#7: How to Master Salary Negotiation & Research
A cheat sheet to getting the $ that you deserve
Hi friends,
For today’s edition of the newsletter, I’ll be answering your first requested topic:
All things Salary Negotiation and Research! 💰
As a former University Recruiter who saw the behind-the-scenes of negotiating, here are all the tips and tricks that you should know as new grads and beyond!
If you’d like for your topic/question to be addressed in a future newsletter, submit it here!
💵 SALARY RESEARCH 101
You need to figure out what salary range you are looking for before you start interviewing. You don’t want to pull a number out of thin air or sound hesitant when asking for a specific salary. It’s like knowing your standards before you start dating 😉.
How to find your ideal salary range:
Use these 4 online salary research tools:
Play around with different locations, industries, years of experience, etc. Feel free to plug in specific companies too (there’s a lot more data on large companies).
Once you aggregate all the data and observe the minimum, maximum, and medians, you can figure out what type of range you should be asking for.
Look at your university’s salary data
This is an underrated hack, especially for new grads! My alma mater does an annual survey of their graduating class and asks each major what job they got and how much they will make. It’s public information so you can check it out, and your university may have something similar!
Ask peers in your field
This is one of the best ways to get realistic answers, so don’t be afraid of asking your friends and colleagues in similar roles how much they make. They may have done their own research themselves too, so you can compare notes. I’ve found that most people are willing to share (if you’ve built a good relationship with them already).
Or, it can be as simple as asking, “Hey I got a job offer for X amount, do you think that’s fair or should I ask for more?”
How to talk about salary with recruiters:
Make sure you cover salary during the first conversation!! Most recruiters are good about this. However, if they don’t end up asking you what salary you’re looking for, you may have to include it in your questions at the end of the call.
Don’t answer the question right away. Instead, when they ask you what salary you’re looking for, ask them the question back. (Ex. “Could you share what the budgeted range for this position is?”) The reason for this is that you do not want to lowball yourself. More often than not, they do have a range already determined.
Share a range, not a number. In some cases, recruiters will force you to state a number. Instead of saying “I’m looking for $70,000”, say “I’m looking for $68,000-75,000”. Again, the goal is to not lowball yourself.
If the salary is lower than what you want, ask if they can be flexible or if other parts of the compensation package would be flexible, so that your total compensation package would more closely match to what you’re looking for. Feel free to express that you’re flexible as well, if you’re really interested in the opportunity.
How the conversation could go (examples):
Recruiter: What salary are you looking for?
Candidate: Could you share the range for the position?
Recruiter: Sure, it’s $65,000-$70,000 depending on experience.
Candidate: Great, I’m looking for $70,000 so that works for me.
Recruiter: What salary are you looking for?
Candidate: What is the budget for this position?
Recruiter: It’s $65,000-$70,000 depending on experience.
Candidate: Unfortunately, I am looking at $75,000 minimum, is there any way you can be flexible? I am very interested in the company but don’t feel comfortable moving forward in the interview process if not.
Recruiter: What salary are you looking for?
Candidate: Is there a range for this position?
Recruiter: We haven’t determined the range but we’re trying to see what the market is paying and what candidates are looking for.
Candidate: Got it, based on my market research and past experience, I’m looking for $68k-$75k.
💵 SALARY NEGOTIATION 101
What can I negotiate?
Everyone knows about negotiating base salary, but did you know many other things could be negotiable? If the recruiter says that base salary is non-negotiable, don’t give up. There may be other parts of the package that ARE negotiable.
Think about which benefits are most important to you. For example - I value my paid vacation time and take trips every year, so one time I negotiated an additional week of vacation time.
Here are 10 Negotiable Benefits:
Base salary
Sign-on bonus
Annual bonus
Relocation bonus
Start date
Job title
Vacation time
Stock options
Remote work
Flexible schedule
When do I negotiate?
DO negotiate sooner rather than later. You can even start negotiations as early as during the verbal offer call, as long as you’ve already determined what you want and what you can be flexible on. But feel free to take a day or two to think over the offer letter and then get back to them with your counteroffer.
DON’T verbally accept the offer right away. Tell them you’re excited for the role and express your gratitude for receiving the offer. If you already know that you want to negotiate but need time to think about the offer, let them know you look forward to reviewing the offer in writing and getting back to them soon.
How do I negotiate?
You have 2 options: over the phone or through email. Either one is fine, but I would pick the one that caters to your strengths and that you are able to most effectively communicate.
Do I always HAVE to negotiate?
No. If you’re happy with the offer, feel free to take it. It’ll make your recruiter’s job easier too.
But, if you even have a slight feeling that they would raise it if you asked, or if you have a slight dissatisfaction with how much they are offering, you should just go for it.
You don’t have anything to lose by asking. In fact, it’s extremely rare for a company to rescind your offer just because you negotiated (just be sure to ask respectfully and reasonably).
⭐️ Final Reminders ⭐️
Do extensive research on salaries before hopping on a phone call with a recruiter!
Don’t be afraid to walk away from an offer that isn’t worthy of you.
Do be flexible on other parts of the compensation besides base salary!
Career Inbox 📩
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Health & Wealth 💰
Speaking of maximizing your money…
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If you use my link, you’ll get an extra 1% on top of that for 3 months too! There isn’t a minimum you have to deposit, so you can start small. There’s no “catch” either, HYSA’s are pretty straightforward.
It’s perfect for storing your emergency fund (at least 3-6 months of living expenses) and other short-term savings you may have!
Who doesn’t like making free money in their sleep? 🙌
Thanks for reading! 😊
Hope you enjoyed this article of 9 to Thrive!
Give this a like if it was helpful! 👍
Got any other questions related to salary research or negotiation? Leave it in a comment below! 👇
Until next time, stay healthy, wealthy, and wise!
Sincerely,
Sarena