Writing Salary Expectations in to a Cover Letter?

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Just remember: remuneration, not renumeration. Please. Pet peeve of mine. Thank you.

Wow, I had no clue. Amazing almost everyone (other than you lawyers who must use the word frequently) uses the wrong word.

[mykalberta]

For me it depends what your prospects are. I personalize each cover letter and have modified the range given what I know about the company, people, bonus plan etc. +1 to First Lady's idea of giving it a range.

I personally do it so that I dont waste my time at an interview where they are going to try to low ball you. That tends to happen alot in my field when the people doing the interviewing have no idea of the job description or the market.

[Rerun]

Depends on how desperate you are for a job.

If you're desperate, don't put any salary expectations in the cover letter.
If you already have a job, and you're just looking for a better paying one, go ahead.

Remember though... money isn't everything. I've had jobs that paid great but I hated the job. In the long run, its better to take less if you have to, if you get a job that you really enjoy.

[malcolmk14]

You could always throw some humor in there and request something totally absurd. It will make your cover letter stand out amongst all the other ones.

[Galakanokis]

Originally Posted by Rerun

Depends on how desperate you are for a job.

If you're desperate, don't put any salary expectations in the cover letter.
If you already have a job, and you're just looking for a better paying one, go ahead.

Remember though... money isn't everything. I've had jobs that paid great but I hated the job. In the long run, its better to take less if you have to, if you get a job that you really enjoy.

Very true on all aspects.

I have never included salary demands of any sort on a cover letter. But I do get down to money very quickly when it comes to the interview. I don't want to waste theirs or my time if the money isn't anywhere close to what I would expect to be paid.

Adding a salary range sounds like a quick way to eliminate resumes. Can't price yourself to low or they think you suck and can't price yourself to high as they won't even look at you.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

You could always throw some humor in there and request something totally absurd. It will make your cover letter stand out amongst all the other ones.

A bowl of M+M's to be placed on your desk at the start of every day . . . no green ones.

A small person, no taller then 4 feet tall, who you can ride around the office on.

A hot receptionist who's soul job is to pleasure you.

[cyclone3483]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

A bowl of M+M's to be placed on your desk at the start of every day . . . no green ones.

A small person, no taller then 4 feet tall, who you can ride around the office on.

A hot receptionist who's soul job is to pleasure you.

but only two of those were absurd

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Aah, the cover letter. Is there anything more pointless than a cover letter?

It gets you prepared for all the pointless things you'll be asked to do at work by me

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

Aah, the cover letter. Is there anything more pointless than a cover letter?

"Hmm, this person seems capable of stringing together a bunch of meaningless cliches. He's hired".

For me the purpose of the cover letter was always simply to assess if the person cared enough to write a custom cover letter - or just barfed up there standard one that is obviously sent out to all companies they are applying for.

Demonstrate that you actually took the time to include something specific about our company or the job you are applying for and you'll get the interview.

[llama64]

Even if asked to include salary expectations on a cover letter, I'd simply put "negotiable".

Frankly, if your cover letter/resume doesn't sell you based solely on skills, any blurb about salary isn't going to help (with quality employers). Employers who sort based on salary should be avoided... not worth working for in my opinion.

Basically, if they want to talk money, first bring me in for an interview. I'm interviewing them as much as they are interviewing me, so some professional respect would be nice.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

For me the purpose of the cover letter was always simply to assess if the person cared enough to write a custom cover letter - or just barfed up there standard one that is obviously sent out to all companies they are applying for.

Demonstrate that you actually took the time to include something specific about our company or the job you are applying for and you'll get the interview.

Very, very good advice -- explains the point of a cover letter perfectly.

One question though... If applying to a job online via email, should one attach a separate cover letter in addition to the resume? Or just use the email itself as a cover letter? Just wondering what people's opinions are like.

[JiriHrdina]

^In those cases both as an employer and a candidate I have treated the email as the cover letter. As a employer I don't want to have to read to separate letters.

But by no means is that a hard and fast rule. I know some recommend that the email should be a very short note, that refers to a longer attached cover letter. That seems redundant to me though.

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by fredr123

Just remember: remuneration, not renumeration. Please. Pet peeve of mine. Thank you.

LOL, thanks.... as a bookkeeper with politics (ie: polling) as a hobby;
you can see they are interchangable to me....

[Flames in 07]

To me it's good to talk about how your going to add value before you talk about what the company better do for yourself.

Personally I'd discount the applicant significantly if I read salary expectations in a cover letter.

Really it doesn't make you any better off. Find out if you are a good fit for the job, gather some rapport and have the mgr believe you are good before you start talking money.

[OilersBaby]

^^then how come the job posting asked for the applicants to include it in the cover letter?

[JiriHrdina]

^A sign that the company doesn't have its priorities right when selecting employees.

[Flames in 07]

Originally Posted by OilersBaby

^^then how come the job posting asked for the applicants to include it in the cover letter?

I don't know the answer to your question. I didn't post the application, I'm just noting how I feel about people talking about $ in a cover letter.

Possibly the jobs are very transactional in nature, short term, hiring lots of people. I have no idea.

[jtfrogger]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

For me the purpose of the cover letter was always simply to assess if the person cared enough to write a custom cover letter - or just barfed up there standard one that is obviously sent out to all companies they are applying for.

Demonstrate that you actually took the time to include something specific about our company or the job you are applying for and you'll get the interview.

I agree with everything that JiriHrdina says. This says a lot about the applicant.

When I review job applicants, a cover letter can go a long way. I find that only about 5-10% of the responses I get have a really good cover letter. And I would say at least 25% are pure garbage that make me discard the resume without looking at it. The rest are fluff, which is acceptable if the resume can back up the person's qualifications.

Really good cover letters show how well someone can communicate, which is an important aspect of any job that I hire. Not having a great cover letter isn't a deal-breaker, but those that have it do get my attention.