Do you know what your fair market value is? When the interviewer asks you what kind of salary you are looking for, do you know what to tell her? This can be an uncomfortable part of the interviewing process. You don't want to ask for too much and lose the job and you don't want to ask for too little and short-change yourself. In fact, asking for too little raises red flags for the interviewers.

Some online career networks offer job salary information so you know what to ask for in the interview. They provide salary calculators that require you to enter in specific pieces of data. The calculator then comes up with a fair number. This is a piece of ammunition you can bring with you to the interview.

How Salary Calculators Work

A number of different factors affect a person's salary. Depending on what part of the world you live in, the cost of living varies. Making $50,000 a year in New York City is not the same as making $50,000 a year in Houston, Texas. The industry you work in also affects salary in addition to the specific job title. The size of the company you want to work with also plays a role because larger companies often pay better salaries.

The salary calculator then takes all these pieces of information and spits out a fair market range. When companies put together their salary ranges, they also do their research to determine what's appropriate. They want to see candidates who have keen knowledge of their worth. Jobs are won and lost during salary discussions.