Salary Negotiation

MagicToaster

I was recently offered a job. The pay is a little less than what I was expecting. I asked if the salary was negotiable and they said yes. The HR lady that offered me the job encouraged me to push for more money because "it is very unlikely that they will withdraw the offer because of negotiation".

The job posting said that salary ranges from "$XX - $XX". I know what the top payment can be, and I'd love to get it, but I'd be happy with something along the middle.

I'm going to have a meeting about this in a couple of days, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Should I call out the highest number and work my way down or should I be firm on the number that I have in my mind?

Thanks a lot, guys!

bowen

Do you think you're worth the highest amount?

Dr. Frenchenstein

it's a lot easier if you are offered a job and currently have one, you can use your current pay and benefits as kind of a benchmark. then they sort of have to beat that to get you, so to speak.

If you don't have a current job, pick the number you think you are worth and use that as your hard number that you will not go under. it's not like an auction, so they aren't going to go back and forth with you or anything. you are in graphic design or something, right? bring in some examples of your work, or have some details about projects you've done ready to go. they are going to want some reasons to pay you more than the original offer. Have you interviewed and everything already? Not to toot my own horn, but the job i currently have had a range under what i was making, i interviewed anyways just to see what they would do (via a recruiter) and they ended up paying more than i was making. So that range isn't necessarily gospel! Good luck!

MagicToaster

bowen wrote: »

Do you think you're worth the highest amount?

Absolutely. I'm very capable at my job. I don't think that they will pay the highest though, which is why I'm not pushing for that one. I had a lot of bad experiences at interviews before when they asked me how much I made currently. They all laughed and said "that's what our Art Director makes!"

Dr. Frenchenstein, my old design job paid more than the new job's higher tier. Benefits are incompatible because it is a totally different country. If I use my pay as a benchmark, it would suggest that I go for the highest tier. But like I said before, I've had bad experiences pushing for equal salary.

They've already seen my portfolio.

Dr. Frenchenstein

if they are still lowballing you, hmm... i'd ask for the highest salary honestly, they know you are already taking a hit, they may just be trying to get you to take as big a hit as you are willing, by offering below the top.

bowen

Is your current job stable? How do the benefits compare? What are the countries we're talking about?

I mean if it's Uganda vs US, it's hard to really give meaningful advice without knowing it.

It seems like, opinion wise, you'd just shoot for whatever you can get comparable to your current salary and go "I am already making more than this, and I am trying to keep my salary market competitive."

Bad experiences pushing for equal salary, is essentially, "You are interviewing at places that are substantially undervaluing their workforce."

You probably don't want to work at those places, in general. If they're undervaluing them so much in salary and guffawing at you in general, imagine what they'll do when you want a raise, or, want a safe/sane place to work. Typically these places have insane hours too because people will work it under the guise of "being a team player" (aka, do it or I'll fire your ass). These things are very indicative of the culture of the company.

But like I said, if you're interviewing in Uganda or something, that may be wayyyyyy off base. US vs UK, not so much.

Djeet

Say you want the big number of the range and see how they counter. That's it. You know you're worth it, but if you have to take less you will, but not without pushing for the most. Be open to non-pay forms of comp (additional PTO, flextime, whatever).

iRevert

You can always come down, but never go up.

Start high and let them counter you, if the counter is below your comfort zone counter offer that offer, even if the counter offer is right on your comfort zone make a counter for a little bit more.

Reverend_Chaos

I would do a little bit of research. Is the cost of living vastly different where you are going? If so, less money could be very realistic, but you should still start high. What will it cost for you to live there as opposed to your current situation. If the costs will be relatively equal, you should be asking for relatively equal, and just because their top tier is listed as $XX does not neccesarily mean that it's as high as they will go.

I would tell them what your current salary AND benefits and let them know that you are aware that this is higher than their salaray parameters. Then ask them "what can we do here". Then Silence. This is an old sales trick, you lay it out, and then shut up. First person to talk loses.

There are all kinds of things that they could potentially offer you in addition to salary.The trick here is not to ask them for anything, but merely lay out what you have now, and then see what they come back with. Then you are free to counter with whatever, benefits, company money in youf FSA, or HSA for medical expenses, Higher match for 401k, Designated parking spot, moving allowance (for relocating), food allowance, car allowance, phone allowance, additional vacation time etc. There is all kinds of things they can offer you that won't be part of your "salary" that they can write off as another expense for the company.

Dr. Frenchenstein

yeah i didn't even consider cost of living. Pay is pretty different just 1 hour down 95 in DC than in baltimore.

a5ehren

You can also try something like Glassdoor, but take that with a grain of salt.

Sir Landshark

Most companies are more interested in giving you the least amount that you will accept, rather than the amount you are actually worth.

If the job posting has a range listed and there's no reason to think you are underqualified in some facet, then ask for the top of the range. They've already established that range themselves, they aren't going to laugh at you for asking for it. See how they respond and go from there.

Dhalphir

Keep in mind that it is roughly five billion times easier to squeeze out an extra $5k a year during salary negotiations than to get a $5k per year raise later.

CroakerBC

bowen wrote: »

Is your current job stable? How do the benefits compare? What are the countries we're talking about?

I mean if it's Uganda vs US, it's hard to really give meaningful advice without knowing it.

It seems like, opinion wise, you'd just shoot for whatever you can get comparable to your current salary and go "I am already making more than this, and I am trying to keep my salary market competitive."

Bad experiences pushing for equal salary, is essentially, "You are interviewing at places that are substantially undervaluing their workforce."

You probably don't want to work at those places, in general. If they're undervaluing them so much in salary and guffawing at you in general, imagine what they'll do when you want a raise, or, want a safe/sane place to work. Typically these places have insane hours too because people will work it under the guise of "being a team player" (aka, do it or I'll fire your ass). These things are very indicative of the culture of the company.

But like I said, if you're interviewing in Uganda or something, that may be wayyyyyy off base. US vs UK, not so much.

I agree with most of this, but would note that if you're moving from the US to a European country, you need to remember that (in most cases), you no longer need to pay for health insurance, as that's being taken out of your gross as part of general taxation.

Griswold

From what I've read (corroborated by my limited experience negotiating my own salary), you can generally negotiate 5%-10% up from an employer's initial offer.

If the highest salary number is less than or equal to 10% above what they offered, I would counter at +10%.

If the highest number of that range is more than 10% above the offer, I'd counter at like 15% and hope to settle around 10% when the dust clears (assuming this salary is acceptable for you).

Good things to cite when justifying your counter-offer: average salary for your position, years'/relevance of your work experience, cost-of-living, commute. But you don't need to give them a soliloquy -- just two or three quick, firm, and cordial sentences, then let them come back to you.