Should You Give a Potential Employer Your Desired or Expected Salary When Asked?
- Nisha Mehta, MD
- Jul 23
- 6 min read
Many doctors on our online physician communities who are interviewing for jobs report being asked about their salary expectations, and not being sure how to respond to this request. Many of our members are posting because they are seeking physician salary and compensation data so that they can respond to the request with a more educated estimate of the market, but when we see this, we always remind doctors that it may not be in their best interest to provide this information. Similar to when hospital systems ask for your W2 prior to extending a job offer, oftentimes complying with these requests or questions can actually hurt you in contract negotiations. Below, we’ll dig deeper into why you should be cautious, and ways to tactfully respond to avoid burning bridges but also maintaining your negotiating power.
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Why are employers asking me about what I’d like to earn? Don’t they already know what they’re offering?
Before we dig into the more sneaky reasons they may be asking, let’s give some employers the benefit of the doubt. They may genuinely want to know if what they have to offer will meet your expectations and whether something might be a good fit before going through the logistics and potential hassle of putting together a job offer, or taking up more time in discussions before realizing that salary is a dealbreaker.
However, they may also be asking you to throw out the first number so that they can make their offer accordingly, which is something we recommend against doing if you can avoid it in our negotiation tips and strategies for doctors.
How can telling a potential employer what salary I expect help me or hurt me?
Once you’ve thrown out the first number, you’ve shown your hand at the negotiating table. If they were planning on offering you a higher salary, they now know that you’ll take less, and if they were planning on offering you less money, they now know the bare minimum that you’ll take. All of this likely results in you getting a lower offer than you might have had you not answered the question.
Another situation in which it may hurt you is if your number is so high that it scares them from giving you an offer. If you feel you would’ve taken a lower number and really wanted the job, you likely will end up regretting going for the number.
In some isolated cases, if your number is much higher than what they were planning on offering, it may help you because they may start out at a higher number. This may make the negotiations a little more pleasant on your side since you won’t be trying to negotiate up from a lower baseline.
Another situation in which you may be happy to throw out a number is if you already have a job that you like, and this is more of a ‘make me move’ scenario. In that case, you may be happy to go for the gold with a high number and gauge their reaction.
Do I have a right to refuse the request to give my expected salary when interviewing for jobs or getting a job offer?
This is a negotiation, not a deposition. You don’t have to give them an answer and nobody can make you do so. Of course, the more tactfully you do it, the less likely you are to set up an antagonistic stage for the remainder of the negotiation process. Therefore, we don’t typically recommend just saying no, but giving them some rationale or ignoring the question and hoping they’ll forget about it.
If they continue to insist that the information is necessary prior to them extending a job offer, we discuss possible approaches below.
How can I tactfully reply to a request to provide my expected compensation when asked to do so by a potential employer?
As we said above, once someone has made a request, you’ll typically have to answer it somehow.
Unless you don’t. Ignoring the request by changing the topic or saying you’ll get back to them once you’ve had a chance to think about it is one option. You could just hope that they’ll forget about it.
Provided that they don’t forget about it, or that you do just want to nip it in the bud, you may choose to answer in one of several ways suggested by members of the community (or combine them), depending on your personality and style:
It’s hard for me to say what compensation I’d expect without first understanding the job offer and the other parts of the benefits package, signing bonuses, and/or bonus structures.
It’s hard for me to throw out a salary number without reviewing all the responsibilities and having a better understanding of the work schedule, how often I’m called in on call, and other expectations.
I’m not familiar enough with compensation data at this time to tell you what I believe is a fair number in this market and practice environment, and plan on getting this information once I take the offer to a contract attorney.
My contract attorney advises against me providing this information.
If you don’t feel comfortable handling the request in general, consider punting the request to a contract attorney experienced in physician negotiations.
What happens if they won’t stop insisting on me giving a number that I’d like to be paid for the job?
In this situation, assuming you still want the job, there are a few ways you could consider responding.
Overshoot on the salary number
You may want to overshoot significantly past the number that you think they might pay you, so that you don’t shoot yourself in the foot and you set expectations high. For example, consider throwing out a number that’s above 99th percentile of MGMA data, or a similar number that you’re fairly certain they wouldn’t have offered regardless. It might be helpful to couch it and say something like, ‘I’m really not sure what to expect since I haven’t seen all the parts of the compensation package to put it in context, but this number would likely work for me regardless.”
Tell them you need more time to do research
You could also use a stall tactic that may force their hand to make you an offer. If you’re not desperate to move forward in a time sensitive way, and you get the sense that they are eager to move forward, you could say something like, “I would have to research comparable compensation packages prior to making an offer. That may take me some time as I’m pretty busy right now, so if you’re able to get me an offer in the meantime, I’ll almost certainly be quicker responding to a number than having to research one.”
Just say no, you’re not comfortable giving them a number
You could also avoid the maneuvering and just say that you’re not comfortable giving them a number and that you feel the employer should have a better idea of what they’ve paid in the past or were planning on paying, so you’d prefer that they made an offer and you’d take it from there. If they still won’t make you an offer, you may want to consider whether they’re the right fit in the first place.
Conclusion
With a few exceptions, generally speaking, you are at a disadvantage in contract negotiations when you make the first offer. Think carefully about whether you have anything to gain by throwing out a number. If the answer is no, find ways to avoid answering the question.
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