Negotiating your salary can be tricky. To be honest, I didn’t know this was something that was done until a few jobs into my career. I always had the idea that if I negotiated my salary that the person hiring me would instantly take back the offer they had just made. Again, I was wrong. I don’t know if this is a thing, but we need to normalize negotiating your salary from the very start of your career or least start practicing.
Today, I wanted to write about this topic because I never really heard about it in my early career days. Again, I was never taught that I should negotiate my salary so I want to do my part in sharing the things I have learned along the way (so far) when it comes to talking about money in your career.
Let’s jump in.
Tip #1 Change Your Mindset
My first tip when it comes to negotiating your salary is to change your mindset. You might be scared, nervous or feel that you don’t deserve to ask for more. Well, I’m here to tell you that you do! Think about it, most of us spend more than half our lives at our jobs and although you may be excited when you finally receive that call or email from the hiring manager offering you the job, being grateful is very separate from speaking up for yourself and advocating for your future.
Tip #2 Be Reasonable
Once you change your mindset and decide that the next time you are offered a job you are going to negotiate your salary my next tip for you is to be reasonable. I had to learn this the hard way. The first time I negotiated my salary I just came up with a random number that was like $20,000 above what they were offering me and was immediately told that the company couldn’t do that. Now, if you ask me if I did my research I’ll tell you now that the answer to that is no. I didn’t. Big mistake. When it comes to negotiating your salary, make sure you take into consideration things like the size of the company or organization for which you applied for, your needs and situation. For example, if you are applying for an entry-level position that pays $30,000 it would be unreasonable to ask for $60-70K. Again, use logic and a little research and go for it.
Tip #3 Give Alternate Options
When it comes to negotiating your salary sometimes it’s not all about the money. Yeah, you heard me correctly. It’s not all about the money. If the company or organization for which you applied for rejected your proposed salary think outside of the box here and negotiate other things. These can be things like working from home, gas reimbursement, a budget for supplies needed for your job etc. The reason I recommend this is so that you get into the practice of negotiating and standing up for yourself in your career. Now, don’t get me wrong, the answer might still be no but, at least you tried.
Tip # 4 Do Your Research
Now, I touched on this earlier but you gotta do your research. What do I mean by this? What I mean is that you have to research things like, how much a position like yours pays at other companies (just a general ballpark), how big is the company (i.e. will they be able to afford what you are asking). Being informed is always key.
Tip #5 Don’t Think You Won’t Get the Job if you try and negotiate
My final tip when it comes to negotiating your salary has to do with fear. Don’t be fearful. Practice in front of the mirror if you have to but just do it. How? You might ask. Well, I’m here for you. Here’s what it might look like:
Hiring Manager: Hello, we’re calling to offer you the job at XYZ company. The starting salary for this position is $X Amount of money.
You: Thank you for your call. This makes me very excited as this position is something that closely aligns with my career. I know you mentioned that the starting pay was $X amount of money but I was looking to make $Y amount.
At this point the hiring manager or the HR manager will have a response for you. Usually it’s something along the lines of “we’ll get back to you” but they won’t say No right away. Like I said earlier, they may come back to you and say they can’t do what you are asking and at this point it is up to you if you can afford to accept what they are offering but, at this point you should also feel proud that you did it. You negotiated your salary!
I hope these tips and the example above helped you or encouraged you to go for it. Again, I wish I knew this right from the start of my career but, it’s never too late to learn right?
If you have any more tips, please share them in the comments below.
Until next time,
Marisol
