The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Advice on Negotiating Your Salary

Negotiating your salary. Everyone tells you to do it, but research shows that only 39% of people do. There are a million articles out there that tell you how to approach this topic, but very few of them share real life experiences. Having just recently completed one of my first real salary negotiations, I would like to share with you what happened, what I did, and what I learned during the process. 

Getting the Offer

I’m a graphic designer who has spent the last six years working as part of in-house marketing team within the Portland tech industry. This past September, I decided it was time to make a job change and started actively looking for my next opportunity, preferably outside of marketing.  

During this search, a role that I applied for 18 months ago reappeared. The role was still in a marketing department, but the company felt more technology focused than my previous position, and could potentially serve as a stepping stone for a career pivot later on. I decided to reach out directly to the hiring manager on Linkedin and apply for the job. I felt confident in my ability to bring value to the role and was ready to take the next steps and interview to discover if it was a good fit.

We skipped the phone interview and went straight to the two hour in-person. The whole interview process went smoothly and I felt pretty confident that I would receive an offer. The hiring manager called me the following week to give me an update. They wanted to extend an offer and were interested in discussing salary expectations for the role.

The Negotiation Begins

Here was the first opportunity for me to set the bar. I’ve read numerous advice columns, watched YouTube videos on salary negotiations, you name it, and almost ALL of them say that the first person to name a number loses. I still don’t know if I agree with that (after all, what if you want way more than what they are willing to pay? Better to find out now then later), so I gave them a range that I would be comfortable with instead. 

I did make a mistake that I encourage others not to follow: I put my previous salary at the top of the range and the bottom of what I was willing to accept as the bottom of the range. If I could go back in time and change my answer I would have just responded with a single number and I would have set it above what I wanted. Sharing a single number would have shown that I had researched the role and what the market value was. It would also have set me up better for the next phase of the negotiation and what happened next. But I was afraid that I would get laughed at for thinking I was worth that much. So I chickened out and gave a range instead. The hiring manager mentioned that the person I would be replacing was making less, but they admitted that they thought I had more experience and was worth more, so it shouldn’t be any trouble. They were going to try and get the number as high as they could for me and get back to me ASAP. 

Their Offer 

The very next day they called me with their offer. It was for $4K LESS than the bottom of the range I had given. The hiring manager apologized; their hands were tied and they had to fill the role at the same comp range as the previous person. I asked if they could send over the full benefits package so that I could assess the total comp, and that I needed a few days to look everything over. 

Pro-tip: Telling the hiring manager that you need to discuss things with your family (whether you have a family to discuss with or not!) is a great way to put the conversation on pause and give you the time you need to make a decision. It’s always worth considering an offer, even if it came in lower than what you were expecting. Taking a few days to think things over can keep you from making a hasty decision and allow you to collect more information if you decide to make a counter offer.

Planning the Counter Offer

After I got off the phone, I went into research mode. I looked through the company’s entire benefits package and assessed the total compensation that I was looking at. I compared it to the previous two roles that I had held this year. The place I had just left had paid 7k more in base salary, but their benefits were subpar. The role previous to that had only paid 2k more in base salary but the benefits at that company (including bonus pay) brought the total compensation package to a similar total comp as my last role. I did some research on different websites to see what my estimated market rate should be based on my skills. I got wildly different numbers across several different sites, so I averaged them out to figure out what I should be looking at for a base. No matter which way I sliced it, this offer was still coming up short.   

At this point I felt stuck. Do I try to negotiate? The hiring manager claimed their hands were tied, but they also told me that they agreed that I was worth more. It didn’t sit right with me that the company would offer me a job but not offer me what I’m worth. I reached out to every resource I could think of to get advice on how to progress forward: the PDXWIT Slack #askafriend, my closest friends, my parents (both of wildly different philosophies when it comes to approaching jobs), and even some former colleagues. I watched more youtube videos and read more articles. 

I took all of this information and figured out my plan of attack: I was going to ask for more money and I was going back up my argument with the value I bring and why I was worth more. I took a look at the job posting again and referred to my notes from the interview meetings and I drafted my email response:

“Thank you again for extending the offer to join the team at Company. I’m excited about this opportunity and I want to make this work.

That being said, I’ve had a chance to look over the offer in full and the base salary is still giving me pause. I understand that you have a set budget that is based on the salary of the employee who previously held this role. My skill set and experience are greater than that former employee, as you have yourself stated, so I'm sure you understand why I'm asking to be paid at a rate commensurate with my skill and experience level.

I’ve worked in the SaaS, B2B, tech industry for several years and have worked directly as a lead or solo designer for most of them. My experience with photography, motion graphics, and video and my knowledge of HTML/CSS in particular I know would also be of great value to Company.

I am still very excited about the offer, but I deserve to be paid what I am worth. Based on the research I’ve done for similar roles in the industry, I know I am worth at least $XXk. Is there any possibility of moving my starting wage closer to this number? I am also open to bridging the pay gap through alternative means like a signing bonus, or maybe a 6-month trial at the current offer rate with the ability to increase to my desired salary at that time if I meet expectations.

