I Asked ChatGPT How to Answer Salary Expectations in an Emai…

Like most job seekers, I too had to answer the dreaded salary expectation question over email.

No matter how many times I've done it, putting a number in there is still nerve-wracking. What if I let myself down because my grades are too low? Or worse, what if I missed a job opportunity because my salary expectation was too high?

Besides the anxiety that comes with thinking about the outcome, the other challenging part of the process is writing the actual salary expectation email (or creating the script I would use if this discussion were happening face-to-face).

I think too much about what to say during difficult conversations and end up writing and rewriting something like a salary negotiation email for over an hour.

So, I asked an expert how to respond to salary expectations over email – and then I tested ChatGPT to see if it could write the email for me.

table of contents

setting your salary expectations

Before you can discuss salary expectations with the hiring team, you need to specify your target number.

It is important to keep the desired salary in mind First You start out interviewing with a company so you can use it as a guide throughout the process.

Based on my experience, here are four steps to approach salary expectations.

1. Check job postings.

Before you state your salary expectations, refer to the original job posting.

Recent salary transparency laws in several states, including California and New York, require companies to include the role's salary range in job postings. If a range is listed, you can use it as a baseline for the salary you want to request.

2. Research salary data.

If there is no salary range listed on the job posting for your role, you can research the average salary for the role using websites like PayScale or Salary.com.

If the company is large enough, there may also be data from current and former employees who have shared their salaries on websites like Glassdoor.

It is also important to consider the industry of the role you are applying for. For example, tech salaries differ from government or nonprofit salaries, so the industry you're interviewing in affects your target salary.

3. Evaluate your experience and current salary.

Once you know the salary range for your role, consider your experience to decide what you want to ask for.

You'll probably aim for a salary higher than your current salary – or, at least, at a similar rate, assuming this is a role you're very interested in.

You may also be willing to accept a lower salary than your current salary for a number of reasons.

Maybe you're making a career pivot or changing roles, and experience is more important. Or perhaps the company offers benefits to compensate for the low base salary.

Using your research on industry salaries as well as your current salary, you should have a good idea of ​​your target salary. Come up with a limit that you will accept, making sure you have a minimum amount that you will be happy with.

4. Prepare a counterproposal.

Negotiating salary expectations usually happens early in the interview process, but it's never too early to think about what type of offer you'd be happy with.

Start thinking about salary negotiations and consider what you'd like to negotiate, whether it's base salary or other benefits. Things like stock options, more vacation days, or a hybrid work schedule can all be negotiable.

How to Answer the Salary Expectation Question

To find out how to accurately answer the salary expectation question, I talked to tech talent acquisition expert Nick Smith. Here's what he had to say.

1. Communicate quickly.

Smith emphasizes the need to have this conversation early in the process. “This should be done on your first call with the recruiter or initial point of contact,” he states.

While the question of salary expectations is typically asked by a recruiter during the screening process, you may be presented with this question on a job application or in an initial email.

This is why you will need to prepare a script and answers.

2. Install the minimum.

After doing research, you should know what the going rate is for your situation and industry. Use that number as a baseline and adjust based on your experience and what you know about the role you're interviewing for.

“It is absolutely critical that the hiring team acknowledges the minimum threshold for your compensation,” says Smith.

That said, you need to be reasonable about your question. Just like you have a minimum number in mind, hiring managers also have their limits.

“Hiring teams will be useless to you if you don't have a grounded number in mind,” says Smith.

3. Communicate your value.

Next, you need to be able to tell the hiring team why you're expecting a certain salary range. Justify your desired salary with market research and by demonstrating the value you will bring to the role and company.

Smith suggests writing something like this in your salary expectations email:

“Based on the feedback given to me by the hiring team, my anticipated role and impact on the team/organization/company, and market research, I will happily accept X and withdraw myself from my remaining interviews elsewhere.”

4. Express gratitude.

If you're vying for the position, Smith also suggests showing appreciation and a willingness to move on. You can remain confident and determined without losing gratitude towards the process.

“How you frame things is as important as what you say,” He says.

To express gratitude in a salary expectations email, you can say something as simple as, “I am excited about the opportunity and look forward to the next steps.”

What did chatgpt write for me

Like I said before, writing salary expectation emails is nerve-wracking.

