Congrats, if you’re looking up how to negotiate salary, you’re about to be making some big moves in your life! More money will lead to a more comfortable life. Expenses such as bills, food, clothing, social gatherings are really determined by how much money we make. Whether you like the fact or not, it’s a reality.
3 of the best phrases to use for salary negotiation
The best phrases for salary negotiation that we’ve come across are the following:
Although I’m grateful….
“Although I’m grateful for the offer at $XX,XXX, I’d like the offer to be incentivized a bit more.”
I’m very thankful and appreciative…
“I’m very thankful and appreciative for the offer, but given the market rate for this position, I was thinking somewhere along the lines of $XX,XXX.”
Can this be incentivized more?
“Can this offer be incentivized more to leave my current role? I’m very satisfied with at my current role, but given my accomplishments, I’d like the offer to be incentivized some more.”
4 Things you need to do before you negotiate salary
Research what the salary is for the position you’re looking for
Do not go in blind and make sure you know what salary you’re looking for. The absolute worst thing you can do in salary negotiation is to try, but not know your relative market value. You need to be within touch and realistic here.
Come up with the exact script of what you’re going to say
Make sure you know exactly what you’re going to say. You don’t need to rehearse it over and over, as long as you understand the underlying framework of salary negotiation.
Treat salary negotiation with yourself being the prize and the employer getting the best value.
You are a prize and you must internalize this concept, and only then, will salary negotiation will come 100% more naturally.
Practice what you’re going to say
This comes without a doubt – you need to practice salary negotiation.
Run what you’re going to say to your friends, colleagues, or family members.
Practice in front of a mirror and make sure that you feel confident doing so.
There’s a lot of nuance that comes into this such as breathing, posture, clothing, etc. that will make you more confident but that goes outside the scope of this post.
Also know that along with what you say is important, how you say it is very important too. (Badly language, vocal tonality, etc.)
Internalize that you are a prize
This is arguably the most important section of this page.
We covered this a bit earlier, but you must internalize yourself as the prize.
You must be 100% confident within your skills and abilities and this will increase your chances of a successful salary negotiation at least 10X.
The majority are not confident within their own abilities and as a result, this makes it difficult for the average person to negotiate salary.
Salary negotiation is not easy and expect to get some push back – either by recruiters, hiring managers, or even executives.
The core foundation of all of this is to be confident within your skills. Get more confident by racking up more wins and increasing competence.
To become more confident, you need to become more competent.
5 Salary negotiation do’s
Do negotiate salary
Some people are scared that employers will rescind their offers because they tried negotiating salary. Don’t let this be you. The cure to being nervous to salary negotiation is making yourself more confident. It also helps to have multiple job offers and interviews in hand.
Do your research
Make sure you do your research and understand what market value relative to your position is.
The last thing you want to do is say that you want $200K+ when your market value is really only $75K.
Be prepared with what you’re going to say
Have the script of what you’re going to say, and also have a plan B and plan C for what you think the employer will say.
If the employer says “Sure, what are you thinking”
Be prepared to come up with a valid reason and justification of why you should be asking for more. This can be things such as explaining your market value, skillset, and contributions that you can add to the team.
If the employer says “No”
Again, be prepared to come up with a justification as to why you should be asking for more. Re-iterate that based on your skills, results, accomplishments that you deserve $XX,XXX.
If they say no, be prepared to accept that or either walk away from the offer itself. (If you really do walk away, there is a chance that you may get another offer within a few days because they’re desperate)
An employer will never show that they’re desperate so play your cards right and understand the situation as much as possible.
Be outcome independent
If the employer is not willing to budge, be ready for this. You need to be outcome independent when it comes to salary negotiation. Not only in salary negotiation but in many different aspects of life as well.
The more outcome independent you are, the more likely you get something. It’s really funny how that works.
Be prepared to not get the offer you were hoping for
You need to be ready for the employer not to budge both within the moment and internally. You might get bummed that the employer was not willing to get you the offer that you were hoping for. This happens and you need to move on to other job opportunities if need be.
3 Salary negotiation don’ts
Do not come off as entitled
Make sure you do not come off as entitled during salary negotiation and have a clear justification.
The last thing you should do is say something like “I want more money” but not have any business justifications why.
A company is hiring you due to the fact that you will be a business asset to them. You will, in some way, shape, or form, help the company make money. This is the simple reason why companies are considering hiring you.
Don’t repeatedly bug HR or hiring managers about this
Do not repeatedly bug HR or hiring managers. Your salary negotiation request will be in the works upon negotiating and you’ll need to let time do it’s thing.
Managers and HR will be working in the background looking for a new number to give you and will take a few days.
This is normal and part of the process.
Don’t continue to bug them – this is very unprofessional and shows neediness.
You do not want to be needy, you want to be outcome independent.
Do not come in blind and with no research
Please make sure that you understand what the exact values they’re paying for the position that you’re interviewing for. You do not ask for C-level compensation when you’re doing entry level career work.
Do salary research on tools such as Glassdoor, Salary.com, or indeed.
Nowadays, salary transparency is becoming the norm and it’s easier to have a better understanding of the market as a whole.
3 Different types of salary negotiation
There will be three different scenarios of salary negotiation – by email, phone, or in person.
Make sure you’re ready for each situation depending on the type of work you’re looking for and how you’ve been communicating with your prospective employer.
Salary negotiation by email
Arguably the most easiest form is to negotiate salary is through email. HR or the hiring manager will come at you with an offer through email, in some form of PDF that will contain details of your offer and an option for you to either sign or decline.
You will write a letter detailing that you’re both thankful and appreciate of the offer, but negotiate for more.
In terms of the justification, you will leverage what you have – skills, results, accomplishments.
Everything is fair game.
Salary negotiation by phone
In this case, the recruiter or hiring manager will come to you directly with a salary offer. Try to get the most details of the offer as possible such as benefit packages, 401K, paid time off, and explain that you will need time to evaluate on this.
Sometimes, HR or the hiring manager will get pushy on you to accept the offer, but you need to be firm on the fact that you need time. They do this because they’re in a position of power and want you to accept the offer which is probably the cheapest they’d like to pay you.
Do not accept their initial offer, tell them you need time to think.
You will then set up another call with the recruiter or hiring manager and let them know you’re looking for something along the lines of $XX,XXX as you feel that value will incentivize you more to accept the position on hand. Then lay out your specific justifications.
Salary negotiation in person
The hardest scenario out of the three for salary negotiation is definitely in person.
It’s going to go similarly to how you would on the phone, but much more fast paced.
You can either tell them that you need time to think based on what they’re offering you, or be quickly ready for a counter offer.
This is where the practice will come in.
The hiring manager/recruiter will come at you directly at the offer and will ask you for your thoughts.
You either accept, deny, need time to think, or negotiate.
If you use all of the principles I have explained above, you will have no issues with knowing how to negotiate salary.
About the author
Kazuyoshi Fujimoto, PE
Founder | Engineering Career Coach | Principal Mechanical Engineer
Kazu oversees all of ultmeche’s engineering services. He provides consulting such as resume reviews, rewrites, mock interviews, and all services career related. Additionally, Kazu performs consulting work regarding Oil & Gas, Automotive, and Aerospace & Defense. Kazu is licensed as a professional engineer in the state of California and has 9+ years of experience in Oil & Gas, Automotive, and Aerospace & Defense.
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