Telling Your Compensation Story

This week, we’re talking about how to negotiate a competitive salary and benefits package. I’m borrowing from episode #58 when I first covered this topic – as well as the framework I teach my clients to begin the negotiation conversation.

Episode #58 was on What You Can…and Can’t…Negotiate When You’re Being Hired. I also want to cover asking for a raise with your current employer, whether you are in a new role or remaining where you’re at.

For the purposes of this episode, I am going to assume you want to accept the offer, so I won’t talk about when NOT to accept.

When to Negotiate

If you are in the process of accepting an offer from a new company, the window for negotiations is between the time a bona fide offer is made and when you accept that offer.

To be clear, a bona fide offer is typically made in writing.

What if you are accepting a new position with your current employer? The rules are the same – once you accept their offer, don’t expect them to engage in further negotiations.

Finally, let’s talk about negotiating a raise with your current job. The parameters of when, how, and how much are often dictated by your employer, so check into this. As a general rule, it’s a good idea to ask for a raise soon after a significant win – the recency effect comes into play here.

Do I Have to Negotiate?

In a word, no. If you love the offer, you can accept it as it – but still give yourself a few days to consider the offer before accepting. This gives you time to evaluate the offer thoroughly and keeps you from looking overly anxious.

How Do I Prepare?

In a word – ask AI, then verify.

-Research salary ranges for the same or similar jobs in your geographic region

-Ask AI about the suite of benefits the organization offers

-Determine your lowest base salary in the last 5 years + your highest total compensation in the last 5 years – we’ll use this information in a moment

-Prepare your justification for where you believe you should be within the range

-Practice your presentation – you want to come across as confident AND willing to negotiate

How Does This Actually Go Down?

There are a lot of scenarios that can occur during the salary negotiation phase. Increasingly, companies are posting the salary range in the job description – in fact, some states require this – so you know upfront.

Other companies will ask about your salary requirements in the application or in the initial screening phone call. They may give you a range and ask you if that works for you, or they may ask you to throw out the first number.

Here’s a possible sentence, using the lowest base salary and highest total compensation numbers: “In the past 5 years, I’ve made between _____ and _____. I’m looking to be in the range of _____.”

Where Do Benefits Come into Play?

Some considerations:

-Companies over a certain size are required to offer health insurance – you should find out what your out-of-pocket expenses will be.

-When they talk about other kinds of benefits – consider: Is this something important to me that I will actually use? (Avoid the shiny object syndrome)

-PTO is a benefit – find out how much, when you can start using it, and any constraints. HR is best to ask about PTO.

-It is usually not advisable to negotiate increased pay AND more PTO or other, non-monetary, benefits. It’s possible, but tread carefully. 

Leverage AI

In addition to asking AI for typical salary ranges, also ask:

-Which sites or reports to check for verification or additional information, such as salary databases, professional associations, or government data

-Ask AI to translate your findings into a talking point: “Turn these salary ranges into a 2-3 sentence explanation I can use with a hiring manager”

-For an even more detailed presentation, put the job description and your resume into AI, along with the salary ranges

Be sure to:

-Always cross‑check numbers against at least one independent source

-Treat AI’s range as ballpark, not gospel

-Make sure the role, level, and geography in your prompt are very precise

Final Words of Advice

-Tell the story that explains, precisely, why your compensation request is justified.

-Make sure they know they can get you with the right offer – they will be much more willing to go to bat for you if they believe they will get you. And DO NOT negotiate just for the practice.

-Understand that they may have constraints, such as salary caps, that no amount of negotiation can change – in this situation, what else is important to you that you can negotiate for?

-Negotiate all the issues you’re concerned about simultaneously, not one at a time.

-If there are other companies in your pipeline that you believe might be making an offer soon, reach out to them to let them know you have an offer in hand. This will either speed them up – or they will wish you well.

-Finally – no negotiation is successful if it is for the wrong job. Make sure you get the job right, first and foremost.

The Document & Coaching Package is designed for current job seekers who want world-class marketing documents, a targeted, proactive job search strategy that gets results, and skill-building around how to network, interview, and negotiate compensation. To schedule a consult: https://calendly.com/lesaedwards/zoom-meetings2