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Discussion on: 22 Phrases to Successfully Negotiate Salary After Receiving a Job Offer (video)

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nestedsoftware profile image
Nested Software • Edited

This is a fantastic video. Both your advice, as well as your whole demeanor, is really great. You're clearly someone who's been there and knows what you're talking about.

I am guessing you discuss this in your earlier videos but I think it's worth emphasizing that one really needs to understand what one's minimum number is, and why that's the case. If a candidate only has a single offer so far, it's easy to start wanting to just accept that offer, even if it's below the minimum they decided on ahead of time. That means it's extremely important to make sure that minimum number has solid reasoning behind it.

Also, if it's someone's first job offer, I'd recommend focussing a bit more on a job/environment that will help them to develop the skills they consider to be important going forward in their career. That's probably more valuable than a higher salary if it means the job is less in line with what they want to be doing in the grand scheme of things.

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candidateplanet profile image
lusen / they / them 🏳️‍🌈🥑

@nestedsoftware , thank you for the kind words about the video, as well as the great advice.

I have this video that talks about how to come up with one's minimum and happy number, however making high-stakes decisions is a much bigger topic than I could do justice to in one video - including knowing:

  • When to reject a low offer, which can be absolutely gut-wrenching (though I agree it can be easy to underestimate the number of fish in the sea)
  • When to accept a low offer, which can be disappointing and erode confidence (though I also agree that prioritizing opportunities for growth is a much more valuable investment in oneself long-term, especially for early career candidates.)

For what it's worth, I'll be on a panel called Accept, Reject, Negotiate at the Watermark Conference for Women in San Jose on February 12th. I could make a dev.to post with a summary of learnings from that conversation. I've met the other panelists and they're terrific!

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nestedsoftware profile image
Nested Software

@candidateplanet , thanks, I just watched that video as well and enjoyed it. One thing I wouldn't mind seeing your take on would be a more detailed look at how to set the value for the lowest compensation one would be willing to accept. Like, if someone already has a job and is looking for a better salary, I guess the current salary + some increment would be the easy answer there. I think this question gets harder for people early in their careers. I assume that doing research is important to understand the salary range for that kind of job in whatever city/town one resides in. If relocation is involved, it's probably really important to make sure that one understands the cost of living in that area. For example, I suspect that a salary that sounds great in many parts of the world would not be good enough in the Bay area, just because of the cost of living.

Another thought your videos evoked for me is that one should avoid assigning too much value to the salary as a measure of respect or self-esteem. Of course no one wants to be taken advantage of, but I think just chasing money from the point of view of "so-and-so is making this much, therefore I should make more" is also a mistake. We can get a little bit caught up thinking too much about compensation and not enough about whether the whole situation is a good fit.

Anyway, I hope my comments are okay. I didn't want to hijack your post, but your videos just got me thinking. I'd love to read your blog post following the conference!

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candidateplanet profile image
lusen / they / them 🏳️‍🌈🥑

Your comments are wonderful! I appreciate you taking the time to share these thoughts and have a conversation with me.

In terms of minimum: there are ways to increase the quality of our data as decision-making input, but I think decision-making will always be deeply personal, both as a process and in terms of every person's unique situation and concerns.

I'm comfortable being a sounding board for a specific person and scenario, but general advice... maybe I could (in the future) share anonymous stories that shed light on possibilities.

As you say, early career candidates (and also career/role switchers), can encounter "minimum number" uncertainty in terms of past history, though the market ranges also tend to be more strictly defined and the roles more consistent than, for example, what "Senior" means across companies.

At any rate, since finding one's second job becomes a lot easier than the first, I generally advise early career (and early second or third career) candidates to not stress too much about the first job once it's on their doorstep and there are no other options on the horizon. Especially when rent is coming up and you don't have "current tech job" or "many years working in tech" savings buffering your job search.

However, candidates can do a lot of work before that point:

  • Finding companies that are a good fit in multiple ways (ie growth opportunities and respectful compensation; good commute and resonating mission, etc)
  • Clustering applications and interviews together to reduce the chance of receiving offers in isolation. (It's tricky to tell a company to slow down because they're not you're favorite, so if possible, tell the other companies to speed up.)
  • Impressing interviewers to increase your "we want to hire this candidate!" leverage even if you don't have other offers

PS - Candidates who have been considerably underpaid for too long can have similar ambiguity on an emotional level, though I've found it a lot easier to validate expectations and negotiate compensation.


As for relative jealousy: you give sage advice; if only it were an easier pill to swallow!