Salary negotiation is a huge topic and one I’m always asked about. I thought I’d share some advice on how to secure the salary you deserve:
No salary bracket, no interview:
You shouldn’t be formally interviewed without knowing the salary bracket of the role you’re applying for. I recently asked my LinkedIn community if they would apply for a position if the job advert didn’t quote a salary. Of the 241 votes, 23% said they wouldn’t apply, 28% would apply and they weren’t bothered by it, but a whopping 48% said that although they would apply, they would remember and it would negatively impact their opinion of the company.
Don’t tell the interviewer your current salary:
You don’t have to do this and in most US states it is illegal to ask a candidate for their current salary for gender and D&I purposes. This practice reinforces the pay gap and will lead to employers paying what they can rather than what the role deserves.
Tell them your salary bracket:
This is a fair question but don’t give a number, tell them the salary bracket you are looking for. This is nothing to do with the salary you are currently on, it’s where you want your next step to take you.
Know your worth:
You have to know your worth before you negotiate and know what your ‘walk away’ number is, and what you ideally want. Look at Glassdoor to find out the average salary for the role. If the role has a salary bracket, tell your interviewer that you are at the top end of the bracket because it’s up to the company to negotiate you down and to explain why they wouldn’t pay you that salary.
Ask about the difference:
Ask your interviewer what the difference is – in skills and experience – between the top and the bottom end of the salary bracket. They should be able to explain this to you.
Don’t waste your time:
Don’t apply for a role that is way out of your league. If you are going for a job with a huge salary increase, ask yourself if it’s because you have been unfairly paid in the past, or that your skills and experience aren’t up to that level yet.
Aiming high is great, but aiming wrong isn’t.
Consider the current terrain:
if the salary offered is lower than you’d like, consider that it could be because the company doesn’t currently have the funds. Negotiate and ask if you could have specific KPIs that if delivered against in the next year would take you to a higher number and as a trade-off, on higher than your current salary expectations.
At the end of the day, remember: recruitment isn’t a power struggle. It should be two humans talking to each other, and if one doesn’t respect the other then you both should walk away.
