(Photo credit @gabriellefaithhenderson)
Last month, I was featured in a 500Startups article along with other women entrepreneurs offering hard-earned negotiation advice. I thought I’d expand a bit more on my snippets.
My Negotiation Hack: Arm yourself with data before any negotiation. Know the questions they will ask and be ready to respond.
I am always surprised when I speak with job seekers who wait until the offer stage to gather salary data and prepare for an offer negotiation.
You should start earlier in the process. The larger tech firms have hired enough people that the data is often readily available - and now that multiple states ban companies from asking for salary history, many recruiters are asking for salary ranges in screening calls or first-round interviews! Don’t be caught off-guard and anchor yourself lower than you should.
Resources to find salary data:
Comparably has emerged as a solid source of information compared with the originals Glassdoor and Salary.com
Women and underrepresented minorities should check out 81cents for a $195 paid personalized report (tho they offer partial scholarships if you need it)
For MBAs, check out TransparentCareer.com for a very targeted data set
I’ve heard mixed things about Levels.fyi but still worth including
For pre-IPO companies, try Angel.co’s salary database
My Advice: Be confident in what you are asking for. They wouldn’t have given you an offer if they didn’t think you had skills and value to add. Ask someone knowledgeable to practice modeling out the various ways the conversation could go.
For some candidates, they are confident throughout the entire interview process - and freeze up when the offer negotiation phase begins. You should remember that they gave you an offer because they want YOU to join their organization and bring along your skills and experience to help them achieve their company’s objectives.
It’s only logical to then ask for a compensation package that matches your worth. And most tech recruiters also expect negotiation. If you structure the conversation well, everyone wins.
PRACTICE the conversation!! Contact me or someone else who is knowledgeable about you, your industry/role, or the specific company to help plan out the conversation. I have modeled negotiation conversations with many clients, forcing them to articulate what comp package components they value most and how to respond if a recruiter says No at any stage. I’ve helped clients get anywhere from $5-25K salary bumps, include advanced promotion cycles in their written offers, added additional bonuses, and more. Reach out if you’d like to chat more!
