Time’s Up on the Gender Pay Gap: How to Negotiate in 2018
Reshare: How to Negotiate in 2018
Dan's Editorial: This talk was presented and made available to Platinum and Interactive Badge holders between March 13–21, at SXSW 2018, for an admission price of $1,395 per person. After the talk, it was shared widely among women in tech with the goal of closing the wage gap through salary negociation. At Google, I used some of these tips to successfully re-negociate my own pay and indirectly increased the salaries of several of my fellow long-tenured peers, as well 🙌🏼Speaker: Alexandra Dickinson, CEO of Ask For It, a columnist for Forbes
Notes by: Janine Kahn, Editorial Strategist, Airbnb
Negotiation Framework
[For new starting salaries, raises, salary adjustments, and beyond]
Go into it with a creative problem-solving mindset; it’s not about who wins and who loses. In a job negotiation, remember that you have power too — your potential employer has gone through time and effort to find you.
Do NOT wait to see what they offer you. Always enter a salary negotiation with these three numbers: your wish, your want, and your walk. Be the first to put a number on the table and anchor yourself to it.
How this works — have these three numbers in mind:
- WISH: Higher than the want, “just left of crazy, but not crazy.” [Ex: $112K]
- WANT: Your target salary. [Ex. $100K] This is what you’re ultimately hoping to get out of this negotiation.
- WALK: The minimum you’re willing to take here. Anything below it makes this a deal you walk away from.
Your Wish
Deliver your first number, the wish, with confidence. Many of us worry that this is too high, and that the company we’re talking to will walk away, but more often than not they will get back to you saying “that’s too high…what about this?” Make your wish number a little higher than initially planned, and just ask for it: “I would like X.”
Your Want
For women: set your want number up to 20% higher than you had initially planned in order to match what men will typically ask for.
Your Walk
Keep firm on this. If you take the lowball offer, you’ll be resentful and back on the job hunt in time.
To know before you negotiate:
The Anchor: This is the first number thrown out; typically, negotiations are built around this. Sometimes, companies will try to anchor you very early in the process, asking for a number in the application form. DO NOT fall for this (enter $0, or $1,000,000 or “negotiable”).
Salary History: It’s illegal to ask about salary history in some states, including CA and NY. If a recruiter asks for this, you can say you’re happy to discuss this in person. If they persist, say: “I’m not comfortable discussing that, but I’m happy to provide a pay stub to verify my salary if we get to that” (after an offer is made/accepted).
What makes a good deal?
+ Meets “want”
+ Better than alternatives you have in mind
+ Exceeds “walk”
Know your worth: As a human being, you’re priceless, but know the value of your skills in the marketplace.
Consider your superpowers: What are the things that come to you naturally, without effort. Think about the value you bring — value you created at your last job; metrics are helpful if you have them to share.
Gather evidence, and keep it handy:
How much to ask for
Step 1: The internet is a good place to start your research, not end it. Consult the usual suspects: salary.com, payscale.com, glassdoor.com, comparably.com
Step 2: Talk to other humans about how much they are making — how much do people with your job or the job you want make? Talk to 6 people at least (half of them MUST be men):
This way you can say you know the going rate. There’s no substitute for this, and you won’t get it from Glassdoor. This can be an uncomfortable exercise, but try wording it thusly when you email people for this request:
“I’m doing research because _____, and I think you have some information that could help me. Would you be able to share your ballpark salary with me?” … “and I’d be happy to follow up and let you know how it went.”
[Asking for a ballpark salary may make people a little more comfortable with sharing. More often than not, they’ll want to help you out.]
When to negotiate
Only do this after they want you. Do not bring up any numbers early in the game, or midway. Punt until you’re ready; you don’t have any leverage in the beginning. They need to have to have you before you put your wish number on the table.
You have the most leverage when everyone wants the deal to happen.
More tips:
+ Be precise instead of using round numbers ($82K instead of $80)
+ Silence is golden. Put your number out there and then just zip it. Don’t yammer on — wait at least five seconds; force the other party to be the one yammering. Ask yourself: “How much are you willing to pay to avoid this awkward silence?”
+ Pay attention to your instincts. If they’re jerks, you don’t want to be working there anyway.
+ Lean on your research and refer to it. “According to my research….” “And I didn’t take what I read online as gospel; I spoke to 6 people with this role and this is the market rate.” “I did some benchmarking; I didn’t just pick this number out of a hat.”
+ Don’t just think about the salary you want. Think about professional development opportunities, leadership opportunities, vacation or work from home time, other benefits you would like.
+ Don’t lose fans or friends: go back and forth maybe 1–2xs over the course of the negotiation; not more.
The magic words that work with everything: “I would like…”
“….a raise this year,”
“…a salary of X,”
“…you to take the dog for a walk and take out the trash.”
Putting it all together when making the ask:
First, state your evidence:
- Value you’ve created
- Value you’ve saved
- Your superpowers
Then, summarize your research: “According to my research…”
And then, ask for it: “I would like…”
What did you think?
I hope this was helpful or educational! Not just me, but other women whom I care about in my life have used these tips and tricks to improve their lives, ask for pay raises, and more.
P.S. If there’s a good 2020 version of this, do let me know :)
Dan Pham is a Staff Technical Program Manager at Slack, San Francisco, California, USA. We’re hiring in San Francisco and globally! ❤️ Come join us :)