How to confidently negotiate a salary?

Question

Hi! I'm going in for a job interview, and having gone on many, many job interviews, I know the salary question is going to come up. I would like to negotiate 10k-20k above my current salary, as this role does require management and oversight of departments (but without the management title, oddly enough). I'd like to negotiate a fair salary, though I sense that the amount I'd like wouldn't be in line with the budget of a start-up, and may cause the interviewer to immediately turn me away. This is a start-up I'm extremely interested in, and will give me a chance to take ownership of the business development and marketing aspects. Thoughts?

PennyRem · Answer

If you do your research and have industry standard numbers to help confidently negotiate your salary with your experience, go for it! Also, keep us posted on how it goes!

Six Figure Salary Coach · Answer

Hey my friend! In my line of work (salary negotiation) I see this question a lot! I have actually wrote an article on the best way to answer this question. You can check it out here if you wish. It's an article along with a video outlining examples of how to answer this question. I think this will give you some good tools to answer this question with confidence without the interviewer immediately turning you away.

https://www.liberatedtribe.com/articles/2019/3/30/what-are-your-salary-expectations/

This will walk you though how to balance exactly what you are struggling with - your ideal salary vs. being turned away preemptively without the option to have the conversation / negotiation.

The interview is there so that they WANT to give you an offer. Once they give you an offer - the rest is all negotiable. The point during the interview phase is to communicate what you want in a way that still keeps them interested.

Ultimately you want to be able to communicate YOUR value but also keep the lines of communication open with the interviewer so that YOU can decide if you want to take a salary less than what you proposed (ie if there is ownership down the road maybe you do want a lesser salary in year 1). Maybe you do - maybe you don't. It's your call to make but if you communicate a value that is too high, without the option for further discussion, then you run the risk of being rejected without further conversation.  It's a tough balancing act but this video/article breaks down the easiest way to  address this.

When starting out, salary is all negotiable. I have coached some through a lesser salary with guaranteed increases within a specific amount of time once they see your value. I have negotiated increased holiday times, signing bonuses, etc. This is all flexible, especially with a start up!

Does this make sense? Feel free to message me here or shoot me an email at riseup@liberatedtribe.com to discuss this further if you would like! I can talk about this for days (clearly - look how long this message is haha)

When is your interview?

Anonymous · Answer

PayScale and Glassdoor have been great tools for me in my job searches.  Knowing what others are making in that field in your area is a wonderful note to go in there with.
When I set my desired salary range during my last hunt, I set it at $5k above my old salary ($60k) and went up another $10k; my desired salary range was $65k-75k.  I knew from my research that that was on the low end for the field, but I also knew it wasn't any more or less than what I needed.  I also included 'flexible based on benefits structure' in my salary range language.

Heather Neal · Answer

Hi there! Wishing you the best of luck! Which market are you in? If you are looking for market data on the value of the role, then I would check out PayScale. Also, what Alison said!

Alison · Answer

Startups are special because they only have so much budget allotted ideally, but also you have the ability to make a much greater impact in the organization than if you were at large company, so you could very well be worth every dollar (and more) depending on what you bring to the organization.

If you are concerned your value may give them sticker shock up front or stop the process before they have a chance to decide they need you in their company, don't communicate your salary expectations out of the gate.  It's much easier to stop the process on a candidate if you already know they are out of your budget, and they don't even know how much they need you yet!

Instead, I recommend when the salary conversation comes up, you say something along the lines of, 'This is flexible for me, depending on the total scope of the job and the overall compensation package including benefits.  At this point I'd like to focus on finding out if this is the right fit for both of us, and if we get to the end of this process and it is, then we can discuss what would be appropriate compensation.'

If they continue to push for a number or range, tell them again that you are market competitive, and it will depend on the total package.   While it may feel like you are under pressure to give a number, when people panic and do, they usually push themselves out of the interview process right then and there if they are 'expensive' on the market compared to what the employer had budgeted for.  Also, in general, you always want to let the employer make the first offer, so you have room to negotiate.  They may offer you more than you expected to ask for.

The last thing to consider is depending on the startup and their stage, they may not have competitive healthcare, 401k match, commuter benefits, etc., compared to your last role.  So if for example, you are leaving a F1000 company with all of that, to move to a startup that doesn't offer any of that, you would want to adjust your salary expectations accordingly to build in things like saving for retirement, healthcare or commuter expenses.  This is why the total compensation package is so important.  (On the flip side, people at smaller companies that move to larger ones may be willing to take a pay cut for outstanding benefits.)

By the end of the process, if they have decided they want to hire you and you are their top choice, you will have more flexibility in negotiating, and they will be more invested in you being on the team.  The end result - they will do their best to meet you on your compensation requirements.

Good luck!  Please keep us posted!

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