Salary negotiation skills for programmers interview

Salary negotiations are important, not only because your salary accumulates over time and you end up with a bigger paycheck on the table, but also because how you evaluate and control yourself in a negotiation can greatly affect how you are viewed by the company you work for.

Once you’re part of a company, it’s hard to shake up first impressions. If you negotiate your salary tactfully in a way that demonstrates your value while respecting your prospective employer, you can paint a picture of yourself in a more positive light and have a huge impact on your future career with that company.

‘Salary negotiations begin before the job search’

Your ability to negotiate your salary is heavily influenced by your reputation. Think of famous athletes or movie stars. How much negotiating power does their fame bring? The same principle applies to software developers or any other field. The more your name is known, the more power you have in the negotiation.

So how do you make a name for yourself in software development? For some, it’s a matter of opportunity, but for most software developers, it requires careful planning and strategy. I strongly recommend that software developers build personal brands and actively market themselves.

To do this, the basic strategy is to get your name in as many media outlets as possible. Write a blog, a podcast, a book or an article, a presentation at a conference or user group, a video tutorial, contributing code to an open source project — do whatever it takes to get your name out there.

Since “self-marketing” is not the subject of this chapter, I will not repeat it here. If you’re interested in learning more about marketing yourself as a software developer, you can read my blog post on the subject (simpleprogrammer.com/ss-3-easy-w…). ; Or, for a deeper understanding of this topic, check out my online course “How to Market Yourself as a Software Developer” (devcareerboost.com/m).

Just remember: The better you market yourself, the better your reputation, and the easier it is to negotiate your salary. This may even be the most important factor. I’ve worked with software developers who have doubled their salaries based solely on the personal brand and online reputation they’ve built.

‘How you get the job matters’

The second biggest factor that affects your ability to negotiate is how you get the job. There are many ways to get a job, but not all are created equal. Let’s look at a few different ways you can get a job.

First, you see a job Posting and send your resume, preferably with a nice cover letter, to apply for the position. In fact, many job seekers assume that this is the only way to get a job. In fact, it’s the worst way to get a job. If you get a job this way, it’s hard to negotiate a salary position because you’re at a significant disadvantage compared to the employer. You’re the one who desperately wants that job.

The person with the greatest need is usually at a disadvantage in any negotiation. Have you ever played Monopoly? You may need other people’s assets to build your empire, but they don’t need anything from you. Have you tried negotiating with them? How’s it going?

Another way to get a job is through referrals. You know someone at a company who personally recommended you for a position and you get the job. This is definitely better than applying for the position yourself. In fact, you should try to get personal references when you’re actively looking for a job. In this case, prospective employers may not know that you are actively looking for a job, so your needs are perceived as less urgent. And because you have a personal recommendation, you already have some credibility. In essence, you are borrowing your reference’s credibility with the company. I’m sure you’ll be able to understand that the higher your reference’s reputation with the company, the higher your credibility. That kind of credibility can have a big impact on your ability to negotiate when you’re hired.

Okay, what other ways to get a job? What’s the best way to do that? When a company comes to you with a job offer, it either offers you a job or asks you to apply. How does this affect your negotiating ability? Obviously, your best bet would be for a company to know you and offer you a job without any interviews. In that case, you can price yourself according to your reputation. So any time an employer comes to you directly, you have a strong negotiating position.

You may be thinking, “You’re right, but the employer won’t come to me directly, let alone offer me a job without an interview.” I have to admit, it’s rare, but it does happen. The best way to make this happen to you is to build your reputation and market yourself, as I mentioned in my second post.

“First bidder loses”

Well, we’ve covered the preparation so far — actually, it’s the most important part of the salary negotiation. Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of the pay negotiations.

An important rule to understand is that the first bidder is at a significant disadvantage. In any negotiation, you need to be the second bidder, and here’s why: Suppose you’re applying for a job that you expect to pay $70,000. One of the first questions you’re asked after you’ve been offered a job is, “What are your salary expectations?” You say, “I’m looking for a salary of about $70,000 a year.” Or maybe being smarter, you might say, “I’m looking for $70,000 to $80,000 a year.” The HR manager immediately says, “Let’s go for $75,000.” So you shake hands and accept the agreement, and are happy. But there’s a big problem. The hr manager has budgeted $80,000 to $100,000 for this position. As a result, because you bid first, you get $25,000 less each year — what a shame.

You might think this is an extreme example, but it is. You have no way of knowing what he’s asking for unless he tells you. Bidding first puts you at a significant disadvantage. You can’t raise your price, but you give them room to lower it. When you bid first, you have no room to go up, but the possibility of going down.

You might say, “I did a lot smarter than that. I can start with a very high amount.” But it can also be embarrassing. If you ask too much, they may not make a counteroffer, or you may get a very low counteroffer. So it’s always in your best interest to let the employer make the first offer.

There are exceptions, however, and the only exceptions are when employers deliberately drive down prices. This is very rare, but if you have good reason to suspect it will happen, you may want to bid first to set a safe margin. Why is that? Because if an employer offers you a rock-bottom price, it’s hard to get him to raise it much. Of course, in this case, no matter what you do, you are unlikely to succeed.

“What to do when asked to bid first”

Never bid first. Just say no.

Yes, I know this advice is hard to follow. But first let me give you some specific situations and how to deal with them.

First of all, before the interview or filling out the job application form, you may be asked about your expected salary. If this field is on the job application, leave it blank if you can, or simply fill in “Negotiable based on overall compensation package.” If you have to put a specific number, put it down as $0 and explain why later.

If you are asked directly in a pre-interview how much you are looking for, give the same answer, saying it depends on your company’s overall compensation package, including benefits. They might say what the benefits are, or they might say they just want a general number. In this case, you should try to get around the question as much as possible by asking the following series of questions.