I was curious to see if AI could alleviate some of the stress of writing these types of emails, so I asked ChatGPT to write me several salary expectation emails using the above expert tips as guidance.

For this example, I came across a job posting for a position I was interested in – a content marketing manager at a tech company called ServiceChannel.

As you can see below, the salary range for this role is wide. It starts at $67,700 and goes up to $125,900.

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1. Salary Expectations Email: Salary Range

Here is the first prompt I gave to ChatGPT.

And here's the chatbot's response (warning: it's long!):

There are a few things I would do to improve this email.

For starters, it's really long. While it's important to communicate your enthusiasm for the role and highlight your qualifications, in my opinion, this email misses the point.

If I were writing this, I would cut out some of the bad stuff and get to the point quickly.

Second, since the salary range listed on this job posting is so broad, I would personally narrow it down even further.

ChatGPT did this by writing that it was targeting “the upper limit of the stated bracket”, but this left some ambiguity.

2. Salary Expectations Email: Setting the Minimum

For my next prompt, I'd like to lower the salary cap and create a minimum compensation window, as Smith suggests.

Here's what I asked ChatGPT to write:

Here's what ChatGPT wrote. The response was very similar to the previous one, so I outlined the section that the chatbot wrote differently:

Aside from the length of this email (I'll explain further), I think the adjustment to the salary expectation part is better.

You may not want to provide a specific number at the beginning of the interview process. But, doing so lets the hiring team know whether to proceed or not.

This also helps you decide whether the position is worth pursuing or not. If you have an absolute minimum salary range that you will accept, it is worth sharing it up front so you don't waste your time.

3. Salary Expectations Email: Short Email

Now, it's time to focus on length. I asked ChatGPT to write a short email and received specific information about length:

Here's what it produced:

The length and structure of this email is much better. This is concise when checking all the boxes of an effective salary expectations email.

When talking about salary, I personally like to emphasize the value and experience I will bring to a role. Smith also suggests communicating your value proposition when sharing your salary expectations.

4. Salary Expectations Email: Communicating Value

With the above in mind, I gave ChatGPT another prompt:

And here's what he wrote:

In general, I think this email works well. This is more in line with how I would write a salary expectations email.

It emphasizes my excitement about the opportunity, explains why I am qualified for the position, and clearly states my minimum desired salary. I also like that it reiterates my value endorsement and shows confidence in my expertise.

Finally, in all of these emails, ChatGPT included a line about being open to discussing other aspects of the compensation package, which communicates flexibility.

If you're up for negotiation for the right situation, this is a smart element to include in your email.

5. Salary Expectations Email: Deflecting Salary Expectations

For my final prompt, I wanted to see how ChatGPT would write an email in a scenario where I wanted to avoid the salary expectation question.

As Smith previously suggested, it's better to have this conversation in person because email is “impersonal and lacks nuance.” You may also want to learn more about the role before sharing a specific number.

Here's what ChatGPT wrote:

Although this email is still a bit verbose (to be fair, I never specified a certain tone I wanted to emulate), it does a good job of deflecting the question.

The email said that although I am looking forward to this role, I would like to have this conversation later when I have more information about everything related to this role.

If you want to delay the salary discussion, you can also use this time to ask questions about salary and budget. This is something that is not included in this AI-generated email, but is what I would add if I were writing it.

What I learned from AI

my greatest accomplishment? If you're currently looking for a job, it might be good practice to use ChatGPT to write a salary expectations email.

Chatbots can generate responses in seconds and adjust to each prompt you give, forcing you to think about what you would write differently.

If, like me, getting started with this type of email is the hardest part, AI-generated responses can provide a framework as well.

However, ChatGPT will not generate the correct response for your specific situation.

You'll need to provide details and tell the chatbot what tone you want to use if you want it to generate something close to send-ready (caveat: ChatGPT doesn't have to tell *a lot* about you or your situation. Avoid giving information).

setting expectations

It is essential to set salary expectations for everyone involved in the interview process. But before you can share your salary expectations, you need to be ready with a number.

Only you know what salary range or minimum salary you will be comfortable with.

Make sure you do abundant salary data research, evaluate your experience and skills, and come up with a script you can confidently use when the opportunity arises.

You can use AI to help you create your email structure, but ultimately, you'll need to fill in the blanks with your job description and salary expectations.