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Declining to reveal my previous salary when negotiating a new job. I ended up with a significantly better salary than they originally offered and never even sa

by Sukotto 10y ago

Declining to reveal my previous salary when negotiating a new job. I ended up with a significantly better salary than they originally offered and never even said a number. Just built a good rapport with the hiring HR rep and agreed that the offered amount would be totally reasonable for [someone else with good experience]. Then I pointed out that I also bring to the role [additional, relevant, and desired experience] and gently asked what they could do to make the number better?. (Then I kept my mouth shut and let them think out loud for a few minutes)

abraae 10y ago
I reckon if you don't do negotiation on a regular basis, learning to keep your mouth shut, as this post says, is the single best and easiest thing you can do to improve your outcomes. When you ask your question (this one is great btw - what can you do to make that number better), the other side may, subconsciously or (for more experienced negotiators) consciously just say nothing for a while. They're waiting for you to crack - to immediately fear the silence and blurt out something like "if that's possible of course" or "it would really help me, I've got 3 kids to feed". Following up your own ask with an immediate mini-backdown like this - without even making them say their piece - will lose you $. Just wait. Silently. Lock eyes with them, not aggressively or weirdly, but patiently. After ten seconds (which may feel like 60), if the heat gets too much, raise an eyebrow slightly, clasp your hands, something. Nothing's guaranteed but if you can do this you'll get better outcomes more often. And that's especially true on larger deals with very elastic prices (like selling an expensive piece of software) than something like your salary which often has real and hard bounds around it.
- Uhhrrr 10y ago
  Keeping one's mouth shut after asking a question is a great skill in general. When buying used cars, I will often just ask, "Is there anything else I should know about the car?" and then wait. It's also good for extracting confessions ("What can you tell me about this broken cookie jar, son? [long pause]").
desdiv 10y ago
I'm not a dishonest person in general, but I have zero problem with lying about my previous salary in order to gain a negotiating advantage. I feel that it's simply none of their business how much I used to make, and that if they're presumptuous enough to ask then a made-up number is what they deserve.
- CardenB 10y ago
  Except the company that hired you can then request a w2 and see your previous salary
  - up_and_up 10y ago
    They cant demand that. If anybody tried to pull that I would be outta there.
- up_and_up 10y ago
  This. Always add on at least 15-30% if they ask. Has worked very well for me.
- imaginenore 10y ago
  Lying about your previous salary may open you up to a lawsuit. It's sort of a grey area, but some consider it fraud. http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/is-it-illegal-to-lie-about-your-pay-in-a-job-interview/ http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/is-it-illegal-to-l...
  - Sgt_Apone 10y ago
    I think that realistically it would only come up as an issue if you were looking a c-suite position. For joe or jane programmer, I doubt they would go through the effort of taking you to court in the unlikely event that they found out about it.

by Sukotto 10y ago

abraae 10y ago

I reckon if you don't do negotiation on a regular basis, learning to keep your mouth shut, as this post says, is the single best and easiest thing you can do to improve your outcomes. When you ask your question (this one is great btw - what can you do to make that number better), the other side may, subconsciously or (for more experienced negotiators) consciously just say nothing for a while. They're waiting for you to crack - to immediately fear the silence and blurt out something like "if that's possible of course" or "it would really help me, I've got 3 kids to feed". Following up your own ask with an immediate mini-backdown like this - without even making them say their piece - will lose you $. Just wait. Silently. Lock eyes with them, not aggressively or weirdly, but patiently. After ten seconds (which may feel like 60), if the heat gets too much, raise an eyebrow slightly, clasp your hands, something. Nothing's guaranteed but if you can do this you'll get better outcomes more often. And that's especially true on larger deals with very elastic prices (like selling an expensive piece of software) than something like your salary which often has real and hard bounds around it.

Uhhrrr 10y ago
Keeping one's mouth shut after asking a question is a great skill in general. When buying used cars, I will often just ask, "Is there anything else I should know about the car?" and then wait. It's also good for extracting confessions ("What can you tell me about this broken cookie jar, son? [long pause]").

desdiv 10y ago

I'm not a dishonest person in general, but I have zero problem with lying about my previous salary in order to gain a negotiating advantage. I feel that it's simply none of their business how much I used to make, and that if they're presumptuous enough to ask then a made-up number is what they deserve.

CardenB 10y ago
Except the company that hired you can then request a w2 and see your previous salary
- up_and_up 10y ago
  They cant demand that. If anybody tried to pull that I would be outta there.
up_and_up 10y ago
This. Always add on at least 15-30% if they ask. Has worked very well for me.
imaginenore 10y ago
Lying about your previous salary may open you up to a lawsuit. It's sort of a grey area, but some consider it fraud. http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/is-it-illegal-to-lie-about-your-pay-in-a-job-interview/ http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/is-it-illegal-to-l...
- Sgt_Apone 10y ago
  I think that realistically it would only come up as an issue if you were looking a c-suite position. For joe or jane programmer, I doubt they would go through the effort of taking you to court in the unlikely event that they found out about it.