Welcome to the Just Get Hired Newsletter!

We’re now 2 weeks into 2024. If you’re looking for a job this year, I hope you’re starting to see some signs of life — whether that be through new connections, interviews, or even offers!

I recently shared a story on Linkedin about negotiating job offers that blew up.

The message was simple: always ask for what you deserve before accepting an offer. Which is great, but that’s not very helpful is it? HOW you do that is much more important.

So in today’s issue we talk about negotiating job offers. There’s obviously a million books out there about negotiating (if you are interested in going VERY in depth, I recommend Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss), but the reality for most people is they’re not trying negotiate million dollar business deals or free a hostage from terrorists. Most people just want a little extra out of a job offer.

That’s what I’m focusing on today. I’ve used the below strategies to negotiate over $200k in increased compensation for myself and others in the last 5 years. I promise it will work for you too.

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*Side note — we’re going to be dropping some exciting need features in the Ramped platform this week. I’ll share more about them in next week’s newsletter.

Let’s get into it.

Negotiating Your Offer

Before getting into tactics, let’s get a few facts out of the way first:

• You are GUARANTEED to get less if you never negotiate. There are many different stats, but the data suggests you will miss out on $100s of thousands of dollars over your career if you never negotiate

• Any company worth working at would NEVER rescind an offer due to you negotiating (in good faith)

  • *Small caveat here — highly commoditized jobs may not be open to negotiation (like say cashier at McDonald’s). In those cases, a company probably has a set rate and isn’t going to hire someone unless they fit that.

• If you have gotten through the interview process and are in the offer stage, you ARE valuable and wanted by the company (I say this because many people don’t negotiate because they think they aren’t worth more or are scared of rejection)

I say these things because typically people avoid negotiating based on one of a few reasons:

1. They’re worried if they negotiate they’ll lose the opportunity

2. The fear of a tough conversation / rejection outweighs the potential gain in their mind

3. They don’t believe they’re worth more and should just be grateful for the offer

Nine times out of ten, those things are not true.

Now that that is clear, here’s how ANYONE can negotiate (yes even you, who has never done it) without fear:

1) Determine your market value and offer goals

You need to understand your market value to know what to look for and ask for.

In addition, you need to decide your risk tolerance — if you need a job ASAP to pay the bills, you may have to be less aggressive with your search / negotiation vs. if you have a year of savings you might be willing to walk away from opportunities that don’t fit your goals.

To figure out your market value, I recommend:

• Talk to colleagues, friends, your network about their comp in similar roles (do this consistently over time so you always have a good benchmark)

• Look at 20-30 job descriptions for ideal jobs and see what salary ranges are listed

• There are good compensation benchmark sites you can use if all else fails like levels.fyi

Pick a compensation range (all-in, including equity / bonus / etc.) that you’re comfortable with. For example’s sake, let’s say you’re a Product Manager looking for $80k - $120k.

2) Align your search with your range up front

It’s a waste of your time to apply to positions outside of your range.

In this case, you wouldn’t apply to any roles with a salary range listed below $80k. I’d even recommend avoiding any roles that barely scrape by (e.g. $60k - $85k in the JD) unless you absolutely have to.

Don’t assume you can negotiate listed salaries on JDs up into your range.

Obviously many JDs don’t list a compensation range, so you might be going in blind. You can use levels.fyi or glassdoor to see if there are any compensation benchmarks beforehand, but in your first interview or interaction with a recruiter, you should be asking what the expected compensation range is.

If below your expectations, let the company know so they can decide if they want to proceed.

I typically recommend sharing a higher version of your range at the onset so you’re anchoring them higher.

For example, if they said “we’re looking to hire someone in the $70k - $90k range for this role”, you could say “ok, to be candid I am looking for something in the $90k - $120k range so if you aren’t open to negotiating near the top of your stated range, it may not make sense to proceed”.

Now, if they decide to move forward, they are implicitly agreeing to future negotiation within your range.

3) Make yourself invaluable

You need to make yourself THE candidate they can’t afford to lose in their process. The more differentiated and needed you are, the more likely they are going to be to negotiate within your range.