• “I would like to know more about the company and what my future position would entail before giving an exact amount or estimate. However, it sounds like you’re trying to figure out if we both have the same salary range in mind so we don’t have to waste our time. Is that so?”

Chances are you’ll get a positive answer. So you can follow up with questions like:

• “You must have a budgeted range for this position, right?”

You should also get a positive response. At this point, if you are brave enough, you can pause here and say no more. Then, you’ll probably hear a response about their salary range. However, if you’re not brave enough, or if they don’t want to provide any information, you can follow up with this question:

• “Well, if you tell me the budget range, I can’t tell you exactly what my salary expectations are, but I can tell you whether your company’s salary budget is in line with my expectations.”

Obviously, this is not easy to do. But if the employer insists you make a bid, there’s no reason they shouldn’t say what they expect, or even say it first. So, try to play hardball and let them bid first.

If they explicitly refuse to bid first, you have other options. If you have to make an offer first, offer a wide range and make it conditional on the overall package, but make sure the minimum is a little higher than the lowest you’re willing to pay.

For example, you could say: “I can’t give you an exact figure because it all depends on what the overall compensation package looks like. But I’m looking for a job that pays between $70,000 and $100,000. Of course, it also depends on the overall compensation package.”

“Asked what to do about your current salary”

This question is really hard to answer. Technically, it’s none of their business; But you can’t say that outright. Instead, you still have to work around the problem. There are different ways to do this, but here’s a suggestion.

• “I would rather not tell you my current salary, because if it is higher than you have budgeted for the position, I don’t want to lose the opportunity just because of that — because I am willing to lower my salary level for the right position. But I don’t want to cheapen myself if it’s less than what the job would pay. I am sure you will understand.”

This is an honest answer that avoids answering directly as much as possible without incurring any backlash. You can also say, “I don’t want to answer that question,” or “I have a confidentiality agreement with my current employer that prevents me from discussing salary specifics with others.”

If you have to name a number, try to keep it flexible by talking about bonuses, benefits, etc., that will affect the overall package, or say the total package is $X plus any benefits you currently receive.

“When you get an offer”

If you successfully circumvent the salary question, you’ll eventually receive an offer with a salary number on it. If the offer doesn’t include a salary amount, you’re not really getting an offer, because it’s not an offer. But salary negotiations don’t end with an offer unless you make one and they say yes — and that’s the tragedy. (By the way, if this is the case, you should stop trying to be subtle. If they offer you what you want, take it or leave it. Not only will you make a bad impression, but you may lose the job altogether.)

Once you have an offer in hand, you almost always want to make a counteroffer. The size of the counter-offer is up to you, but I strongly recommend making an offer that is fully commensurate with your appetite. You might think that offering a number close to what they’re offering would be more likely to get a good response, but more often than not this will backfire. Let’s go for the higher price as a counteroffer.

You may be worried that doing so will cost you the offer altogether. In fact, if you handle it in a decent way, you won’t lose the job. Usually, the worst that can happen is that they stick to their offer and tell you to take it or leave it. As long as the offer is not rescinded, you can always tell them that you made a mistake and that, after reconsidering all factors, “your original offer was reasonable.” (This isn’t fun, but if you really need the job, you can always make this move.)

In fact, once an offer is received, it is impossible to withdraw it. Remember, employers have already invested a lot of time in you to interview and make an offer, and they won’t want to do it all over again. You need to show a little courage.

Most of the time, if you make a high counteroffer, you will get a slightly higher offer. You can accept the offer, but in most cases my advice is to make a second offer. Be very careful, though, as you may send them running away. The proper way to handle this is to say something like:

• “I would love to work for your company. It sounds like a great job, and I’m excited to be working with your team. Still, I’m a little hesitant about that amount. If you can raise it to $X, I can confirm and sign today.”

If you do this and the counteroffer is not too high, you will usually get a positive response. Most employers would rather pay you a little more than lose you. Usually, the worst thing that can happen is they tell you you can’t go any higher.

After two counter-offers, I don’t suggest continuing the negotiation. You can try if you’re brave, but you risk losing credibility or souring the deal after a second counteroffer. You can appear smart without coming across as greedy. No one likes to feel like they’re being led or used.

“Some final advice”

Make sure you know what you’re worth. Research the salary range at the company you’re applying for in as much detail as possible, and research the salary range for positions similar to the one you’re applying for. Although it’s not always true, there are websites you can use to get this kind of information. The better you research your salary, the easier it will be to negotiate. If you can come up with an accurate range and statistics that show you’re asking for a fair salary, you’ll be in a good position.

The reason for asking for such a salary is not “I need this much money”. No one cares what you need. Instead, explain why you’re worth the money and what you can bring to the table. You can talk about your contributions to previous employers and why paying you the salary you’re asking for is a good investment.

Get as many offers as you can, but be careful not to let them clash. If you have the ability to walk away, you have a significant advantage in any negotiation. To be in this position, you need to have multiple offers, so you may want to apply for more than one position at a time. Be careful not to let offers conflict with each other. You can do this in a tactful way by telling them that you have several offers and are mulling them over and want to make the best decision you can. But be careful not to sound too arrogant. Confidence is good, arrogance is bad.

“Take action”

• Overcome your fear of negotiation by practicing your negotiating skills as much as possible. The next time you go to the store, try bargaining. Even if you don’t succeed, you’ll gain some valuable experience.

• Research industry salaries carefully to see what you’re worth. Try to find out what companies in your field are paying their employees and compare that to your current salary.

• Even if you’re not looking for a job, try going for an interview. You may find it easier to negotiate when you’re not looking for a new job. Maybe you can get a better job with this exercise.