Salary negotiation
None of this is expert advice. It's what people worked out for themselves, usually the hard way — what actually helped, and what they'd tell someone standing where you are. Take what fits and leave the rest.
If you only read a few
Avoid stating you are 'not in it for the money' when negotiating.
One person who said this was paid 25% less than a peer with the same job.
one person who lived it
Request a figure above the standard band instead of underbidding, since hiring managers rarely exceed the amount you ask for.
Understating your worth is harmful; asking high creates space to negotiate down to your acceptable floor.
3 people, independently
Recognize that long-term employment in low-paying public sector jobs can skew your view of your worth and hurt future negotiations.
Low pay leads to being low-balled in future negotiations and distorts self-perception of value.
- Based on one person's experience in the public sector.
one person who lived it
Ask for your desired wage or rate without underselling yourself; one person reported getting double their normal pay when they justified the need for extra help.
Employers often pay what is asked if it is near the norm.
one person who lived it
Aim for the top of the hiring manager's salary range.
Hiring managers often do not care where within the range you fall, so long as you are inside it.
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ask, salary, pay, negotiate38
Judge the full pay structure—bonuses, perks, leave, and medical expenses—not just the base salary.
Negotiate starting pay if possible, as it dictates future raises.
It can be the difference between decent and great earnings.
- Some employers have no room for negotiation.
- Most jobs, especially blue-collar ones, do not allow this.
one person who lived it
Write down the names of all interviewers at state-funded organizations to look up their public salaries later.
Knowing what they make can help get the most from what you ask for.
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Ask for more money during negotiations, as companies often pay less than they could for good employees.
Companies care little about paying a bit more for good employees.
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Ask about expected working hours when discussing salary offers.
The same salary feels different depending on whether it is for 40 or 55 hours of work.
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Ask for a higher salary than usual when applying for jobs that do not publish a salary range.
The lack of a posted range often indicates the offer will be lower than market rate.
one person who lived it
Use professional license board data on pay rates by position, experience, region, and project volume to support negotiation benchmarks.
Specific data removes emotion from the process and provides concrete evidence for higher pay.
- Based on one person's experience in a field with such data.
2 people, independently
Name a desired salary slightly higher than your target, based on good research, to set a high anchor.
Skewing high reveals where the employer's upper limit is through their attempts to bring the number down.
one person who lived it
Do not negotiate for a job obtained through connections if it was essentially gifted to you, as doing so may be perceived as rude and entitled.
Negotiating in this context can be seen as ungrateful since the position might not have been offered otherwise.
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Redirect questions about your current salary by discussing the value you will bring to the organization.
One person reported receiving a 40% bump over their previous job using this approach.
2 people, independently
Ask about stock options and deferred compensation plans.
Knowing what’s available gives you more tools to negotiate.
one person who lived it
Judge the full pay structure—bonuses, perks, leave, and medical expenses—not just the base salary.
4 people, independently
Delay discussing salary until as close to the offer stage as possible to get the most from leverage after the employer has invested time imagining you in the role.
The more they imagine you as part of the team, the better your negotiating position becomes.
- Some find this advice horrible and prefer to ask bluntly upfront to avoid wasting time.
one person who lived it
Recognize that while refusing to disclose salary history is lawful, employers may legally rescind job offers for non-compliance.
It is lawful to ask, lawful to refuse, and lawful to rescind an offer for refusing.
one person who lived it
Recognize that annual merit raises often fail to keep pace with inflation, necessitating job changes for significant income growth.
Even top performers receiving higher merit increases may still lose purchasing power against inflation.
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Negotiate salary terms before accepting the job offer rather than after starting employment.
You are less likely to receive your desired amount after you have started the job.
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Re-negotiate an offer if you discover your median market salary is higher than the offer, even if it matches your initial application.
It is better to address this upfront than to hope for correction during a performance review.
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Be wary of recruiters who reveal other candidates' skills and rates to pit them against each other.
This tactic encourages candidates to lower their own rates in a secret battle, hurting themselves.
