Advice on Salary Negotiation

In My Humble Opinion
1

I just graduated on Monday with an MSW. I’m in the process of applying for my first real job, and after a month and a half of elimination rounds, I’m one of the few that’s left for consideration. The decision should be made by the end of month.

This job is pretty much everything I have ever wanted to do with my career and everything I have been preparing for. It combines my passion for immigrant health and labor rights with legislative advocacy and programming. It’s not a lock (it never is), but I think my chances of being offered the job are pretty high. I had an interview yesterday that went very well, both in terms of my ability to convey my strengths and the rapport with my prospective employers. I have hope.

At the interview yesterday, one of the board members informed me that salary and benefits were not yet determined, and that as a final step of the decisions process, they may invite the two or three contenders back to discuss compensation.

I am aware that social workers really don’t earn that much money, and I’m also aware that women are less likely to negotiate salary. Even though I hate negotiating about anything, I decided I was going to ask for what I’m actually worth. My plan for any job was to request the median income of graduates from my program, which is pretty high for an entry-level MSW, but it was a damn good MSW program and I don’t see why I should make less than my peers.

The job itself entails an enormous amount of responsibility - not just running but expanding a coalition of multiple organizations - so I don’t think what I want is unreasonable. It requires monthly out-of-state travel, weekend hours and frequent trips to D.C. It’s exactly the kind of job that can easily become your entire life, and I am completely willing to let it be so.

Problem is, I’m not sure they can afford to pay me that much. The organization to which I have applied is a tiny non-profit on a shoestring budget, and in truth I would be happy with far less than the average salary of my fellow graduates. The bare minimum I would need to maintain our current standard of living is about $15k less than what I want to ask, but I know that what I make now will set the tone for the rest of my life.

My greatest fear is that by asking for what I feel I’m actually worth, someone else will get the job I want. Is there a professional way to say ‘‘I want $X, but actually you could pay me in Girl Scout Cookies and I would still show up every day with a smile on my face’’? Would it basically invalidate my negotiating power? Or should I argue for my desired salary on the basis of my exceptional qualifications? (And candidly, I do, in all honesty, believe I am exceptionally qualified.)

I’m confused and want this job.

Thanks,

Christy

2

If they aspire to do this:

. . . then they must necessarily aspire to pay someone a pretty good salary, perhaps even above the median for Ivy League MSW graduates. After all, you weren’t the middle of your class either. And if they don’t aspire to pay the new hire that, then they don’t actually mean it when they say they aspire to do all those exciting things they’ve said and that have attracted you to the position.

You seem to think that this gig is your only opportunity. Or at least your only opportunity to do interesting work. The problem with this is that you clearly have convinced yourself that you can’t walk away or you’ll lose out on that opportunity.

Frankly, I think a person with your drive and enthusiasm will find a way to grow virtually any job into the kind of thing you’re looking for. Your biggest job worry should be getting mixed up in an organization with no room or inclination to let you advance. (And by the way, not being able to afford to pay there employees market salaries is a pretty good sign that they don’t have a lot of growth potential.)

So don’t tell them: I think $65K is a fair salary for this position, in light of its responsibilities and compared to what other organizations are paying for jobs of this type. But, I’ll do it for $40K!

Say: I think $65K is a fair salary for this position, in light of its responsibilities and compared to what other organizations are paying for jobs of this type.

And if they say they cannot do anything near that, wish them well and bring your talents to an organization that will see them for what they’re worth (which also means they’ll enable you to put them to their most effective use, which seems to be your chief consideration in all this).

3

In general I agree with this. However if you really think you’ll love this job and there isn’t anything comparable to what you want now try this option:

Say: I think $65K is a fair salary for this position, in light of its responsibilities and compared to what other organizations are paying for jobs of this type.

Then add: I would be interested in hearing what range you were considering and why.

That leaves the door open for you to negotiate without immediately jumping to a lower salary.

Also keep in mind that negotiating a salary and accepting a job doesn’t tie you down for life. If this is something you want to do and are willing to do for less than the going rate remember why you agreed to take less money when you’re looking for your next job.

4

I’ve got nothing to add for the basic strategies posted above. They sound like good plans to me.

During the actual negotiations, one of the tricks of negotiations, after you’ve stated your position is to simply sit there in silence and let things stew. This is a tactic that works for a number of reasons, perhaps the most effective one being that it allows you to bring to your own mind all the reasons why you’re not sure this is the best offer, why you want the job and all your other fears and self-doubts. In effect it’s an opportunity for you to negotiate with yourself for them.

