Compensation
Yes, money and benefits are important. I guarantee you will have this conversation after the company expresses an interest in you. Your bargaining position will be much stronger then, so just resist asking about money and concentrate on showing that you understand the company’s challenges and can help solve them.
On the other hand, let’s be real. Money is critical, so why should it be so awkward to acknowledge that fact? True, most career counselors and job-hunting experts suggest it is taboo for you to ask about pay before the interviewer does, but I think it’s possible to be too rigid on this point. Occasionally it may make sense for the candidate to initiate a relaxed conversation about pay issues at an early point in the interview. Any reasonable person would expect rate of pay, health benefits, and what constitutes the workweek to be important topics. To pointedly ignore them diminishes the honesty of the relationship between the candidate and the interviewer, surely not an auspicious way to start a relationship with someone who may become your immediate supervisor and mentor.
There is one exception when issues of pay should come first, not last. That exception refers to salespeople who are paid by commission, not salary. With salespeople, the acknowledged desire to earn a high income is considered an unalloyed virtue. Companies actually like to see a reasonable level of greediness in their salespeople. The system is set up so that salespeople make money only if they earn the company a lot more money. Thus if you are interviewing for a sales job, it can be appropriate for you to raise the issue of commissions, royalties, quotas, and other compensation issues early on in the interview.