salary_negotiation.md

# Salary Negotiation Strategies ### Meetup at Runway.js, Feb 27, 2018 ## The Panel - Mabel Chan, Co-founder, Albert's List - Artur Meyster, Founder, Breaking into Startups - Erin Wilson, Co-founder, Talent Engineer, Hirepool.io - Abbie Isidro, Creative and Marketing Recruiter - Beauty, Aquent - Noah Wisna, Head of Talent and Operations, 10 x 10 ## Initial salary discussion / negotation ### How do you answer the salary question on the first phone call? - Prepare. Do research up front. - What are you worth? - What does the market demand? - Sites for salary research - [Angel.co](http://angel.co) - [Salary.com](http://salary.com) - [LinkedIn Salary](https://www.linkedin.com/salary/) - [Paysa](https://www.paysa.com/) - [Glassdoor](https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/index.htm) - Consider timing. - Don't start off talking about salary (don't seem money motivated) - Before talking about money, - talk about skills and knowledge - build rapport ### Should you give a range, or a hard number? - Consider your minimum, what you need to survive in the bay area - Consider what would make you feel excited to take the job - Either way, try not to give the first number - Ask the recruiter to give a number first. - It may even be above your range. - The less technical the job or lower the level, the more pressure to get a number from you first. - If you answer with a number or a range, be sure to ask back: what range are you working with? - Say something like "I value money, but I'm more focused on the opportunity. What did you have in mind?" ### When discussing salary - AB168 is a law that prohibits any employer in CA from asking what you made at your last job - You can say "What I was making and what I'm looking to make are two different stories." - The law also requires them to provide a range - time this question well; avoid coming up on a "friction point" too early in the process - If you're getting questions that make it seem like the job is below your pay grade: - Ask for salary range, saying "I don't want to waste your time if this level isn't a fit for me" - Be interested in the role and the company; don't come across as money-motivated - If you have an offer, you can say something like - "I just got a competitive offer; I want to continue the process, but I don't want to waste your time if you're not in range" - You can ask: "What does someone with my experience make at your company?" - If you want to ask about salary in the first call, make it an afterthought: - "Just before I go, do you have a range or a number -- just to make sure we're in the same ballpark?" ### Steps to take after you've received a "lowball" offer - Don't say no right off the bat. Say "Let me think about it." - Use the offer as leverage to expedite your process with other companies you're working with. - The offer is "instant social proof" that companies want you - Understand *why* they made the low offer - "I'm thankful for the offer. Could you tell me what I did well, and what I could have done better?" - Ask for other benefits - bonus - equity - time off - remote work - Look at the salary: would you be content? - Look at the overall package - how long / expensive is the commute? - what are the benefits? - how much pto? - what's the work/life balance? - do you get meals / coffee? - Think about whether the low salary is the only reason you're not interested - Usually there are other reasons too. If so, turn down offer gracefully. ### Negotiation - Always counteroffer! - 86% of women and 51% of men take the first offer and don't negotiate - *Believe* you are worth more. - Don't be intimidated by "wish list" job descriptions - Don't convince yourself that you're worth less because you don't meet all their qualifications ## Promotions / Raises ### Asking for a promotion / raise - Be prepared. Look back on your previous review (or hiring process if there was no review). Focus on outcomes. - Look at the job description, and list completed tasks to show your manager what you've done. - Show evolution / growth in your current role - tasks you've taken on that aren't in your job description - projects not assigned to you, but that you helped with - Get a peer review (colleague writes a letter on your behalf) - **Six months before your review** - set goals with your manager - get feedback periodically from manager on goal progress - share successes and failures with manager - At the annual review, you can say "Look how far I've come! Now let's talk about the compensation piece." - Print out salary ranges from online research, bring to review and leave with your boss as ammunition to take back to the CFO - If you've been mentoring colleagues, use that as evidence that you're ready to be a senior contributor to the team - Ask for benefits other than salary: - work from home one day a week - budget for continuing education - Understand how the company evaluates performance and gives raises - Earn your raise according to the company processes - Understand the company dynamics - Were you denied a raise because they're strapped for cash? - If so, then you can bring this up later when the budget is less tight - Follow company profitibility and milestones - "I see you've opened up new offices, hired (some number of) new people." - Use as a reason to re-open raise discussion ### How to respond to a "no" when asking for a raise - When they ask you to take on more, you can say "When the scope of responsibility grows, compensation should grow" - If they say no, say "I understand. Can you explain why?" - If you don't agree: "I don't agree, and here's why." - If there still isn't agreement: "You've made a decision about what you can pay me; now I need to think about my investment in this company." - If it's for budget reasons, use that in the future - get it in writing that you would have gotten a raise if not for budget constraints - If it's because of skill level / performance, set up a plan - say "okay, I understand, what will it take to get me there in time for the next review period?" - keep track of accomplishments / successes - save laudatory emails - ask for a re-review in 3 or 6 months, instead of a year