Negotiating salary is considered complicated, generally we undermine our value and are too focused on getting the job. During the hiring process, we tend to forget that hiring is a two way street, we need the job and hiring team needs a competent candidate to do the job. It is your responsibility to make this trade a fair deal, at least for yourself. In this article we will discuss the various factors of compensation and how you can leverage those. The examples and scenarios used here are for software development in US, but the basis principles can be used for all jobs.
Key players in hiring process
Let’s take a closer look at each of the important players in this process, their functions, and objectives before choosing a candidate.
- Recruiting team: This team is in charge of recruiting, screening, and interviewing potential employees, as well as presenting job offers.
- Hiring Manager: This is the person who is hiring for their team. Their role in hiring process can include: writing job description, resume review, creating interview plan and identifying the eligible interviewers, collaboration with recruiting and HR team.
- Interviewers: This could be a combination of the immediate team members of the hiring team or cross collaborating teams.
Now you know all the teams behind the interview and what are their goals and motivations.
How to Negotiate?
You need to understand that negotiation will only work if you aced your interview, so we will assume that you have aced your interview and all the teams described above are rooting for you. One thing that helps you the most is what grade/level/title they are offering you for. These grades are tied to pay ranges, so getting assigned to the correct grade is important, not just for salary but also for the expectations the team would have of you. So do not try to overshoot or undershoot for the sake of negotiating a better salary.
Interviews are a two way process, which means that the hiring team interviews you and you interview the hiring team. During that interview you need to ask questions like what is the impact of the role, how critical that role is, how many such position for that team are open, are some to list. So that you can evaluate the offer, when it is made. There is no flat answer on what numbers you should expect, it really depends on various factors, however below are some tips and tricks we can offer that will help you make a decision.
Tips and Tricks
- Never make it obvious that you are evaluating the entire offer for Money, this is a huge red flag!
- Talk to Sourcing/Recruiting team and try to find about the team as much as possible.
- You need to make sure that you know exactly the type of work offered, is what you want to do.
- Evaluate that this job is good for your career and you can do it for at-least 4-5 years.
- Check what grade you are offered and if you are satisfied with it.
- Be confident and coachable, as that is what most teams look for, not just qualification and expertise.
- Do you research and have a number in mind that you would be comfortable with. Few things you can consider are:
- Base salary
- Bonus
- Stocks/RSUs/Options
- Signing Bonus
- Cover for any Bonus losses from current employer if you were to accept the offer
- Commute Vs Work from home
- It is good to have a few at least one competitive offers at hand
- Do not mention your current salary, bonuses, RSUs
- Do not mention your salary expectations
Myths:
- Hiring manager is the sole decision maker. Not really Hiring manager have a say, but they depend a lot on team’s inputs.
- Technical expertise will guarantee you an offer. Not really, keep in mind no one wants to hire technical genius who cannot work with team.
- I should get the same or higher package as my Friend. It’s good to know the market, but it’s like comparing Apples to Oranges.
- Referral is a must. Referrals are helpful but do not guarantee you an offer.
- You need to have all the qualifications listed. Most listing are a template and have standard requirements, not all of which are required. Your CONFIDENCE, ability and past experience play a bigger role than you think.
- Teams are trained on how to interview. Sadly this is not true, not all companies invest in training for interviews. So if you can get trained in “how to do interviews” so you can learn and use this for your benefit when interviewing.
- First offer is final or best offer, there is always something you can find to tune.
A Simple Compensation Calculator
Conclusion
These are some of the proven techniques that you can use to negotiate salary. However, it is important to be flexible and understand that the market, constraint hiring team is under. Hiring manager don’t take decisions in silos and have to teams input, so your performance during the interview is key. So be flexible but don’t be afraid to walk away if the offered package and grade does not match. You don’t want to be doing a job, just because you are paid more.
