How to set salary expectations, even if you’ve already been interviewed

Each week, Dr Kirstin Ferguson tackles questions about workplace, career and leadership in her advice column Got a Minute? This week: changing salary expectations, a misbehaving board director and feeling like the butt of a joke.

I recently applied for a job online and was asked my salary expectations. Since then, I’ve spoken to former employees and realised I significantly underquoted and asked for a much lower salary than my experience warrants. I’m now at the second-round interview stage. Can I revise my salary expectations?

Rest assured, you’re not alone. Salary negotiations are one of the most uncomfortable parts of the hiring process for almost everyone involved. It never feels easy.

Early in the recruitment process, candidates are often asked for a number before they fully understand the scope of the role or the market range. At that stage, you’re essentially guessing. There is an inherent power imbalance in the negotiations since employers have far more information about the salary band than candidates do, which makes it easy to unintentionally underquote.

The good news is that salary expectations aren’t set in stone at the first interview. As you learn more about the role, it’s entirely reasonable for your expectations to evolve.

At your next conversation you could say something like: “Since submitting my application I’ve had the chance to learn more about the role and the responsibilities involved. Based on that, I’d like to revisit the salary range I originally provided.”

Most hiring managers understand that candidates refine their expectations as the process progresses. What matters is raising it professionally and early, rather than waiting until an offer is on the table.

I work for a small organisation and a long-term board director has a history of demeaning staff, both inside and outside of board meetings. I made a complaint to the chair who said he believed he’d addressed the matter by asking the director to apologise and that I was now at fault as I hadn’t taken the directors call. A staff member is leaving due to the behaviour of this director. Am I required to accept the call and their apology? If I don’t, does this impact any future actions regarding this director?

You’re not obliged to accept an apology simply because one has been offered, particularly if the behaviour has been ongoing. But there is something else you might like to consider.

Board directors are not above workplace obligations. In fact, under Australian workplace health and safety laws, company officers, which include directors, have a positive duty to ensure the organisation provides a safe working environment. That includes protecting workers from psychological harm such as workplace bullying.

Demeaning or intimidating behaviour towards staff, especially if it forms a pattern, can fall within the definition of workplace bullying. If that conduct contributes to a psychologically unsafe workplace or causes staff to leave, the organisation itself may be exposed to risk under workplace health and safety legislation.

From that perspective, the issue isn’t simply whether an apology has been offered or accepted. It’s whether the underlying behaviour has been properly addressed and whether the organisation is meeting its duty of care to staff.

If you are comfortable doing so, you could raise the matter again with your chief executive or chair and focus on the pattern of behaviour and the impact on staff rather than the apology itself. Good governance requires directors to model respectful behaviour, not undermine it and right now, good governance in your company seems to be badly lacking.

While I was sitting in my workplace kitchen, a group of international interns were speaking in their native language. Two of them looked at me, said something and laughed. The third then turned around to look at me as well. I couldn’t understand what was said, but it made me feel as though I were the subject of the joke. I now feel uncomfortable using the kitchen when they’re there. Should I raise this with their manager?

When people look directly at you, say something in another language and laugh, it’s easy to assume you’re the subject of the joke. But the tricky part here is that you don’t actually know what was said. Acting on an assumption risks escalating something that may have been completely unrelated to you.

A better first step might be to address the atmosphere rather than the language. If it happens again, a light but direct comment can sometimes reset the situation: something like, “I hope I’m not the butt of the joke there”. Said calmly, it signals that the interaction felt uncomfortable without turning it into a formal complaint.

Most people, especially interns early in their careers, are still learning workplace norms. A small nudge about respectful behaviour can be far more effective than immediately escalating the issue.

To submit a question about work, careers or leadership, visit kirstinferguson.com/ask. You will not be asked to provide your name or any identifying information. Letters may be edited.

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