The safest time to bring it up, what to say, and more.
The easiest time to get more money at any job is before you’ve accepted. You can always ask for a raise once you’ve been in the role for a while, but you’ll have the most leverage — and be more likely to secure a bigger increase — while you’re still negotiating whether you’ll come aboard at all. Here’s how to negotiate for the highest possible salary before you accept a job offer.
Research salary ranges before your first interview.
You might figure you have until the end of the hiring process before you’ll need to talk salary, but some employers bring it up early on. (That’s a good thing! You don’t want to get all the way to the end of a hiring process before discovering that the job doesn’t pay anything near what you’d consider accepting.) That means that before your first interview for any job, you should research the market rate for this type of job, in this industry, and in your particular geographic area. If the interviewer asks what kind of range you’re looking for and you haven’t done this research, there’s a chance that you’ll inadvertently lowball yourself or name a number so unrealistically high that it takes you out of the running.
Researching salary can be time-consuming and frustrating, because there’s rarely one single, easily accessible source that will give you the info you need. And because the same job title can mean very different things from company to company, salary websites like Glassdoor and Payscale are generally more of a rough starting point than a definitive answer to what a job should pay. You’ll often get more precise numbers by talking to people in your field and asking, “What would you expect a job like X at a company like Y to pay?” Recruiters and professional organizations for your industry can also be good sources of data.
Once you have a good feel for the market rate, think about the factors that might move you up or down within that range — how much experience you have, whether you have additional qualifications that the employer seems excited about, and whether there’s any special hardship attached to the job, like a lot of travel. Those can also factor into the salary for a given position.
How to answer questions about your salary expectations.
Whether it’s early on or later in the interview process, you’re likely to get asked what salary range you’re looking for. There’s a lot of advice out there recommending that you duck the question and respond with something like, “I’m seeking a fair salary that’s in line with the market” or “I’d like to learn more about the job and your benefits package before I answer that.” That advice doesn’t always work in the real world, where many interviewers will continue to push for a number because they don’t want to waste their time if you’re wildly outside of their ballpark. (If you’re thinking, “Well, then they should name their salary range first and we can both figure that out,” you’re absolutely right. And there is a movement toward more salary transparency. But it’s still very, very common for companies to play coy and insist you name a number first.)
You can try saying, “Can you tell me what the range for the position is?” And some interviewers will tell you, so it’s worth asking. But other times, you’ll need to name a number yourself if you want to move forward in their process.
That’s why you did your research beforehand! Ideally, you’ve come up with a range that you think reflects the market rate for this kind of work in your geographic area. If you’re pressed to name the range you have in mind, one option is to say, “I’m still learning about the job, of course, but based on what I understand so far, I’d be looking for a salary in the range of $X–$X. Are we in the same ballpark?” (And, yes, this is infuriating! The company knows what it plans to pay and could just tell you instead of making you go through this guessing game. But often this is how it goes.)
How to bring up salary yourself.
Sometimes your interviewer might not bring up salary at all, and you might find yourself wishing for some idea of how much the job pays, particularly if the interview process is a lengthy one. For years, there has been an inexplicable tendency to frown on candidates who ask about salary, especially in the early stages of a hiring process. This has always been ridiculous, as obviously you work for money and what a job pays is highly relevant information that might affect your decision to continue on in a hiring process or not. Fortunately, that convention has been changing rapidly. In just the last few years, it’s become far more normalized for candidates to ask about salary up front. Still, interviewers don’t always make it easy for you to do it, and some may still be surprised.
If you sense that you’re dealing with an interviewer who’s more old-school in this respect, it’s still generally safe to bring up pay if you make it clear that you’re asking to spare both the employer and yourself from investing time or money if you’re too far apart on salary. For example, if you’re asked to fly in from out of town for an interview, or if it’s clear that the interview process will be lengthy or require you to do a test project, you could say, “Before I fly in, can we make sure we’re in the same ballpark on salary?” Or, “Since it sounds like this is a multistep process, I wonder if you can give me a sense of the salary range since I want to respect your time if we’re not in the same ballpark?”
Of course, if you do this, be prepared for the interviewer to turn it around on you and say something like, “Let me know what you’re looking for and I can tell you if it’s in our range.” So, again, you’ll want to have done your research beforehand and be prepared with an answer.
What to say when you get the offer.
Once you receive an offer, and you want to ask for more money, the most important thing to know is that most of the time, you don’t need to present an elaborate justification for why you’re asking for a higher salary. Job seekers often think they need to present facts and figures to back up their request, but in most cases, you can just say, “Any chance you could go up to $X?” Or, “Do you have any room on the salary? I was hoping you’d be able to do $X.” Truly, that’s it! I’ve made many job offers, and the majority of candidates who negotiate are just doing it with one or two short sentences.
The second most important thing to know is this: Once you say that, stop talking. You’ve made your request, and now you’re waiting for an answer. It might take the person a minute, and during that minute, you might feel uncomfortable and be tempted to fill the silence. Don’t do that! You risk undercutting the request you just made.
Most of the time, it’s smart to ask for more money.
If you’re wondering whether or not to ask for more money when you get an offer, most of the time, the answer is yes. Employers often have a bit of wiggle room when they make an offer, and at this point in the process, getting more money in your paycheck is often as easy as asking for it.
But there are times when you generally shouldn’t try to negotiate. For example, if you and the employer had discussed salary earlier in the process and the offer meets or exceeds the number you named then, generally it’s going to be seen as bad faith if you ask for more now (unless what you know about the job has changed in some significant way since that conversation). Similarly, if the offer is unusually generous for the market, you might look out of touch if you ask for even more. But in most cases, it makes sense to see if there’s room to bump the offer up.
If after doing your market research you’re still uncertain about how much is reasonable to ask for, you’re generally not going to look unreasonable if you ask for 10 percent more than the number offered. (Don’t say “10 percent” — use the actual dollar figure you’re asking for — but that’s a decent guideline for your thinking.)
What to do if the answer is no.
If you ask for more money and the answer is no, you can still accept the job if you want it! People sometimes worry they’ll look foolish accepting at this point, but you won’t; people accept offers after unsuccessful negotiations all the time. All you need to say is, “I appreciate you considering it! I’m interested enough in the job that I’d love to accept regardless.” You might consider asking for more vacation time or a certain number of remote-work days instead, if that’s something you’d want.
And remember, negotiating salary is perfectly normal! Sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t, but don’t take a “no” as reason not to try again in the future.
Find even more career advice from Alison Green on her website, Ask a Manager. Got a question for her? Email askaboss@nymag.com (and read our submission terms here.)
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