Pre-interview salary negotiation advice, also, how accurate is salary.com?

I'm through phase one of phone interviews for a job out of state, and before they continue interviews, they sent me an email saying "Current pay range for this position is 50-75k. Is this acceptable?"
This is at a small company, and the position will be unique (ie, no peers of the same job title to base salaries off of). The responsibilities and my experience seem to line up better with the "III" version (Senior such-and-such) of the job on salary.com that has a median salary of $90k. The "II" version's median is 77k, so even for that (assuming I was offered the upper end of the salary range for the position) they are below average. Is salary.com really THAT FAR off reality these days?
I am a good fit for the position, I feel like if I got to face-to-face interviews I would be able to 'win them over' in negotiations, but I don't know how to reply to the email in a way that leaves the negotiations until after interviews are complete, but allows them to continue without them thinking I'm good being capped at 75k. I can't really afford to relocate my family for essentially the same money I'm making now, regardless of how interesting the job is.
Any ideas on an approach, fellow professionals?

PS...I'm an established member, it just doesn't seem like we have our 'post anonymously' feature back yet.

 

My first thought: it's not very professional to be conducting salary negotiations via email when other means of communication are available.

Second thought: my reply would read something similar too "Are you offering me the position? If not, I'm sure we can come to something reasonable when you make an offer" or "Can we come back to this later when you've decided on a candidate? I'm sure we will have no trouble reaching an agreement". Essentially reply -- as many times as you asked -- that it is "too soon to be discussing salary" until an offer is on the table as politely, and tactfully as you can.

Third thought: alternatively, if they insist on you answering after you reply with something similar to my second thought, I would reply "That is a bit lower than my research indicates is the median for this type of position. I think we can come to an agreement however: who do we need to get involved in order to get to a an agreement on salary?"

 

Throwaway accounts? Ooo, I don't know how staff is going to like that one.

This isn't Reddit. And if you get to have one, that means I get to have one. And that's not a good idea.

...oh, the things I'd do.

...

Mmm, their pay range isn't close to what you want if you're looking for that $90k, brah. You can ask for a face-to-face interview and be firm about how awesome you are and why they should pay you a bucket of scrilla every two weeks, but it might be a little like asking for $23/hr starting pay at McDonald's: ambitious to the point of being retarded. Candle has some really good advice. Don't talk money until they make you an offer. They have to make the first move as far as their compensation expectation is concerned. The only reason for them to play games is they want to try sell you into that lower position ($60k, whatever) or hope you'll sell yourself into it by being a big softy. If you're the only dude in that job, it's easy for them to save some big money by chipping away at your compensation package. Who are you going to compare yourself to? Nobody.

Do what Candle says. And don't ever be afraid to say no. I've seen a lot of guys sell themselves short (like thousands a year short) because they were afraid to be firm. Cynth brings up soft cost perks and other benefits, things that companies use to justify paying you $15k less a year. Free day care might be worth it. Employee gym memberships, Asian fusion smoothie bar and free massages on Wednesdays? Eat a dick, I want my $15k.

 

If someone wants to buy your horse, dont give them a price, let them make you an offer. They will offer you their minimum amount - work up from there. The minimum is what they would like to pay, not what they would expect to pay.
Guess it depends on your teeth and such throwaway 1.

 

Don't worry about creating the secondary account. The anonymous feature is coming back, and I'm pretty sure we can track this pretty easily if needed. Hell, even I can do it, I think.

Since you're moving from out of state, you might be able to play the "similarly situated peers here average about $90k" card. The issue is that the place that you're going may have enough of a difference in the standard of living that the pay is lower - there's an appreciable difference just between New York and Chicago. So you probably need to factor that in.

If you're going to play the similarly situated card, you need to play it softly. By that I mean you need to let them know that $75k isn't a deal breaker under the right circumstances. That said, $50k probably is since it's almost half of what you want. I'd make that as clear as possible.

 

OK, so what about something along the lines of:

"That salary range is almost too large to comment on, but I will say, it seems closer to what I would consider an entry-level pay range than that of a senior [redacted], which (without using those exact words) is what you sounded like you were looking for.
That said, rather than get into any firm discussions of salary at this point, I'd prefer to proceed with the interview process and find out more about the position's exact responsibilities, in addition to letting you explore whether I'm going to be a good fit for you.
If we proceed to the point where we have determined that I'm what you're looking for, I'm sure we can come to an agreement on both salary and relocation."

 

I like it.

 

Polished slightly and sent. Thanks for the advice!