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If you struggle with being asked to perform IT tasks outside your role, refuse politely or direct colleagues to submit formal tickets to avoid becoming de facto support without a raise.
One person reported becoming a de facto sysadmin without a raise after admitting to skills beyond the job description.
one person who lived it
View your salary as a measure of how difficult you are to replace, not as a reflection of your personal human worth.
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Ask friends and check Glassdoor to gather informal salary intelligence.
There is wisdom in numbers.
one person who lived it
- Research specific company salary ranges using sites like Glassdoor before interviewing to know the lowest, average, and highest pay for the position.3
Show why you merit a higher salary by pointing out contributions that go beyond the basic job requirements.
3 people, independently
Describe your last salary as 'competitive' to avoid giving specific numbers.
It lets them know you're not fucking around.
one person who lived it
If required to provide compensation history but wishing to decline, fill in your desired salary and clearly state that you are declining to provide history.
Compensation history may not be as important as employers imply.
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Do not attempt to conceal salary history when applying for government jobs, as these salaries are public information.
Government salaries are public record.
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Avoid writing 'negotiable', '$1', or similar placeholders in online application salary fields, as these often result in being filtered out.
Writing negotiable or $1 usually gets you filtered out.
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Include the value of paid time off in your total compensation calculation, especially if generous, noting that accrued time can become worthless if the company switches to an 'unlimited' policy.
In most states, a company can switch to 'unlimited' PTO and all accrued time becomes worthless overnight.
one person who lived it
If asked for your current pay, state your starting bid as your current pay rate to avoid being matched to a low number, based on one person's experience of being rejected when revealing their actual lower pay.
- Based on one person's experience where revealing actual pay led to rejection despite requesting more.
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If company representatives become argumentative or unprofessional when you ask about salary, leave the interview immediately.
Such behavior indicates a lack of professionalism that suggests working there would be difficult.
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Demonstrate your value during negotiations by showing specific examples of past work, researching competing products, and comparing benefits packages professionally.
Answering only cookie-cutter questions leaves employers unaware of your full value.
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Verify your previous employer's specific policy on disclosing salary information before assuming confidentiality is protected.
There are no laws preventing companies from sharing this information, and policies vary by company.
one person who lived it
If you ask for a conservative salary, be prepared for offers below your current earnings.
one person who lived it
One approach that helped: unionize and compare local and regional salary data to negotiate wage increases.
one person who lived it
Ask yourself what the lowest salary you would accept is, to set a baseline for negotiation flexibility.
Knowing your minimum acceptable price helps determine where negotiations can go if needed.
one person who lived it
Negotiate for additional vacation time or remote work options if salary increases are limited.
4 people, independently
If challenged on inflated salary figures, claim you included 401k match in total compensation and backtrack.
It provides an excuse for the discrepancy.
one person who lived it
Factor in cost-of-living adjustments when negotiating salary for a relocation, recognizing that such raises may look good on paper but do not improve your financial situation if they only offset increased costs.
one person who lived it
Use resources like PayScale to justify your salary request during interviews.
4 people, independently
Wait at least three days to respond to a job offer to create the impression that you are weighing multiple options.
Silence makes employers think you have other offers.
one person who lived it
Treat job interviews as practice opportunities to refine answers and build confidence rather than sunk costs.
This mindset allows you to take notes on questions and draft better answers for future attempts without feeling the loss of a 'sunk cost'.
one person who lived it
Keep a door open for recruiters even when happy in your current role to hear out potential offers.
It never hurts to listen to opportunities.
- Based on one person's experience.
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Add unofficial skills like 'office IT support' to your resume if they solved critical inefficiencies.
To highlight value when the official IT department was horribly inefficient.
- Based on one person's experience at a Fortune 10 company.
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Take interviews regularly to maintain interview skills and keep your resume updated so you are prepared when ideal opportunities arise.
It prevents being caught scrambling and unprepared when a 'unicorn job' comes along.
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