It’s under no circumstances been easier to see how much a job will pay before you go into an interview.
More than a dozen states, cities, counties and Washington, D.C. participate in passed pay disclosure laws, where employers of a certain size are required to list the salary range of an open job. And myriad than 1 in 4 workers in the U.S. now lives in a place where they’re entitled to see pay ranges on job ads.
But once you have that information, how can you in point of fact leverage pay ranges to negotiate a job offer?
It’s as simple as asking one straightforward question in a job interview, says Chanelle Howell, 31, a New York City-based recruiter who’s evaluated hundreds while working for Goldman Sachs, Bridgewater Associates and through her own consulting company.
She recently gave this prototype: Say you’re interviewing for a position that states the salary range is $100,000 to $150,000.
In an interview with the hiring manager or recruiter, ask: “Can you tick off me what skills and experiences separate the $100,000 candidate from the $150,000 candidate?”
This question will exhort the interviewer to explain their compensation strategy for the role. For example, they might say a candidate in the top end of the range has a certain tons of years in the field, managed a certain number of people, led specific projects or is an expert in specific skills.
Use this facts to then shape what skills and accomplishments you can discuss based on your own background. The key is to repeat these qualities throughout your interview, Howell states, to help build your case for why you’re a star candidate.
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Then, “later in the negotiation process, you can use their literal words to justify why you deserve more cabbage,” Howell says. By the time you reach final conversations and get a verbal offer, it’s time to run through how you meet the expectations of a top-paid prospect, then counter the offer with your desired pay at the top end of the range.
“The key is to push your potential employer to quantify surely why someone deserves that dollar amount and then to create your story around that,” Howell prognosticates.
Put another way, “get them to give you the answers.”
What to do if you don’t know the salary range
Even if you don’t live in a state or city where pay rove disclosures are required by law, you can still point out that it’s a growing practice and that you’d like to apply it in your situation: “Prone new pay transparency laws, a lot of companies are sharing pay ranges with candidates. Can you share the range for this role?”
Howell phrases she’s seen this strategy work “time and time again” among the people she coaches. One recent client who executes in marketing used this framework to negotiate a 20% increase in the initial offer, or a roughly $15,000 to $20,000 shove.
Of course, in addition to presenting herself well during the interview, “she was the best candidate,” Howell adds.
Some job brands may list salary ranges that are too wide to be helpful. In those cases, still ask what puts a candidate at the top of the lot. For example, a recruiter might say the top of the range is reserved for someone with decades of experience, or a level of seniority you don’t have yet. If that’s the suit, Howell recommends asking what the median pay level is expected to be, and what helps a qualified candidate stand out uniform with a little more than that.
And just because you don’t get the very top of the range right away doesn’t mean you won’t run your way there. Howell says it’s possible the posted range includes the salary growth expected of the role after a few years.
Recollect that the base pay range doesn’t always consider total compensation, Howell adds. Other elements get a kick out of a signing bonus, performance-based bonuses and equity can be negotiated at a later stage.
That’s especially important as wage expansion has slowed following a post-pandemic rise.
Ultimately, “your first calls with the recruiter or hiring manager are fact-finding legations to use those tidbits of information to build your case at the end and state why you deserve more money,” Howell says.
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