Many people, when presented with this scenario, will let the silence drag a minute or two, then add, in a tone of disguised desperation, “But I am amenable to negotiation for a lower salary.” Or some other phrase that indicates that they’ve already decided they won’t get their initial request.

Let the silence sit.

I’m not about to suggest that you shouldn’t let yourself be talked down on your requested salary - if that’s what they suggest. Don’t undermine your own position by letting their silence have you doing their work for them.

Once you give your salary request, wait for them to make the next substantive move, and react only to that. Your doubts have no part in a salary negotiation. You, and they, both have agreed you’re a suitable candidate for the position. Don’t think of it as suggesting what they should pay YOU. Consider it as: Given the demands of this position, what would I consider a fair salary for one of my classmates to be?

5

I really like that - covers all the bases but doesn’t have you lowballing yourself. It’s not up to you to decide what they can afford - if they need YOU, they need to PAY you. That’s their decision to make. I wouldn’t be afraid of screening myself out by asking for too much; I think they’d come back with a number rather than just tell you you’re too expensive and you’re off the list.

6

It’s hard for me to explain how I feel about this job without confirming your suspicion. I can accept the possibility that I might not get it, but I want it. I want it badly and don’t want to stand in my own way. One of the main reasons I’m less concerned about salary is because I feel the professional growth it will offer from day one will lead to significant long-term gains financially. The job starts where I thought I might be in five years.

I will admit my success so far has made me re-evaluate the kinds of jobs I’m qualified to apply for. So maybe there are other jobs with the same professional growth opportunity - but not many in farmworker advocacy, I’m sorry to say.

More than that, though, this is the stuff that keeps me awake at night. I have a lot of strong feelings about many different kinds of injustices, but for whatever reason, immigrant labor exploitation is the issue that drives me happily out of my comfort zone, that enriches my life, challenges me, and makes me feel I’m doing the best possible good I can do. It has been my demonstrated passion for at least 10 years and I’m only 28.

LOL @ $65k. The average entry-level MSW makes $30k. I want to ask for $42k, which is the median for my program. I was trained for organizational leadership, and this is really not an entry level job, so it seems fair for me to ask for that.

I like this. OtakuLoki, what you’re suggesting will be incredibly difficult for me, but I will seriously consider it, and prepare myself, because you make a good point. If, out of 60 applicants, they want me, well there’s no harm in seeing how badly they want me. It might be one of the most uncomfortable silences of my life, though.

7

Another thing I thought of; don’t say yes or no in the interview. Give yourself overnight to think about it - “That’s a really interesting offer; can I give you my answer tomorrow morning?” Then you get to come home and discuss it with your dude and roll it over and over and sleep on it and see how it fits. It also gives you another idea about the company dynamic; companies that plan to take advantage of you and treat you like a wage slave won’t allow this - they want all the control all the time. You could still work for them, but it’s good to know that going in.

8

Hopefully one of the most remunerative ones, too. :slight_smile: Best wishes for you, as always.
BTW, you’ve said you won a fairly impressive reward for your program. I am going to make the assumption this puts you well above the middle of the pack for your program.

If that’s the case, I wouldn’t ask for $42K, because it’s the median for your program. Ask for something closer to the upper bar of that range. If that’s $50K ask for that. If it’s $45K ask for that. I don’t believe you will be pricing yourself outside of the range of your experience and qualifications if you’re basing it on the range that you’re aware people are getting from your program. Especially not since I believe you to have been shown to have been in the upper ranks of that same program.

Obviously you know more about the situation than I do, and your judgment has to be the final arbiter. But asking for the median salary when I believe you’ve got the means to prove you’re well above that range in your performance in your program seems to me to be at least the risk of selling yourself short.

9

Please let us know if you get the job at the salary you want!

10

One suggestion: think in terms of the package as a whole. Health insurance, holidays, training - all things that will cost you more than if your employer pays for them.

11

This is an excellent point. If they can’t afford to pay you what you are worth ask if they can include an extra week of holidays or guaranteed job training each year.

After your uncomfortable silence (roleplay this btw, practice looking casual and interested but not speaking) when they make an offer ask if there is any flexibility in the benefits package. Don’t make a counter offer yet. Treat it as an information gathering opportunity and go away and come up with a counter offer plan.