I look forward to speaking with you again soon.”

I made it clear in my letter that I still wanted to work there, but that I needed more. And then I set out to prove why I was worth more and what that number was (which was about 4% higher than what they had offered). I even gave some alternative options that I would feel comfortable with if they were unwilling to move the base salary number. 

Negotiation Round Two 

The hiring manager called me up and we had a discussion. They expressed that they were frustrated with how this was going on my behalf, and that they didn’t understand why the company was unwilling to budge. They had just spoken with the CMO and felt that if I could speak with the CMO directly, and meet with them, that things might get moving. They asked if I could come in that day. I told them I would be there within an hour and I made my way to the office to state my case. On my way there, I made sure to write out a bulleted list of my accomplishments, remind myself of what I had written in my resume and cover letter and be clear about my worth. 

The CMO and I sat in their office and we got down to business. They thanked me for my professional email counter offer. They asked if I had looked at the full benefits package, and I mentioned that I had and that it still wasn’t enough. The CMO then asked why I was worth more and I listed off the skills that I was bringing to the table that I knew would be of greater value. I highlighted specific examples of work/projects I could do for the company that would expand their capabilities. I was very candid and said that it didn’t feel right to have a company tell you that you are worth more but won’t pay you more, and that it wouldn’t do either of us any favors if I accepted this offer as-is. The CMO had the hiring manager come back in and argue their case for having me join the team as well and why they thought I was worth more money. Then they told me that they would try one more time and get back to me by the end of the day. 

I went home and waited for the news, hoping that they would come through. I had made my case, and I had made it well and I felt confident that I was worth what I was asking for. By the end of the day, I had my answer: they weren’t going to budge. They told me that the offer they made was already at the top of the salary band allocated for this position and that there was no room for negotiation. They couldn’t even offer to let me renegotiate six months in. This was it: take it or leave it. 

Time To Decide

I spent the weekend taking a step back and re-evaluating the big picture. What would it mean if I took this role? It wasn’t going to help me continue down the path of what I am trying to pursue. If anything, it was going to set me back — both in salary and in career growth aspirations. Also, their refusal to budge even a little felt foreboding. What would this mean for how they would manage my career with them? Would I ever get to where I wanted to be if I chose to accept their offer? Could I live with myself if I accepted this position? Could I live with myself if I didn’t? I had a lot of discussions with a lot of people in my life to help think it through and get myself grounded. 

In the end, I knew I needed to walk away from the offer. There were things that I learned during this negotiation that made it clear to me that it wasn’t going to be a good fit for me after all. The company is in the midst of an acquisition with a larger entity and my negotiation with the CMO surfaced some phrases that gave me pause. I don’t remember the exact context but I heard things like “Hiring freezes”, “Parent Company doesn’t like to lay off employees if they can help it,” “We don’t know what the future for Company looks like next year,” etc. I was also told that what they were offering me was the top of the salary band for the position and that was the reason they couldn’t go higher. That to me was a sign that there would be no opportunity to grow in salary or in role anytime soon. 

I called up the hiring manager the following Monday and let them know where I stood and why I had to walk away. I thanked them for their time and the opportunity and explained why I couldn’t accept the offer. I also let them know that I would love to work for them someday so I hoped they would keep me in mind and that I was available for freelance as well, so we discussed that at length as well. I was able to decline the offer without burning a bridge and leaving the door open to future opportunities with the hiring manager. Portland is a small town, and the tech industry often times feels even smaller. You never know when a connection may open the door to a new opportunity to you, or a burned one slams the door in your face. 

Lessons Learned 

So obviously this first salary negotiation didn’t necessarily end the way I wanted it to, but I have no regrets about having negotiated nonetheless, because I learned a lot during the process. There was a lot of information about the company and my career growth (or lack thereof) that I found out during the negotiation that wasn’t surfaced during the initial interview process. If I hadn’t pushed the negotiation further, I may have accepted the role and would have discovered these issues after already working there. At the end of the day, I still wanted to pursue a career outside of marketing, and this opportunity was not going to be a step in the right direction for me. 

Luckily, my perseverance paid off, and within a few weeks of this negotiation let-down, the perfect opportunity came knocking at my door. I found a role with a company whose mission, vision and values align with mine. It was also exactly the right stepping stone I was looking for: a position outside of Marketing. I’m so grateful that I took the chance to negotiate at that other company, and that I trusted my gut when it was telling me not to take the role, otherwise I would never have found the job I have now. 

I hope this post helps others out there to tackle their first (or any!) salary negotiation. Trust your gut, do the research, be confident about what you are worth, and be willing to walk away if the job isn’t going to meet your needs.

Veronica Ewing is a visual designer who has worked in the Portland tech industry for the past six years. Connect with Veronica on LinkedIn or check out her portfolio.