The Art of Salary Negotiation.

I've had a lot of jobs and many times people are astonished by what I walk away with. They ask how I do it and I always say: "I ask for it." You aren't going to get what you want if you don't ask for it.

While it'd be nice to believe that companies are going to give us what we deserve, the bottom line is, they have a bottom line. Companies are businesses and their financials benefit from giving you as little as possible as long as you're still happy. But if you express that you'd be happier with certain circumstances (within reason), ask for it.

The art to salary negotiation is knowing what you want, knowing what the market pays and knowing how to tactfully ask for it.

You should base what you want based on what you feel you're worth. You should compare your number to what other people are making. You can google salaries for your role but make sure to also look up the specific location you're working in as well as the industry if you can. An Executive Assistant at a tech company in New York will have a vastly different salary from an Executive Assistant at a smaller retail company in Missouri.

Additionally, most pay ranges are posted on job descriptions due to recent regulations, so you can look up your job at different companies on LinkedIn as a reference. If you see a pay range for a role that is $80k - $140k, don't jump to the top of the pay range as your goal. Be realistic with your experience, your skills and understand that companies want to bring you in more towards the middle of the pay range (assuming you're proficient in the role and have experience).

Also, don't just focus on your base pay. Companies have a lot of compensation levers to offer and the full package does matter. Other things to consider when evaluating a job offer or a promotion:

• Base pay

• Bonuses

• Equity (stock awards)

• 401k contributions/match

• Benefits package

• Time-off policy

• Company culture / Work-life balance

• Perks

• Hardware & software tools

• Company outlook

• etc.

Once you figure out what numbers you want and what matters most to you, be upfront about it. Tell the recruiter or your manager that "to feel really valued and motivated in this role, and for me to give my best effort to [insert company name]'s success, I would really appreciate [X, Y, and Z]."

By being upfront and explaining why you would like something, you make your needs known so that they can be met. Whether you feel you deserve it or not is a different conversation - even if you don't feel you're owed certain things; you can still ask for them. Pulling from Jen Sincero's philosophy, I like to approach job offers and promotion conversations with the mindset of "let's just see what I can get away with." If you ask for something, worst comes to worse, they say no; you look elsewhere and leverage other offers and you get to take pride in asking for what you wanted and no longer have to wonder "what if."

Negotiating can be stressful. If you feel that you're stuck in this fickle life and can't ask for what you want (whether in your current role or if you're searching for a new one), schedule a session and we can talk through it to make sure you can get what you want (whether you feel you can get it or not).