Common mistakes in salary negotiation

And secondly, when it comes to jobs, always look for a job while employed. And not just that, you can use that to renegotiate your salary and benefits with your current employer because hiring new person would also mean mentoring them in the company culture and know-how and things like that, that you already know. So it is a cost to them that might be, and usually is, much higher than increasing your salary.

And a tip for the road, make sure your pay increases every year, either with inflation or based on agreed upon percentage(like 5% a year, for example). Inflation is universal and companies increase their prices accordingly, yet workers never require increase of their salaries, usually until years later.

for me:

- it's long, often 3 stages minimum, but more typically 5-6 rounds. do I really want to take 5-10 hours per job out of my month just to "figure out my worth?". As long as I can pay the bills and I'm not miserable at my job, I'm fine.

- if you have a job, it is hard to schedule around all these rounds. In addition, it feels stressful since by most intents, a company does not react well to hearing you are shopping around

- it generally makes use of skills that do not reflect my performance in a job. I am 6 years into industry, I don't and never needed to invert a binary tree on the spot. Meanwhile, actual skills like proper coding practices/architecture, code review feedback, test coverages/edge cases, and the ability navigate through the company to find the person you need are barely even mentioned.

- it's a sterile, artificial environment that more or less makes you put on airs to show "your best self". "why do you want to work for this company" is asked in nearly every interview setting and we all know your real answer is the wrong one, as opposed to using the time to show off how much you researched the company. Even if you basically jut googled "X engineer" and applied because the salary range fit you.

I can understand testing in juniors, because there is no license exam for an engineer, and maybe on the other side of the hump you can get to a point where the companies are trying to impress you. But that middle hump feels like the worst of both worlds.

>If you're getting so many offers its boring, look for a way to interview for more demanding positions.

if you're at that point, you're probably not going to find your answer on the internet. those sorts of jobs are word of mouth.

It's not quite as powerful as having a simultaneous offer, but the point is not whether or not you go to a specific other company, but whether or not they believe a) you'll actually turn them down, b) you're worth roughly what you demand. Another offer, even if turned down will help in both respects.

I'm pretty certain the article covered this exact point; even GOOD recruiters aren't going to jeopardize a deal with $1500k commission for an extra $150.

We see the same thing with real estate agents, or sales anywhere a commission is paid - the sales person would rather have 10% less commission from a closed deal than 0% commission from a deal that fell through.

Their incentives aren't aligned with yours: Their incentive is to close the deal, yours is to close the deal at the highest price.

> Good recruiters don't leave money on the table like that.

All good sales people are closers. That means they are always leaving money on the table. It's more important to close than to hold out for 10% more.

There is no such thing as a sales person who only closes deals at the highest possible price; they'd starve.