Interviewer: “What’s Your Current Physician Assistant Salary?”
You’re toward the end of the interview and have made it past most of the hard questions and now you’re meeting with the manager and they ask, “What’s your current salary?”
The question always comes up and it is best to be prepared with an answer prior to getting to that point so you’re not caught off guard. Check out this article to see advice on what to say: What to say when a job interviewer asks, ‘What’s your current salary?’
In the article the author says, “The best way to secure your place at a new company and advance your career is to simply tell the truth.” If you’re open and honest with the hiring manager it’s going to help foster an open relationship in the future. If you’re honest and you get the feeling that they are not, it can be a big warning sign and something to greatly consider as you compare other positions.
“If your potential employer games you in this conversation, it’s a warning sign,”
The two main points they bring up when you respond to this question is to know your market value and to make your case when you disclose your salary.
As a PA you need to know your market value. If you’re a practicing PA you can use your current job as a baseline but you can also use Physician Assistant salary reports to get an idea of what other PAs are making. The reports can also be helpful if you feel like you are underpaid at your current position.
For new graduates the salary reports can be helpful for you to establish a baseline. Also, as you do interviews and get offers you can use other offers as a baseline and use that information to compare different positions.
Once you decide to disclose your current salary be honest and say what it is, but also be ready to state your case for why you make what you do. Typically, the person who is the decision maker on salaries is the CFO or VP of something and not necessarily your supervising physician so even though you might provide value to a surgeon for seeing post-op patients, that value is not going to interpret into numbers.
Know what your worth is in numbers… at my current position I make X amount, I currently see X amount of patients per day and bring in X amount to the practice; or I was offered a position at X and they were offering X amount with a potential bonus of X amount.
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How much do you bring into your current practice? Do you free up the surgeon to do more billable procedures by seeing all the post-op patients and pre-op patients? How is your bonus calculated? How are you providing value to the company as a whole?
I have found that during this initial salary discussion you can learn a lot about the culture of the organization. If you’re open and honest with what you’re currently making and your expectations and they’re willing to work with you on something that is a win-win. It’s a good sign that it will be a good place to work. If there are a lot of games at the beginning, you can expect that it’s going to be like that for your tenure at that position. Salary is not the only thing to look at in a position but when it comes up it is best to be prepared with what your thoughts are and what you are looking at in a new position.
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Had an interview where I didn’t give a number when asked, but talked about what I made for the practice and my duties. Turned out to be the best offer of several interviews where I did give a number. I hate the cat and mouse games and wish I didn’t have to read interviewers minds.
Yes, I agree not always fun to have to game for a better salary.
I would disagree, to be totally honest. If you were bringing in significant revenue I would say that your monetary recognition did not come near the revenue you were bringing in and that is one of the reasons you are leaving. I would not mention my salary generally.
After all, many of us frequently leave for a good raise.
I would never ask someone their salary. Why don’t you ask the people you interview what they are making, if all is in the open? Why, it’s in poor taste. It’s an unfair question. I should pay you what the market is plus what your worth is that you have sold me on in the interview. I don’t want my new employer starting from what I was making previously.
If you are brand new, being honest is fine. Just tell them what you think a fair salary would be.
Thanks for the comment. I’ve always had salary questions come up in interviews. It’s a touchy topic for sure. If you honestly feel like you’re underpaid then I think that would be great way to approach it. I think most employers know you’re probably not looking to change jobs for a pay decrease. The important thing it is to be prepared with an answer.