Thread by @ryanstephens

Most people are terrible at salary negotiation.

But what if I told you that a few hours of preparation and an uncomfortable five-minute conversation could dramatically increase your future earnings?

Here’s a thread chock full of tips to increase your next offer.

👇👇👇

First, know that your salary negotiation has an outsized influence on what your compensation is and that compensation is not limited to money.

Also, a $5,000 increase compounds over time.

Over the next 10 years, the value of a $5,000 a year extra salary is close to $100K gross.

You must shift your mindset to embrace negotiation.

Your salary negotiations are probably going to be the most important financial decisions you will ever make.

We socialize most to go into them unprepared, demotivated, & fearful of success.

Rich, successful people negotiate.

Salary negotiations are very asymmetrical.

Companies know this and routinely exploit it.

Get into the habit of seeing employees as employers see them: in terms of fully-loaded costs.

The fully-loaded costs of employees are much higher than their salary.

In other words, companies are not sensitive to small differences in employee wages because employees are so expensive anyhow.

In fact, virtually any amount of money available to you personally is mouse droppings to your prospective employer.

Think about it this way:

It’s Bob’s job to get you signed with the company as cheaply as possible, but Bob is not super motivated to do so, because Bob is not spending Bob’s money to hire you.

Bob is far, far less invested in this negotiation than you are.

Your negotiation starts before you apply to the job.

Start by establishing a reputation in your field as someone who delivers measurable results vis-a-vis improving revenue or reducing costs.

You want hiring managers reaching out to you about an opening they want *you* to fill.

If both sides come to the conclusion that you'd be a good fit, it's their responsibility to take a stab at what a mutually fulfilling offer would look like.

It's your responsibility to suggest ways that they could improve it such that you can come in and do an awesome job.

Only negotiate salary after you have an agreement in principle from someone with hiring authority that, if a mutually acceptable compensation can be agreed upon, you will be hired.

They're going to spend a lot of time & money just talking to you.

They want to reach an agreement

The absolute worst outcome of negotiating an offer in good faith is that you will get exactly the contents of the original offer. Negotiation never makes (worthwhile) offers worse.

You always, as a matter of policy, negotiate all offers.

You’re not a peasant. Don’t act like one

You do not start negotiating until you already have a Yes – If.

The first rule of salary negotiation is what everyone tells you it is: Never give a number first.

Let me repeat that: NEVER GIVE A NUMBER FIRST

The employees they really value weren't doormats at negotiations.

Couple of additional tips:

Do not use: “I need this job because…”

You never need a job.

Instead, try: “I’m enthusiastic about the opportunity with working with you, assuming we can come to mutually satisfactory terms.”

Listen to what people tell you. Repeat it back to them

People love their own words. Focus on specifics words they use & concerns they have.

Also, stop saying “I,” in interviews. Instead, use “We” or “You.” People care a heck of a lot more about their problems than your problems

It goes without saying: Research, Research, Research

In any negotiation new information is valuable and be traded for things you want.

Again, things that the company is probably not all that sensitive to once you've made it this far in the process.

If the company gets hung up on salary, there are many parts of a compensation package:
• Work hours
• Remote work
• Vacation days
• Travel opportunities
• Project assignments
• Alternate work schedule
• Professional development

You can probe at all of these.

Okay, let's summarize:

• Over the course of 10 years, a $5,000 raise equates to an additional $100,000.
• Change your mindset. This is worth more than the discomfort or “social cost” of negotiating.
• An extra $5,000 means much more to you than it does to a company’s HR rep.

• Negotiation starts before you apply to the job.
• Negotiation takes place after you’ve received an offer.
• Never give a number first. Ever.
• You never *need* a job. You’re *enthusiastic* about this opportunity.

• Research a lot. The more you know, the more options you will have in a negotiation.
• Don’t limit your focus to salary. There are many parts of a compensation package to negotiate.

If you want to deep dive the full post, you can check it out here:
dialedinmen.com/salary-negotia…

Lastly, all of these insights are courtesy of @patio11 who wrote an amazingly comprehensive post (35+ mins to read) on salary negotiation in 2012.

I've just extracted the highlights to make it more accessible for you.

But you can read his full post here:
kalzumeus.com/2012/01/23/sal…