Side-stepping cover letter salary requirements (politely) is your best strategy!
Cover letter salary requirement requests are an unpleasant, but an unavoidable, fact of the job searching life. So it's a good idea to have a strategy for handling this sort of 'bump in the road' before you actually confront it. First things first, unless they specifically ask, DON'T give out your salary requirement or salary history in your cover letter, EVER.
Not only is this information "none of their beeswax," but in many cases it winds up working AGAINST you.
Cover letter salary requirement requests can hurt you badly in the wallet.
If your stated salary requirement is high, you might be eliminated from the interview process altogether. If it's low, they'll use that against you when they negotiate your salary. Talk about a "lose-lose" proposition!
My cover letter salary requirement advice boils down to this:
If you don't want to be seen as troublesome, go ahead and provide the information. But do it in a very, very vague way. Use a ballpark figure, and give a range that will give you plenty of room to negotiate later. For instance, say something like "mid-forties to mid-fifties."
Avoid giving out any numbers. Otherwise, sidestep the issue... or better yet, turn their cover letter salary requirement request into YOUR request for an interview. Something like the following should do the trick:
"My salary requirement depends on the requirements of the job and the benefits {Company Name} offers. Instead of providing a salary requirement in this cover letter, I'd like to meet with you and discuss the position. When I learn more, I'd be happy to discuss compensation."
Another good tip for cover letters with salary requirements:
Do some research on the Internet to find out what the average salary is for a particular position. This way if they ask for a salary requirement in your cover letter you at least know what the job is worth. But again, if you can avoid the salary topic altogether, you are much better off. When a company is "pushing" for you to divulge as much salary information as possible, it becomes clear that this particular company is more concerned with the dollars and cents bottom line than finding the best person to fill the job even if that means paying a little more. So beware! Would you really want to work for that type of an organization? Be patient, stay persistent and FOLLOW UP everything.
http://www.amazing-cover-letters.com/cover_letter_resources/cover_letter_salary_requirement.htm
