There are two schools of thought on when to bring up salary. One approach is to steer clear of salary talk until after you have a job offer. The other way is to find out up front what the salary range is so you don’t waste your time on something you don’t want. Both ways have worked for lots and lots of people. Talking about money is a very individual thing, and you have to figure out which approach is a good one for you. See if this helps:

If you’re pretty new to your career, or you're struggling in a really competitive job market, it might be better to put off salary talk until after the job offer. Once you’ve sold the employer on your qualifications, you’ll be in a better position to talk money.

On the other hand, if you’re accomplished in your field, you know your minimum worth, and you don’t want to waste your time applying for an under-paying job, doesn’t it make sense to find out if the salary is at least in the ballpark before going through the whole application process? Maybe you don’t want to pin down the exact figure, but knowing what the range is could save you and the employer a lot of time.

Whenever you decide to talk money, you want to have your bargaining hat on straight. To help develop a strategy, fill out the following two "thinksheets."