If you didn’t take the time to research the company you are interviewing with, this could be a red flag to your interviewer.

“COVID has led to reduction in salaries in organizations, therefore it will definitely impact merit increases moving forward since the baselines have moved backwards,” said Joe Mullings, founder, chairman and CEO of The Mullings Group.

“Other organizations have frozen merit increases across the board. As you look for a new role, it is reasonable to expect compensation levels at the pre-COVID levels, but you should definitely be prepared for organizations to keep salaries low until some sort of business horizon is established and those companies that have been prudently preserving cash may bring salaries back to pre-COVID levels.”