How to Negotiate Your Pay

Salary negotiations start before you even get a job interview. After all, you should target your job search with — at least — a vague idea of what salary you want or need. How do you determine what salary would be fair for someone with your experience and skills? How do you know if the roles you want will pay that amount? What about other benefits and perks? When should you bring up compensation?

Let's get into it.

How to Determine Your Salary Range

Use online resources to check how much a person in the role, with similar experience, is being paid. Salary information can be found on sites like Glassdoor. Also consider reaching out to LinkedIn members with an equivalent background. If you have a specific job you're applying for, you can ask them what salary range you should expect.?

Human resources director Daniel Space says different layers of employment will influence your compensation:

• Your level: How experienced are you?
• Your location: Metro areas will pay more
• Job family: Do you work on a revenue-generating product?
• Company type: A large B2B corporation or smaller company?
• Job-family-to-industry-alignment: How much does that company value that role?

Knowing the answers to these questions will provide a salary range to start from.

When to Start Talking About Compensation

Salary transparency laws are helping workers have an earlier and better understanding of what a job's compensation may be. However, several companies provide broad ranges, somewhat circumventing the laws' intentions.

So, it's OK to ask a recruiter for a salary range if one is not listed.

Don't be afraid to provide a recruiter a range when asked. Numbers will evolve during the life of the hiring process. And an early discussion of a salary range ensures there's not a significant mismatch which would derail the possible hiring decision.

If you cold applied to a company, it can be advantageous to wait before presenting a compensation number. Many people use the strategy of letting the employer provide the number first. They also wait to have this conversation with a hiring manager instead of a recruiter.

Often, the main salary discussion comes after an employer extends an offer.?

What to Negotiate

Salary is not the only component to focus on.?

Career coach Samorn Selim stresses that job seekers should understand the value of a "robust benefits package." She writes in Harvard Business Review that one of the keys is to know the benefits types. Growth benefits, like professional training, and work-life value benefits, like wellness programs, are part of the broader package. Can your employer provide a home office stipend? Help cover dry cleaning costs? Offer a 401(k) match? Define your needs and values, Selim says. That will tell you which benefits to haggle over and which to let go.

How to Negotiate

Advice on this topic is wide-ranging. But a few universal tactics exist.

Career coach Melanie Denny recommends being polite, passionate and specific in a counteroffer. Here's what she says to include:

• Gratitude: “Thank you so much for this opportunity …”
• Excitement: “I’m excited for this new opportunity …”
• Specificity: “I’m looking for one more week of PTO and a salary range of $75-$80,000. I hope we can come to an agreement.” Be as specific as possible here.
• Transition: “I appreciate your offer, but I came to this decision based on market research …” Present your findings here (only as the data relates to the job, not personal costs and other external factors).

When it comes to salary negotiations, remember you are moving the floor each time. So, what you earn now is what you elevate off of next. Across a decade, or more, what you negotiate in the short-term will have a large impact on your overall earnings.

(This article has been adapted by Todd Dybas from existing reporting appearing on Get Hired by LinkedIn News and Get Hired by Andrew Seaman .)