For the vast majority of U.S. workers, the reason for going to work is getting paid, but when interviewing for a job, you don’t always know up front what that pay will be.
So when’s the best time to ask?
Staffing firm Robert Half interviewed hiring managers, and, while 31 percent say it’s OK to ask about pay during the first interview, 38 percent say it’s more appropriate to wait until the second interview.
Another 8 percent say wait until the third face-to-face meeting, and 14 percent don’t think it’s appropriate to ask them about salary until after they’ve made a job offer.
But knowing the salary early on can save both sides a lot of wasted interview time if the salary will be too low for what the candidate expects, and 8 percent of hiring managers say it’s appropriate to get the salary question out of the way during the first phone call.
