I applied for a job on Tuesday in a different industry, but similar capacity to the job I hold now, and they called me on Thursday to schedule a phone interview. (Yay!) When I applied for the job online, they required me to fill out a box with minimum salary requirement, and check yes or no to "Negotiable." I currently make $39,500 (with excellent health insurance, almost fully paid, and a large 401k contribution by my employer). I entered $42,000 and said yes to negotiable, since the job posting gave no indication of salary. I picked that number as a minimum because there's no way they could induce me to accept the job for LESS than that. And depending on benefits, I still might not.
The job was for "Buyer I" but said the candidate might be able to be hired at the "Buyer II" level, depending on qualifications. I mean to ask what qualifications separate the I from the II, as I've never worked in an environment that had hiring levels like this.
Assuming I do well enough to GET a job offer, how do I get the best possible compensation package? I've never negotiated salary for a new job. I'm 8 years into my first "real job" and I was so young & desperate when I got it, I took what they offered. If they should say something like, "We see you listed a salary requirement of 42k and we're prepared to offer that."...? Where do I go from there, assuming the benefits offered are not incomparable to what I'm expecting? I wouldn't feel at all weird about asking for more and justifying myself if the benefits package is less than I'm used to. I'd LIKE 50k AND comparable benefits but I don't know how to ask for more from the get-go.
I have asked for, and received a (well-deserved) raise before, it's just that I don't know how to proceed now that they've got a number from me.