Unfortunately, most people are terrible / untrained at salary negotiation, and companies take full advantage. The good news is that our clients and customers have received pay raises of tens of thousands of dollars after switching to our resume template, so we know what we're doing here!
Our best advice is:
- Don't throw out the first number, unless it's absolutely unavoidable.
- Be comfortable with silence. People always fill silence with words, because it makes them uncomfortable to sit in silence. HR People are trained on this and will just be quiet until you say something dumb like, "But if that's not doable, let me know and I could probably do [smaller number]."
- Tangential - don't negotiate against yourself. SO many people have conversations in their own head about what they're worth, what they'd take, etc. You straight up don't know what the budget is for the role, and you may be surprised.
- Create competition and FOMO (fear of missing out) - casually mention that you're interviewing at other places once or twice within the conversation.
- Understand that whatever number you say first, that's what you're anchoring them on. So if you want to give a range, start at the higher number ("I'd like to make $150k, but I'd be ok with $120 or $130k").
Here's how almost every single salary conversation should go:
"How much do you want to make?"
Answer: "Well I'm actually more interested in the right fit than the perfect salary at this stage in my career. I'm looking for more responsibility and growth potential [or other things relevant to the position you're talking about], and I think this role is an awesome fit for me. I'd be flattered by any offer you'd like to make and would be happy to consider an offer."
Now, the interviewer may come back and ask: "Ok that's cool, but seriously, how much do you want to make?"
Good answer here: "What's the salary range for this role? I'll let you know if we're not in the same ballpark, but I'm sure we're probably close."
Note: Hopefully this gets them to share the range, which may positively or negatively surprise you. If negative (you want more than that and think you can get it elsewhere), you can politely inform them that that range is too low, and ask if they're willing to come up for the right candidate. If you're positively surprised ("oh damn that's a lot of money"), don't signal "OH WOW! THAT'S AMAZING!" because that will make them offer you at least $10k less than what they just said and make up some bullshit excuse ("sorry I was mistaken about that range earlier, my boss just let me know that...). Just be calm and say, "I think that range should work just fine, though I'd like to be in the upper end of it. Definitely think we're going to be able to figure this out if you want to synch up with your team after the call and send over a verbal or email offer for me to consider." But yeah, there are two ways this goes from here: either they share the range, or they don't and push for your number. If they push, there are usually 2 ways they'll try to get your number out of you:
Way 1: "Sorry I can't share the range / it hasn't been shared with me so I'm not sure. I'm just looking for an exact number or range from you so I can let the team know what would excite you in an offer! So... what salary do you want to make?"
Note: They are lying. They damn well know the range, and they don't care about "exciting you" with an offer. They care about offering you the minimum number you will (somewhat happily) accept, because $20k saved today is easily $100k+ saved over 3 years when you factor in payroll taxes, salary-based bonuses, and raises. If they say their budget first, they could blow it – maybe you would've happily accepted $10k, $20k, or $30k less than their budget (score for them).
Another possible answer: "I'm telling everyone that I'm interviewing with that I'd definitely be thrilled to come into work every day for over $Z, I'd probably accept an offer for above $Y, and I wouldn't consider moving jobs for less than $X."
Make $X your actual goal, and $Y and $Z two really nice raises (maybe a 10% and a 20% raise, or 20% and 30%). That way it's multiple choice for them: do they want to offer you the lower end of your range and risk losing a good candidate they've gotten to the finish line, or will they be smart and offer you at least $Y because they understand the value of good hires? (Btw: how they act from here and what they actually end up offering you is a great indication of company culture and what management believes. I generally would warn against working at a place that makes you an offer at the lower end of your desired range. Dick move to save $10k, or less than $1k/mo – you should want your people to be happy and comfortable, and to feel valued.)
Way 2: "What is your current salary?"
This is where I advise people to be totally comfortable with some light dishonesty on your own end. It's not immoral or unethical. Companies will lie to you all the time; this is where you can do the same to win. The key insight here is that there is literally no legal way for a company to verify your current or former income, and if you can anchor on a current salary or an older salary, you're signaling to them that that's what you can get on the open market (i.e., you're creating competition and FOMO for your labor). This is much better than saying your actual current salary out of some fear that they'll find out the truth (they can't). Literally the only way they can find out this information is if you tell them. It is not legal for your current employer to give out that information.
Answer: "Well, I currently make [current salary + 20%], and I'd ideally like to make more in my next role if I were to move."
Make sure it's a reasonably higher number (i.e., if you're in a $60k-type role, don't go too far and say you make $100k, maybe say you make $75k or $85k and are looking for an increase from there). If you make $150k, you can say you make $180k and nobody will bat an eyelash. There's 2 ways it goes from here:
a. "Ok great, I'll let them know and get back to you."
b. "Ah, ok, unfortunately that's too high."
Next Answer: If they say that's great, cool, stop talking and say thanks so much and you can't wait to hear back, and hang up.
b (continued). If they say you're too high, you simply say, "Totally understand. So I am interviewing at a few other spots that I expect to match or beat my current salary, but I've learned that where I work and who I work with is just as important – or honestly more important – to me than how much I make. I really have enjoyed interviewing at [company] and meeting the team, and I think I'd be happier here than some of the other places I'm speaking to. So if you'd still like to make me an offer even though it would come in somewhat lower than that range, I'd be happy to consider it.
That's it. This exact conversation is had 10,000 times a day, and it almost never changes. Just prepare the 3-4 things you may need to say, and you'll be golden. Good luck out there!