You can suggest you'd accept the "lower" wage in return for some other options: more flexible hours, more vacation (paid or unpaid), access to an electric car charger, etc. Whatever makes sense for you. This allows both sides to gracefully accept the trade.
Ask HN: Negotiating Salary
71–80 of 172 posts
Re: Ask HN: Negotiating Salary
#72[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Negotiating Salary
#73https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11830598 https://fearlesssalarynegotiation.com/
+1 for Fearless Salary Negotiation. I read it when interviewing 3 years ago and used a variation of one of the email scripts to negotiate a ~25% increase from first offer.
Also, I don't personally recommend talking about salary expectations until after you have an offer in hand. Focus on the value you're bringing to the table and your fit for the position, and let the company make the first move in terms of putting a number out there.
Also, never, ever answer the "what are your salary expectations?" question from recruiters. You're automatically limiting yourself.
Re: Ask HN: Negotiating Salary
#74I know not the advice you're looking for but this thread makes me sad. For those wages, even at what your initial ask, it's impossible to get good developers in the US unless there are extenuating circumstances (someone's first job, etc). This company thinks you are worth less just because of where you're from and not what skills you bring to the table. If they offter you something you will take, accept it, but keep…
the rich expect price of goods and services from poorer countries to be lower than in their own country. This is standard, not just in IT, but also in clothes, manufacturing, etc. It's capitalism at its finest.
>the rich expect price of goods and services from poorer countries to be lower than in their own country
So the poor expect what? Can you tell me what you think a poor person from West Virginia expects the cost of goods and services in Mexico to be?
Re: Ask HN: Negotiating Salary
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your question resonates a bit with the "Never Split the Difference" method of asking an open ended question immediately after receiving an offer. "Can you explain how you came to this number?" is similar to the "How am I supposed to do this?" kind of open ended question the author uses as an example. Happy you posted this, feel like an idiot that I've never thought of using that exact phrase lol.
Another question might be something like: I know you need to pay me less than the value I create, because this needs to be a mutually profitable arrangement. How much value do you expect I can bring to the company? Or maybe the more open ended question is better? I do like Never Split the Difference, great book. The most common complaint against it is that the author is a bit arrogant, but having read a couple other…
>...I know you need to pay me less than the value I create... How much value do you expect I can bring to the company?
I would never use this sort of phrasing, that sound really painful. Have you ever actually used that in a negotiation?
Rather I'd highlight my experience in achieving results at reduced cost, identifying efficiencies, and developing new sources of revenue to highlight my own ability to bring extra value. You're the one asking for more, so you need to justify it.
Re: Ask HN: Negotiating Salary
#76100% unless you have another offer or otherwise don't need the job, don't counter.
Don't let perfect become the enemy of good.
Re: Ask HN: Negotiating Salary
#77Disclaimer, I'm a CTO. Here's how I evaluate this if I was evaluating you: 1. I already have a salary budget already allocated for this role based on industry average for position and location (but location _could_ be irrelevant depending on skill mostly). 2. I look at your skillset and put you at the bucket for the position where you are at: low-med-high 3. I make my offer based on my evaluation. 4. If you are "wort…
You’re a CTO so I imagine you’re hiring mostly directors and VPs and it comes down to whether you like the candidate or not. At a lot of companies you just have to be noticeably better than everyone else because after 5+ employees interviewing 5+ candidates, most managers have had enough with the time the team has sunk into that process. As a candidate, if you can find out how long the role has been open, you can really play ball.
Re: Ask HN: Negotiating Salary
#78> The question is, when they offer me with a lower rate how should I deal with the situation so that I don't loose the position and get away with the best deal? There are no guarantees in negotiation. Projecting confidence and being willing to walk away from a lowball offer will help you negotiate. If you give the impression that you have no other options and that you will be taking the job even at the lower price, t…
Yea! The best way to negotiate is to have leverage. You can fake leverage, of course, but that's where the risk of losing the deal materializes. So rather than fake leverage, create it. Get other job offers.
That said, keep in mind that in a negotiation, you always have leverage. Some of the best negotiation advice I ever got was "the very fact that they're still talking to you means you have something they want."
That sentence helps both with confidence and understanding the dynamics at play.
(The trick to negotiating well, then, is being good at finding an agreement that leaves you both happy while still talking to each other. But keeping the talk alive is the most important bit.)
Re: Ask HN: Negotiating Salary
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Your question resonates a bit with the "Never Split the Difference" method of asking an open ended question immediately after receiving an offer. "Can you explain how you came to this number?" is similar to the "How am I supposed to do this?" kind of open ended question the author uses as an example. Happy you posted this, feel like an idiot that I've never thought of using that exact phrase lol.
Never Split the Difference is a great book.
Re: Ask HN: Negotiating Salary
#80I normally go with a range, not a specific number. I would be happy if I made between x and y. This allows you to set the actual minimum and give a higher max than you expect. Normally, they will pick a number in between.