Just wanted to hear your thoughts when it comes to negotiating a better salary for a new job.
When should you attempt to negotiate?
What are some of the things you should and shouln’t do?
Are there any common rules to follow when it comes to these things?
Would be great to hear from more senior professionals who have been on both sides.
Note: I am referring to positions in North America, primarily within Capital Markets (IB, ER, PE) at the Associate level or higher for someone who is 27-33 years old.
Feel free to share any other tips based on your past experiences.
My own experience: For one of my previous jobs, I negotiated a ~30% increase after first walking away from the initial offer. I felt a very negative vibe from the employer at the time. Related or not, I got laid off a year later.
Thanks for the links, but I am looking to start a new thread which is very specific.
To add to my previous post, I personally think that one needs to be careful when it comes to trying to negotiate in order to not damage the relationship with the employer.
What I am trying to figure out is this: When does it make sense to negotiate and when should you refrain from negotiating instead?
Would be great if we could come up with some general rules together based on past experiences.
If you are looking for a long term relationship with the employer, not just use them as a step stone, I would be carefule about negociating.
I would do my research 1st to develope an idea of a reasonable range based on your background and skill sets. Then I would make a counter offfer which shouldn’t be too far away from their offer. They probably will meet you in the middle. If they can’t, then I won’t pursue further.
Negociation is between both sides so I would make sure it’s in a comfortable zone for both.
Also employers should expect you to negociate so don’t be afraid to do it.
Say WHY you might deserve a higher salary. -Talked to other people in the industry and they make more with same experience, far more valuable at my firm than I was when I started and making only slightly more, etc…
When I ‘negotiated’ at my current job (equity research, buy side), if I hadn’t had a family I’d have just said, “Pay me what you like”. The knowledge I’d learn and experience I’d gain could undoubtedly land me much more money years down the line. And if they didn’t quickly up the pay I’d walk a year or two down the road.
With a family, I set more of a firm minimum, which in my eyes was still pretty low for a CFA charterholder with experience in the industry. They gave me a base of 15% higher than my minimum and much nicer bonus on top.
Depends why you want the job - if it’s exactly what you want to do, don’t fret over it, just try to GET it. Money will come.
Also it depends on if you are trying to break into a different field, e.g. BO to MO/FO, or move one level up from your current role. If you don’t have a lot related experience to the positon you are interviewed for, you probably don’t have a lot bargin power.
However if you already have some experience in the same role that’s totally different. You probably can get decent pay raise.
My brother has a family and sets minimums like this upfront in interviews. He told me this one story about setting a minimum in the beginning of the interview. The hiring manager was shocked (it was going to be his future manager). He said “I don’t make that much” and “my boss doesn’t even make that much.” My brother stood up shook his hand, said thank you and left. lol