What is the best way to handle salary negotiations?
June 4, 2020 6:49 PM Subscribe
My wife was just offered a new position and she's in the salary negotiation phase. What are some tips to getting the highest salary offer her tentative employer is willing to offer? Should she mention a specific number, or start vague? Thanks!
Response by poster: I should have mentioned that there is a salary range for the position; what she was offered was somewhere in the middle, but on the lower end.
posted by Fister Roboto at 6:55 PM on June 4, 2020
posted by Fister Roboto at 6:55 PM on June 4, 2020
(there are very valid reasons to lead with a number in negotiations - look up the notion of an "anchor". This is no longer applicable, though, given OP's update).
In any negotiation, you need to have a notion of what your negotiation partner's BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) is and what your BATNA is. You will probably not be able to negotiate above your partner's BATNA and you should not accept an offer that is below your BATNA.
If your wife doesn't take this job, what happens? If she has no other job options, she has minimal leverage. So, she should find another job option - preferably as quickly as possible. Correspondingly, if the employer has no other options, she has quite a bit of leverage. So, she should make a call about whether her expertise is common or not. If it's uncommon, she should be talking about how rare it is for the employer to find.
Candidates that negotiate salary with vague statements and subtlety are not only annoying, they aren't particularly effective. If a candidate knows what they're worth, they'll generally say so. If they aren't able to express their worth, it's easy to conclude that they will accept a lower offer. In my experience, the highest compensated people are the ones that say, "I will work for $x" and don't equivocate. Further, ultimately HR/finance will need a specific number to either approve or reject. So, if the candidate doesn't make one up, the hiring manager will instead - and the hiring manager is rarely incentivized to maximize their employee salary.
I generally suggest minimal discussion in negotiation. The more candidates talk, the more they tend to become nervous and uncertain, which tends to make them accept lower offers or dither about their pay. For the hiring manager, once a hire decision has been made, the hiring manager just wants to get the person on-board as quickly as possible - long protracted discussion just ends up wasting both the candidate's time and the hiring manager's time.
I would suggest responding with something like, "thanks for getting back to me. I'd be happy to accept an offer at $xx,xxx and start immediately. Can you do that?" It clearly puts your requested salary out (no potential for being misunderstood), and doesn't allow them a lot of detail to disagree with. If you start talking about "market salary", they can disagree with that - and they probably have more detail about the market than you do. If you start talking about "unique skill sets", they can claim those skillsets are irrelevant to the position. Ultimately, your reason for wanting more salary is because you do, and if you don't get it, you will not accept the offer. That's all it really comes down to. You don't need to convince them that you're the right person for the job - they already made that call. All you have to do is make it easier for them to get you on-board by providing a higher salary that you already agree to in advance. Even if they decline your counteroffer, the chance of revoking the offer is negligible (although not zero), so you have almost nothing to lose.
posted by saeculorum at 7:16 PM on June 4, 2020 [13 favorites]
In any negotiation, you need to have a notion of what your negotiation partner's BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) is and what your BATNA is. You will probably not be able to negotiate above your partner's BATNA and you should not accept an offer that is below your BATNA.
If your wife doesn't take this job, what happens? If she has no other job options, she has minimal leverage. So, she should find another job option - preferably as quickly as possible. Correspondingly, if the employer has no other options, she has quite a bit of leverage. So, she should make a call about whether her expertise is common or not. If it's uncommon, she should be talking about how rare it is for the employer to find.
Candidates that negotiate salary with vague statements and subtlety are not only annoying, they aren't particularly effective. If a candidate knows what they're worth, they'll generally say so. If they aren't able to express their worth, it's easy to conclude that they will accept a lower offer. In my experience, the highest compensated people are the ones that say, "I will work for $x" and don't equivocate. Further, ultimately HR/finance will need a specific number to either approve or reject. So, if the candidate doesn't make one up, the hiring manager will instead - and the hiring manager is rarely incentivized to maximize their employee salary.
I generally suggest minimal discussion in negotiation. The more candidates talk, the more they tend to become nervous and uncertain, which tends to make them accept lower offers or dither about their pay. For the hiring manager, once a hire decision has been made, the hiring manager just wants to get the person on-board as quickly as possible - long protracted discussion just ends up wasting both the candidate's time and the hiring manager's time.
I would suggest responding with something like, "thanks for getting back to me. I'd be happy to accept an offer at $xx,xxx and start immediately. Can you do that?" It clearly puts your requested salary out (no potential for being misunderstood), and doesn't allow them a lot of detail to disagree with. If you start talking about "market salary", they can disagree with that - and they probably have more detail about the market than you do. If you start talking about "unique skill sets", they can claim those skillsets are irrelevant to the position. Ultimately, your reason for wanting more salary is because you do, and if you don't get it, you will not accept the offer. That's all it really comes down to. You don't need to convince them that you're the right person for the job - they already made that call. All you have to do is make it easier for them to get you on-board by providing a higher salary that you already agree to in advance. Even if they decline your counteroffer, the chance of revoking the offer is negligible (although not zero), so you have almost nothing to lose.
posted by saeculorum at 7:16 PM on June 4, 2020 [13 favorites]
Ask a Manager has lots of great advice on how to do this, especially this one.
posted by EllaEm at 7:16 PM on June 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by EllaEm at 7:16 PM on June 4, 2020 [2 favorites]
I have always successfully negotiated with another job offer, or with an increase from my previous salary. How does the range compare to her current salary? Does she have all the desired qualifications, or just some of them? Does she know what similar roles pay at other companies, or can she find out? If she wants to be on the high end of this range, she needs to feel confident that she could command that high end with another employer.
posted by amaire at 8:06 PM on June 4, 2020
posted by amaire at 8:06 PM on June 4, 2020
I like Patrick McKenzie's advice. May be more applicable if your wife works in tech.
posted by corvine at 2:40 AM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by corvine at 2:40 AM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Someone recommended Getting to Yes to me when I was negotiating for my first job, and I found it very helpful. Particularly as a woman of color -- we are more often penalized than rewarded if we try to negotiate as saeculorum describes. (That happened to me with one offer, and it was devastating. I don't know if that applies to your wife.)
The book was helpful for me to internally define my BATNA, but also to reassure me that it's ok, and even preferable, to negotiate from a perspective of "Let's figure out how this can be mutually beneficial" instead of "I want this salary, take it or leave it."
posted by basalganglia at 11:40 AM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
The book was helpful for me to internally define my BATNA, but also to reassure me that it's ok, and even preferable, to negotiate from a perspective of "Let's figure out how this can be mutually beneficial" instead of "I want this salary, take it or leave it."
posted by basalganglia at 11:40 AM on June 5, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks for everyone's advice. She was initially offered $72,500 but ended up with $75,000, so negotiating helped.
She's just coming out of school with no other job offer, so it seems like her future employer values her which is great.
posted by Fister Roboto at 9:39 AM on June 6, 2020
She's just coming out of school with no other job offer, so it seems like her future employer values her which is great.
posted by Fister Roboto at 9:39 AM on June 6, 2020
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posted by ananci at 6:53 PM on June 4, 2020 [1 favorite]