You do this by:

• Demonstrating the value you will add

• Researching the company

• Aligning with their values

• Going above and beyond

Last week’s newsletter (you can find it here) went into detail on how to excel during the interview phase.

You want the hiring manager to tell the recruiting team that they NEED you.

Remember that for MOST roles within companies, the value of a strong hire far outweighs small variation in the cost of that hire, so if you are the best person for the job, their interest in negotiating will be much higher.

4) Let them make the first offer

Typically, companies will extend an offer to you at the end of an interview process (if they intend to do so).

Assuming there has been transparency, it should be within your range expectations.

However, sometimes (often), they will try to come in on the lowest end of your range…because that’s just what companies do 🙂 

For example, they might say “we’re excited to offer you $80k + $10k bonus" for this role”.

Regardless of the offer (good or bad), don’t accept right away. Share your excitement and get back to them shortly.

The one exception would be if they are WAY off (e.g. they offer $60k). In that situation, I would immediately say “I’m not sure where the disconnect was but this is significantly off from where I said I was expecting when we began this process and am confused why we went through all of this if this was the offer”.

5) Create your wishlist

Now that you have an offer in hand, create a list of things you want to prioritize negotiating.

Remember, even if the offer is within your range, like with this $80k + $10k (or even above your range), that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t negotiate!

If they came in low on salary, maybe an $X raise would be your highest priority.

If they came in where you wanted on salary, maybe you ask for more PTO.

Make sure it’s realistic and within ranges discussed previously. “Springing” a huge ask at the end is bad faith.

In this case, the total comp is $90k, but you’re still on the low end of the range.

6) Ask for your top priority with data

Go back to the company with a specific ask about what you want.

This is the point where you can reference other offers, market comps, etc. For example:

“At my last company I was making $90k so would like to have at least that as the base”

“Most other companies I’ve been interviewing with are around $100k but I like you so much I’d be happy to take less, but I can’t do lower than $90k base”.

Something to remember: they’re not going to fact check you (assuming you have reasonable comps). If you reference a certain rate you’re comparing their offer to, they either can adjust their offer or not.

This step is probably where the most “art” comes in with negotiation. I have three preferred tactics to utilize here:

1. Reinforce interest in their company

2. Offer 2 options (one that favors the company some)

3. Add an incentive

Let’s say in this case you want to get your offer from $90k ($80k base + $10k bonus) to $105k total compensation.

I’d say something like this:

“I appreciate the offer and am very interested in working at your company. It’s by far the most aligned with what I’m looking for next in my career and from our brief conversations I know we’d make a great team (reinforce interest). That being said, the offer is definitely lower than I was hoping for. In my prior role I was making $90k base with bonus and equity incentives, and many similar companies are at or above $100k (establish market value). I have two options that I’d be incredibly happy with listed below (offer options). If you can make one of them work, I’d be happy to sign today (add incentive).

Option 1: $95k base + $10k bonus

Option 2: $85k base + $10k signing bonus + $10k bonus”

If possible, I recommend trying to communicate these asks in person / over the phone / zoom rather than via email so you can evaluate their reaction in real time.

7) If they reject, get creative

The company may reject your counter. If so, you have a few options:

• Pivot to a lower prio ask (e.g. PTO)

• Ask for the difference to be delivered in a different way (e.g. year 1 bonus)

• Ask for a performance incentive

For the last one, you could say something like “could you add a $10k salary increase at my first review assuming I am meeting expectations”.

It’s a very low-risk ask for a company to commit to performance incentives. After all, it aligns their interests with yours.

8) Get everything in writing

This is maybe the most important part of negotiating.

Regardless of what you get, make sure it is in writing.

Trust me: companies can put ANYTHING they want into an offer letter.

So any company that is hesitant to add a commitment in writing should be avoided.

Here’s to getting what you deserve in 2024.

One of my personal goals in 2024 is to grow this newsletter. If you get value out of my content, you can help by sharing the link below and getting credit for referrals :)

I appreciate you in advance!

-Ben