Salary expectations

Yo. So I’ve come across a research associate position in the industry I know best (oil) and, while I feel completely inadequate for the job (haven’t done level 1 yet, minimal modeling experience, etc) I think I’ll still take my chances and fire off an application. (Can’t hurt right?). They ask me to state salary expectations though. What kind of advice might you have regarding what to ask for? I don’t want to undersell myself, but at the same time I am completely underqualified (they’re “mba and/or cfa charter or enrollment preferred”). I’m 99.9% sure I won’t get anywhere with this, but these postings don’t come up often in my city so I can’t just let it pass. Thoughts?

I always used Robert Half’s salary guide whenever I prepare to answer that question :

http://s3.amazonaws.com/DBM/M3/2011/Downloads/ATFAMR_2012Canada_SalaryGuide.pdf

http://s3.amazonaws.com/DBM/M3/2011/Downloads/SalaryGuide_RobertHalf_2013_CANADA.pdf

Could not find Research Associate, but you could maybe find something similar.

$70-80K all-in given your background, possibly even less since you appear underqualified for the role. This is especially true if you don’t have good investment ideas to talk about during your interview or just generally haven’t interviewed for similar roles before.

zero chance of getting a call back

The harsh truth?