Background: company that up until recently has paid us for operational support is now working on establishing the sama capability. They’ve been relying on us for this for roughly five years, but the agreement expired this summer.
The situation:
- My current job isn’t fun anymore
- I enjoy working with the systems that the poachers are using
- I’m objectively good at it
- I’d love to move over
So I was asked what my salary expectations/demands are to move over, where I’d be doing pretty much the same thing I do now. How much % raise should I aim for compared to what I have now?
UPDATE: I asked for my current salary + 10%, in addition to a few perks. Without the perks they’ll have to go higher than 10%.
OP listen to me very carefully. Do not give them a number you want. Decide on one but don’t tell them. Never begin your negotiations by giving them a number or range, always get them to give you one first. The reason for this is because their number rmay be higher than yours.
Edit: this is gaining a bit of traction so I’m going to post this podcast. Don’t be fooled by it being software engineer related. None of the content (to my memory) is really specific. This episode “red pilled” me on this topic. https://www.se-radio.net/2016/11/se-radio-episode-275-josh-doody-on-salary-negotiation-for-software-engineers/
When I got my current job, my thought was that I would ask for an absurd price that they would never give me, and we would negotiate from there. They didn’t even hesitate. They said “yep, we can do that.” That’s when I knew I fucked up.
I did similar. I asked for double my previous salary, figuring that’s absurd. They told me that’s too low for the position, so they gave me 5 grand more than what I asked for. Clearly I could have gotten substantially more.
But the way I look at it is I got a very high salary that I wasn’t expecting, and the company feels like they got a deal. Win - win situation, right?
Do you mind sharing what the hard numbers were?
Was making 45k, asked for 90. Got 95. (USD)
I second this.
It’s going to be hard. If the recruiter/TA Specialist is good at their job they’ll try to get you to give a “ballpark.” They’ll do anything to try to figure out the lowest offer they can make.
Do not give in.
Hold firm and ask what their offer is and go from there.
In one case their offer was double what I was expecting. It changed my life.
In other, their offer was just slightly under what I was expecting and I got what I hoped for with little effort and only a single back and forth.
There is one exception here: if they really want you and you are ABSOLUTELY sure you’re out of their salary band for the position, you can wield your salary demands like a sword. I recently used my expected salary (which I knew the company wouldn’t match) to negotiate a 4-day work week at their full time pay, with an extra week of vacation tacked on for good measure. Win win.