What’s the most alarming advice to women about salary negotiation?
“Ask a white man.”
I saw this advice *twice* this week and it really stopped me in my tracks. But the advice is sound, because white men overall get paid the most, and on average have a much easier time asking for what they believe they are worth. (Notice I didn’t say what they ARE worth.)
I can verify that my husband can ask a potential employer for the moon without blinking because he thinks he’s worth it. And he usually gets close to it because he’s talented, and he asked.
Fortunately, there are many steps you can take to make sure your salary negotiation (and your total compensation negotiation) is a success for everyone. The goal is to satisfy you AND your future employer.
Before Your Salary Negotiation
Understand your value before you start to look for a new job.
Employers invest in their “human resources” and the valuable work you do is a return on that investment. You need to be able to understand AND ARTICULATE how you provide value.
The value you represent could be quite different from your current salary:
- You may have been hired at a lower salary than you are worth
- Your job could have changed over time so that you now have many more responsibilities
- You may be interviewing for a job that is a step up from where you currently are
Reflect
Take the time to think about all you have accomplished.
- What have you achieved in the past few years that you would talk about in an interview?
- What projects are you most proud of?
- Where have you exceeded expectations?
- How have you made an impact on your organization?
Make a list of your accomplishments, and don’t be shy. Many women cannot recognize their accomplishments because they are “just doing their job.” Women have a tough time articulating their achievements, but if you don’t, no one is going to do it for you.
Once you have a list, provide details for each achievement. You want the recruiter to understand YOUR contribution. See the difference in the two statements below?
- Helped to increase the number of new donors vs. prior year (WEAK)
- Grew donor base by 20% and donations by 25% by implementing a cross-platform social media strategy highlighting our client success stories with user-generated content (UGC). (POWERFUL)
Start a journal/file to track your future accomplishments. Also, start saving those emails you get telling you what a great job you’ve done! Call it your Mood Booster file.
Research
Do your salary research to develop a reasonable range. Be sure to account for these factors as they all affect your salary:
Job Title
Job titles are not standardized, so you’ll have to explore a few. Need ideas? Here is a great article about how to research different job titles.
Job Location
Jobs in areas with a lower cost of living may pay less. Many sites allow you to adjust for this to more easily compare a job in one location to another.
Industry
If you are in a social impact profession, such as nonprofit or education, you are likely painfully aware that they may pay less although nonprofits are making efforts to rectify this.
Experience
Jobs will list the experience required. If you have more than what is required AND it is related experience then that adds to your value.
Education
This one is tricky. You may have invested a lot of money in education and be paying off student loans, but that additional education is not always an asset. If you have education beyond what is required in the job posting AND demonstrate that it makes you a more effective employee, it adds value.
Skills
Any skills you have beyond what is required for the job, especially if you have in-demand skills in the Preferred Qualifications section of the job posting, make you a more valuable candidate.
There are many places to get hard data on salaries.
Use a few of them to develop a robust range. Here are some places to start:
I did the market value calculator on Glassdoor and found out I was being criminally underpaid. I started looking for new jobs and was offered one at exactly my market value. 47% raise because I decided to go for it. It’s completely changed my life and I was able to pay off my student loans in December, 5 years ahead of schedule.
Reddit user
Some additional sites: Career Contessa has a Salary Project and Ladies Get Paid has a community where women share salaries. Both sites also have general job search information and additional resources.
Also, research to understand ALL the components of compensation. While salary is the main thing you can negotiate, your compensation package will include many other things, some of which are also negotiable.
Click below to get a free Compensation Checklist with 28 different types of compensation you should evaluate before your next negotiation 💰
Reach Out
Validate your range by asking people you know.
Here’s the salary range I came up with for the instructional designer job I’m applying to, does it sound on target to you?
Ask your LinkedIn contacts, pose your question on related subreddits or Facebook groups, and use the Ladies Get Paid Slack channel—there are lots of options!
During Your Salary Negotiation
Now that you know the range you are targeting, you are better prepared for questions.
Get your Zen on
Salary negotiation is not a battle, and you aren’t asking them for a favor. It is an expected part of the hiring process and you are doing what is expected. By the time you get to the part, they REALLY want you, so you are negotiating from a position of strength!
You may be asked some questions that make you sweat, especially if this is new to you, but if you know what to expect you can be cool as a cucumber.
Here are some questions you may be asked:
What is your current salary?
This is an illegal question in many states, but you may still be asked. A polite response is:
“My current employer would rather keep that confidential.”
What salary are you looking for?
Many career coaches tell you to try to avoid answering this question too early, and you can try to deflect by saying something like “salary is not my primary deciding factor,” but there are risks in this approach. You may spend weeks interviewing for a job that will never fit your compensation needs.
To avoid this, use your knowledge to provide a range based on all your research:
“My understanding is that a typical salary range for this role is X to Y. Based on my background and what I can bring to [organization] I’d expect to be on the higher end of the range.”
If they immediately push back and tell you the budgeted range is much lower, you may politely bow out—or keep interviewing. IF you are still interested, then you can tell them that compensation is not your only motivation and keep the conversation going.
“I understand that there are budgeting issues, and I’m sure we can find common ground.”
When the employer makes their first offer, be enthusiastic about the opportunity before you counter:
I’m so excited about this opportunity! Based on my experience and skills, I believe that something in the X to Y range is a more appropriate target.
Then, silence. This is very powerful. Silence makes people uncomfortable, but don’t let them off the hook.
They will usually say something like “I don’t know if it’s possible, we’ll have to get back to you.”
Then end with more enthusiasm: “I appreciate the consideration and I’m excited to hear back from you soon.”
Go beyond salary
While salary is the most important component of your total compensation, it is by far the only thing on the table.
If the employer states that they can’t do any better on salary, refer to your Compensation Checklist for other things you can negotiate. Some things like WFH or more flexible hours are easier to negotiate with smaller organizations that don’t have set-in-stone policies, so use your judgment.
Get it in writing
A verbal negotiation will get you to a general agreement, but you need to get it in writing. Make sure that everything you discussed is specified and as you verbally agreed. Then, and only then, you may sign and return your offer.
Congratulations! You’ve nailed that negotiation
Additional Resources
Want a real-life example of salary negotiation? Tori Dunlop, founder of Her First $100K, describes her negotiation here.
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) has long had a mission to help women gain pay equity, and they have many resources and training opportunities available to help you.
Ladies Get Paid is also a terrific and reliable resource that is laser-focused on increasing women’s pay equity.