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What to say when negotiating a product design salary
Here are some things I’ve said to gain an extra $40,000 while negotiating with a public company.
When a company extends an offer, they expect a negotiation. If you do this well, you can receive a lot more money than the original offer. Here are some things to say to make the most of this process.
I’ve been asked by almost every company at the beginning of discussions what my “salary expectations” are.
And I’ve caved in a few times. But now I know better. You are under no obligation to answer that question. When a recruiter asks you, they’ll try to frame it so “if there’s a big discrepancy, we won’t waste your time.” Simply state
“there’s probably not a big discrepancy, can you share the range?”
They know the range (obviously if they are going to spot a discrepancy they are starting at the range…) and might play coy and say they’ll send it over later. As more American states require this info to be posted on the listing, it becomes less of an issue for base salary at least.
But as we’ve learned, a base salary is not all you get with a tech salary. Employers are not required to post ranges for restricted stock units (RSUs) and signing bonuses, which is a popular offer mix.
I’ve negotiated higher salaries, RSUs, and signing bonuses by forcing the company to be the first to talk numbers, and never hanging up the phone saying yes. Any increment up, I’d say things like
“I appreciate the update and I/we will think about it, and consider some other factors, once I get off the phone because this isn’t something I can say yes to right away.”
As other negotiation articles mention, that ‘we’ is important. Include whoever is in your life because it establishes that you aren’t the sole decision-maker that the recruiter has to please.
