing is, we don't want them. We want the ones who do the same role but are worth £35-40K. If you think you are worth the £35-40K then by all means apply, but be prepared for the fact that if your current employer doesn't think you are worth that, you are going to have to justify why the new one should pay it.

If you go in and say "I would do this for £30K" then my reaction would be, "So you're a person worth £30K. When we want one, we'll call you."

bap98189

It's a local authority, nobody will care about the money. There will be funding in place for the post, and it will be in nobody's interest to pay someone less.

Takeaway_Addict

ScorpiondeRooftrouser wrote: »

When we advertise a job at £35-40K, there will a be a lot of people who basically "fit the requirements" but are paid £25K. The thing is, we don't want them. We want the ones who do the same role but are worth £35-40K. If you think you are worth the £35-40K then by all means apply, but be prepared for the fact that if your current employer doesn't think you are worth that, you are going to have to justify why the new one should pay it.

If you go in and say "I would do this for £30K" then my reaction would be, "So you're a person worth £30K. When we want one, we'll call you."

Based on this logic no one would ever progress to a higher salary...