4 ms·

I'm on my first real job. I had no idea what to ask for and what I am really worth. I wasn't really desperate for a job but I only asked for something now seems

• roel_v 15y ago
  One thing to always remember, in any negotiation (house, car, pair of socks on the market in Casablanca): always be ready to walk away. Once you've committed to the deal before the other guy has, you've lost. If you commit to the job prematurely because you're afraid nobody else will hire you, you've lost. Apart from that: - Always ask for more. It's never enough. - Don't let yourself be compared with others (co-workers). Make sure you have a story on why you're different from everybody else. The naive strategy, that most hiring managers nonetheless use, is to compare people with each other and say 'I can't pay you more than the others'. - The other guy dreads the discussion just as much as you do. Exploit that. Drag it out over a couple of days - make him lay awake at night for having to have another talk about the money. He'll be willing to give in if the discussion is uncomfortable for him. - Get the other guy to commit to hiring you before the discussion is over. This is turning the table on my first paragraph. Once he's decided he will hire you, he will go the extra mile to pay what you're asking (or at least closer to what you're asking - if they pay you what you're asking, you asked too little and have left money on the table). All that said, I've held the same job for 10 years, so I may be talking out of my ass. I have hired people in those 10 years though, and rather successfully 'coached' others in salary negotiations, and I know a few head hunters who I discuss this with every now and then (privately - for example my brother in law is one). So I think I do know some basics.
• bradfa 15y ago
  I still work for my first employer after I graduated from college 6 years ago. I took their first salary offer without negotiation. I thought it was a good offer and I didn't know any better. Turns out, I could have asked for 10% more and still been in their range. In the 6 years I've been with the company, I've gotten a good number of raises. I now make 39% more than I did 6 years ago. Due to the recession, some hard work, and raise freezes for higher earners, I've now caught up to those who came in making more than me that first year out of college. You can do the same thing I've done (stick it out and hope for raises), or now that you have a good understanding of what you think you're worth, go and ask for that. Why not just ask your boss for more money? They won't fire you for asking, worst they'll do is say no.
  • gnosis 15y ago
    I've made at least 30% to 50% increases every time I jumped from job to job, and never stayed at a job more than a year. You'll very rarely wind up getting as much in raises when you continue working for the same company year after year, unless you manage to get constantly promoted or are lucky enough to find yourself working for a startup that makes it big (and doesn't screw its shareholding employees over like Skype did). Of course, eventually I might price myself out of the market. But I don't know when that "eventual" point will be for me, as I don't think I've yet reached the peak of my career.
    • bradfa 15y ago
      I'm not willing to relocate from upstate NY (starting a family, local extended family, own a house) and my pay is already in the range I could find at other companies in the area. I could probably get a 10 to 15% bump going somewhere else but that's about it. I also get the impression that jumping from job to job every year is frowned upon locally. That may not be the case everywhere. Getting 30% increases each year means after 6 years you're making almost 4x what you started at! Congrats! That's just not possible where I live without starting your own company and being very successful.