Negotiating Salaries
Perspectives & advice from the community
@thecatclubpresident on developersindia discord shared the following advice:
I'll summarize for the people who don't want to go through 6k-7k words:
- Don't think you're being immoral or your chances go down when you negotiate. The person hiring you cares very little compared to how much you care. He has a budget and an option to make a good choice. His job doesn't depend on making a good decision. Yours does so don't let him know that.
- Hiring is a business and every good business means negotiation. ALWAYS negotiate. Ask yourself if being shy is worth losing out on lacs of money. It's closed as well: that interviewer isn't going to put up a video of you negotiating on youtube. NEVER SHY AWAY FROM NEGOTIATING
- Always make sure the interviewer is interested in hiring you. If the job depends on you being cheap w.r.t. your salary, it is not a job worth having. If the job depends on your expertise mostly and not on your salary (as long as you're not adding or removing another zero), it is almost certainly a job worth having.
- The usual process of job-hunting (go through some websites, apply on some then send the companies that look promising) is highly ineffective. Unless you are 10x better in some respect than all other potential candidates, you will almost certainly lose to nepotism. Use this fact for yourself. Pay someone to job hunt for you. Brokers aren't evil. Talk to them instead of talking to a thousand employers over a thousand mails. Brokers have more experience in this job than you ever will.
- Resumes exist for the very reason that nobody needs to see them. While this might not always be true, the person hiring you will not see how well you present your resume or that abacus training program you took in 9th class. Send resumes without shame and to everyone.
- MOST IMPORTANT POINT: Don't start with a number. It's a rookie mistake. If an employer asks for a previous number, give them a ballpark if you don't know how to make excuses. They are asking how low you were paid in your last job so that they can pay you less in the future. Talk about salary only after you've discussed all the other points of employment.
- This ties back to point 6: once all the other points are decided and you've gone through all the necessary interviews WITHOUT NEGOTIATING SALARY, the employer will lose money if he doesn't hire you. He has spent weeks if not months trimming down on potential candidates. If he doesn't choose now, he'll have to spend that time and money again. Use this to negotiate a higher salary.
Related Discussions
- What Negotiation tactics you use for salary discussion with HR.
- Salary negotiation frameworks to keep in mind. (Credits to OPs in comments).
- IT Professionals: How to Demand the Salary You Deserve.