#043 - Want a 25% raise?

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I saw a LinkedIn post the other day from a VP saying he’d seen a video of a woman sharing that she moved job every year or so and had gone from making $75,000 to $150,000 in the past 5 years.

He then wondered if she was giving bad advice.

(He himself had moved jobs 3 times in the past 3 years. Just FYI.)

It’s difficult for me to say that sharing how you doubled your salary in the past 5 years - going from 75k to 150k - is bad advice.

How is it bad, exactly?

Is it ‘bad advice’ because he’s a VP and has a vested interest in his employees staying rather than realising they can get way more money by leaving for pastures new?

Don’t know. Couldn’t possibly say.

But.

This kind of ‘take’ - a take colder than Antarctica was on 21st July 1983 - should not stop you looking for a new job. Especially because the best way to get a proper raise - like it or not - is to leave your current job and get a new one.

Why is it this way? It doesn’t matter. It just is. And I encourage you to take advantage of it. Because the reality is the longer you’ve been in a job the more likely you’re being underpaid.

Sucks, doesn’t it?

But what doesn’t suck is, one, a faulty vacuum cleaner, and two, looking for a new job, getting a new job, and getting a juicier-than-medium-rare-steak raise - just like the one below:

You’ll probably find that just by looking for a new job, the salaries - in general - for these new jobs are higher than your current salary. So you might not even have to negotiate.

But.

Negotiating is more than just getting an offer and then realising you want a Caribbean cruise for you and your partner (and your dog) and then trying to get more money. Negotiation starts as soon as the recruitment process starts.

On that note - and I go way deeper into salary & offer negotiation in The Job Search Strategy System - here’s a quick summary of what you need to know about negotiating:

• Salary and offer negotiation starts from day one.

Get an idea of the salary range as soon as possible - preferably before the first call you have with the recruiter. If not, on that first call at the latest.

• The market (& the company) sets the salary band.

Even if you were Henry Kissinger, there would be a limit to your negotiating powers.

Not only does the market set the rate, but companies have their own salary ‘bandings.’ There will be a maximum package they can offer someone and that will be based on the market, the geography, the level of the role, and what other people who do the same role in the company are making.

You might be able to negotiate your way to the very top end of that range - and I encourage you to try - but if a good recruiter tells you there’s nothing more the company can do, I suggest you believe them.

• Appeal to their self-interest.

Instead of saying you need the money because you want to buy a bigger house and book an all-inclusive holiday to the Maldives next year - that’s all about you, not what you’re bringing to the company - you might want to say something like this:

“Thanks for the offer. I really appreciate it.

“In the interview process, it was mentioned the most important problems to solve in this role were [x] and [x]. My skills and experience show I can do that - and do it quickly, efficiently, and at a high level - and I believe I got that across in my interviews, hence your offer.

“You mentioned the top of the range was [x]. Can we find a way to get to that number? If we can, I’ll be thrilled to accept. Again, thanks for the offer, thanks for being a great support in this recruitment process, and I really would love to join [company].”

You still might not get exactly what you’re asking for but I’ve seen this response - via phone or email - get more than a few people a nice bump in salary.

Like pineapple on pizza, it’s 100% worth a try.

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I’ve helped hundreds and hundreds of people get new jobs. Tech jobs, gaming jobs, remote jobs, mid-level jobs, senior jobs, software engineer jobs, data jobs, cybersecurity jobs.

Dream jobs. Fulfilling jobs. And jobs that have come with a salary increase of more than 130%. (Sounds wild, I know).

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PPPS My girlfriend took the best picture ever of Teddy: