I have a friend, lets call him Isaiah. Isaiah lost his job a month ago and he's been out of work ever since. He's been searching, day and night, for a position at another company but he hasn't found someone interested yet. This is not from lack of smarts. He is one of the smartest people I know. College degree, other accolades accumulated since graduation which makes him a hot commodity in the job search arena.
With that education comes a bit of cockiness. He applies for jobs, even ones he really doesn't want and considers "below him" and will counteract each job opportunity with asking for a certain amount of money per year and want that confirmed in an email before he will even go to an interview. The issue with this method is that typically companies extend an interview to you before offering financial compensation. This is a perk that comes along with actually being hired or seriously considered for the position. When you ask by email, before you agree to an interview, you give off the air that you are cocky, have a job already and looking for a better job or you aren't really serious about finding work. You may have, occasionally, someone who will try to meet your terms through email before the interview but once it's documented in email it's an amount that has to stick and that's a lot to ask of a company who hasn't actually met you yet.
In a lot of ways asking for specific compensation before going into an interview is self-sabotaging. This sets the precedence for the interview. Say the company agrees to what you are asking. You have a lot to prove in the interview for such a brazen action on your behalf. This will almost always shoot you in the foot if you are not very good at interviews. You have to present yourself in a way that's sure to show that you are worthy of the amount. Another sabotage, as I listed before, is being passed over all together. More companies than not won't meet compensation guidelines by email before even meeting you, it's sending a very bad message. It says that you are only interested in the position for the money. You aren't interested in doing a good job and you possibly aren't interested in remaining in the position if you find a job willing to pay you more. It takes a lot to hire someone, go through interviews and training. This takes money and resources on the companies end and they won't feel comfortable putting all of their stock in you when you are already sending up red flags, and this is a large red flag.
Ultimately, if you are looking for a job it's imperative that you follow through on the applications you fill out. If you took the time to get the application done and they took the time to look through your credentials and make contact then you can take the time to interview. I have gone into interviews where a job was listed at a certain amount per hour and did so well that my compensation package was offered at a much higher tier. Poor and overly demanding attitudes can block you from getting employment and if you don't have a job at all that's something that you literally cannot afford to do. I hope this will help someone evade the stumbling block that will go up if you start off acting like this. Your interview begins at the time they reach out to you for an interview. How you respond sets the precedence on if they want you on their staff or if your attitude is too much for them to care to deal with. Don't shoot yourself in the foot prematurely, compensation can be discussed once a formal offer has been made; that's the most appropriate time to bring up compensation unless otherwise stipulated by the company.
