How, when, and why to negotiate job offers

dargacode:

DAY 1221

Managing my career has not been something that came naturally to me or that I learned growing up. In particular, negotiating is something that always heard that people should do, but I had this midwestern idea that it was something only for assholes, or that it could somehow backfire.

Here are a list of articles which sum up all the things I know about negotiating, and which taught me some of them too:

• Negotiating isn’t something that hurts your chances to get a job.
• In fact companies expect it, and actually respect you more for doing it.
• By default, most candidates will behave in ways that give away all their negotiating power.
• We workers have much more power in a negotiation than we first assume.
• The entire conventional interview/offer/negotiation process is set up by employers to benefit themselves and get you to accept lower compensation.
• So what may feel to you like “being entitled” or “taking advantage” is actually the bare minimum to even have a chance at an equal footing.
• Setting the stage for a successful negotiation begins at the first moment you speak to a recruiter, long before receiving a job offer.
• But this hard work has a higher relative return on investment than possibly any other action in your career.
• A job seeker can achieve a strong negotiating position regardless of experience level.
• The strongest possible negotiating position is having multiple offers, and being genuinely excited about all of them.
• There are many other negotiable elements of a job offer besides salary, or even overall compensation.

(Ordered from quick lists to more in-depth reads)

Penelope Trunk – 4 tips for salary negotiation

WorkMonger – 6 steps for negotiating your next job offer

Harvard – BATNA essentials

Interviewing.io – What to say when recruiters ask you for a number

Haseeb Qureshi – 10 rules for negotiating, part 1

Haseeb Qureshi – 10 rules for negotiating – part 2

Patrick McKinzie – Make more money, be more valued

Even though these aren’t limited to webdev per se, I’ve added a new section for negotiation resources in my master list:

Web Development Study Resources