13 Things to Consider Before Negotiating Salary
In a society where our most private moments are captured, recorded, and shared online for the world to see, there still exists a conversational taboo so shrouded in secret, so gauche, that bringing it up almost certainly ensures discomfort, embarrassment, insecurity, and/or fights. It’s not sex, politics, or religion. People will openly discuss their therapist, medical conditions, and dark family secrets. We are finally starting to talk about race in a meaningful way. But ask someone how much money they make or what their expenses are and you’ll generally get crickets.
A lot of people carry financial (emotional) baggage from their youth, in which they never learned what a budget was, how and when to use credit, or how much to save vs. spend. They watched their parents struggle in an unhealthy relationship with money, due to the lack of it or fighting about how to best use it. They later took on burdensome student loans or got in over their head with a mortgage. Some spent their careers in the paper chase; only to get the money they sought and realize that receipt of it only begot desire for more money. For others pay symbolizes a struggle for recognition, a dream perpetually just beyond reach.
Complicating matters, many companies have (illegal) policies of pay secrecy, in which employees are prohibited from sharing how much money they make. Whether explicitly written in the handbook, or implied by cultural norms, this financial secrecy leaves you at an extreme disadvantage when accepting a new job, promotion, or raise. Terms like “competitive with the market” and “commensurate with experience,” mean dramatically different things to different companies and employees.
Bargaining power in your salary negotiation improves with accurate information. Prepared negotiators have plenty of solid data and know their options, their bottom line, and when they are willing to walk away. Unfortunately, in spite of improving transparency via sites like salary.com and glassdoor.com, visibility into pay practices outside of the public sector is opaque at best.
Without comparables — wage info for similar skills, level, experience, geography, industry, and company over time — it is hard to know whether, and how much, you can negotiate for additional compensation without seeming entitled or greedy. But how can someone have realistic expectations without knowing how much they will make? How can you make life decisions (where to live, what car to drive, what your monthly budget will be, when to have the child, whether to go back to school, etc.) without a clear sense of how your compensation may change over time?
Perhaps more importantly, how can money become something that comes in and goes out (hopefully less than it comes in), worth being conscious about, but not worth hoarding, blowing, or obsessing over? How can it be not an end goal, but a means to various valued ends?
-Your Hire Self
Hire Pay Questions
The emergence of new management paradigms like self organization suggest that pay transparency on the company side may be improving in the coming decade, but in the meantime, your best bet for securing a satisfying salary is to equip yourself with as much information as possible. This includes practical information about going market rates, as well as personal information about your needs and relationship with money. The questions below are a starting point in obtaining this knowledge, with the earlier ones focused on the personal aspects, and later questions more practically focused.
1. What are your biases about money that consciously or unconsciously impact the way you look at financial matters? Do you believe money is hard earned? That it corrupts? That it is meant to be spent? That saving it is virtuous? How has this bias impacted the flow of money in your life?
2. Besides money, what motivates you to work hard? Impact? Comfort? Prestige? Curiosity? Recognition? Independence? How much money are you willing to forego to get these other things?
3. Do you have a set amount of pay or money that you think you want/deserve? What did you used to think was the right amount of money? Has that changed over time? Do you think it will continue to change as time goes on? Is there a point at which you will feel like you have enough? Have you ever felt that before?
4. What will you use your money to buy? What do you want that you currently don’t have? How would it change your life to have it? What would it feel like? What do you want that money can’t buy?
5. How much of your sense of self is tied to your compensation? How much does it matter whether you are earning the same or more than your colleagues? If you were earning what you thought was a fair rate for your work and found out that your similarly qualified peer made significantly more, how would that impact your satisfaction?
6. How much do your friends make? Have you ever asked them? Does this impact how much money you feel you need to make?
7. What are you not willing to sacrifice for more money? Your health? Family time? Time off? Stress free weekends? Dignity? Autonomy? Happiness? Your convictions?
8. What things would you trade additional pay for? When negotiating compensation at a job, there are many aspects of the package in addition to salary. Would you be willing to forego salary for tuition reimbursement? Extra vacation time? Frequent reviews? The opportunity to work with certain people? A more comprehensive set of benefits? Moving reimbursement?
9. What are your monthly expenses? What is the gap between what you have and what you think you need? Will working more hours help you fill that gap? How many more hours are you willing to work to get it?
10. When exploring an industry or role, do you ask questions about the compensation? If not, why not? What is the worst thing that will happen if you ask for this information? Are you willing to share your salary information in return?
11. What is the average salary range within your city for the job you have or are seeking? Total compensation? How have you distinguished yourself beyond the standard skills in the field? How many other people are similarly qualified for the jobs you are seeking? How would you justify why you should get above average pay for a particular role?
12. How desperately do you need to take a new offer or keep your current job? What is your financial situation? What is the supply vs. demand in your field? Are there many jobs available in your area for the role(s) you are seeking and qualified for? Or are there many people competing for few jobs?
13. Which jobs in your field pay the amount of money you think you need to make? What do you need to achieve/accomplish in order to be qualified for those roles? What would it cost in terms of time, commitment, effort, and expense to gain those qualifications? Are you willing to pay those costs?
This is the 4th post in a 4 part series about finding your Ikigai (what you love, what you are good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for). For more questions, check out the other posts or follow Your Hire Self here, here, or here.