For the curious, I softened the first paragraph to:

"That salary range is very wide, which makes it difficult to offer a comment on it. I will say, the majority of it seems more in line with what I would consider an entry-level pay range than that of a senior design engineer, which (without using those exact words) is what you sounded like you were looking for."

 

Update: After the last email, I had another phone interview, then another email saying "I'd really like to know the specifics of your salary requirements" and I emailed them a big long email that basically and honestly outlined my minimum requirements, and...

...they are flying me out for an in-person interview next week! Squeeee!

 

I could have used this advice when i got an email last week asking me for my salary range before scheduling a phone interview. I was talked up by an old boss as it wasn't a posted position but one he knew they were looking to create and then fill. He warned me the company was worried that I would be "overqualified" for the position at least for the initial title which was to be a 3-6 month trial period.

This is the email I sent..thoughts?

 

I would have been less specific unless pressed, like Mr. Anonymous was.

 

Definitely a lesson learned... curious to see how the phone interview will go tomorrow.

 

If you just want to know what I would personally do, I would take what they said as the pay range for the job, and wouldnt go any further if it was less than I wanted to work for.

Then again, I have never really had many interviews. Ive worked for the same company (through three different transfers of ownership) since I left university and the only times Ive considered leaving didnt involve interviews, it was just other partners I had dealt with offered me a job a couple of times.

But that said, if someone said "this is the pay range, is that acceptable for you?" I would take that as them saying they didnt want to waste everyone's time if that wasnt where I saw things... and if I didnt see things there I wouldnt waste either parties time going through the motions to, if I was successful, turn it down because I want more than 75 long ones.

(I have "Manager" in my job title, but I dont wear a tie to work... dont know if I qualify as a "professional" on those terms either)

 

Well, I'm certainly glad I didn't do that! They didn't seem to have any problems with my desired pay range, they've said they'll pay relocation, and my trip out to interview with them is all expenses paid...they booked my plane and asked if I wanted a hotel, but I'm just going to fly there and back in one day. It's nice to feel sought-after!

 

I'll just throw some resources out there:

Payscale.com
Glassdoor.com

I haven't used Salary.com, I'll have to check it out now...

 

I just personally wouldnt want to work somewhere if they werent straightforward.

If the first interaction with the company is "this is the top pay of the pay scale" but actually they are willing to pay 10k more or whatever, its not for me.

It might not be the best thing to do if the advancement of your career is your main priority, but its what I'd do, thats all.

My main priority in work isnt promotion and money, and I consciously dont do the kind of things that those people who seem to get ahead in the corporate world do. For me, my motivation at work is to conduct myself and deal with my colleagues in a way that I can look myself in the face when I get home at the end of the day, and all the particular moral quirks that that involves for me personally.

It's not meant as a knock. Companies need people who want to get ahead as well as people like me who are "workers"... I understand that the path I choose isnt the one with the best rewards, but my own personality necessitates it.

 

I guess like I said, I'm 33 and I've never applied for a job. In 11 years I've had 3 promotions and in every case I was offered a salary increase that I accepted. Most years Ive also got a "merit" salary increase on top of the cost of living one - but I never asked for one or debated the level of it. So I dont have any experience of negoiating salary. The only people I have ever hired have been at entry level and the salary was pretty fixed and not up for debate (and also made very clear on that fact by me right at the start of the process)

If I was going for another job and they said "we're offering X" and I wasnt prepared to work for less than "Y" I would just say "thanks, but thats not right for me so nevermind" or whatever. If they then turned around and said "well, we actually could have offered Y" I'd probably have lost respect for the process a bit, because in the first case they said something that they didnt mean.

I do quite a bit of purchasing, and of course I understand you dont come right out and tell someone the maximum you're prepared to pay for something in most cases. I am not straightforward with most of the suppliers that I buy things from (ie - they might quote a price that at the end of the day I'd be prepared to pay, but still go through the whole act of knocking something off my desk and then going "did you hear that, I've lieterally fallen off my chair... " or whatever, its just a game. But I wouldnt play that game with someone's salary and if a company did with me/or expected me to with them, I just dont think that it would be the place for me.

Anyway, Im not say the anon poster should have done what I suggested. It looked like he already was in the place he wanted to be and didnt need any advice, so I was just looking at this as a discussion and offering my own perspective.

If I negoiated my salary in the way I negoiated buying some new pumps (without the comedy perhaps) perhaps I would be 5k a year better off by now, but it just isnt something I can do with my personality, even if I can intellectually do it. And like you said, I wouldnt swap 5k for behaving in a way that I wasnt personally happy with. Feeling ok with myself is worth more than money (one you've got a roof over your head and a laptop and enough to eat nice food and all that Maslow stuff)