Salary Swing Dance

 

So, California passes a law stating as an employer you can’t ask salary history which is supposed to protect the future employees from losing money and unfair discriminating practices. From my understanding the company can ask salary expectations. Most people believe that it’s against the law for me to ask salary expectations.   I’m a recruiter working with multiple companies and a variety of salary ranges. I’m also not the employer.  The CA rule has been making difficult for recruiting due to this misunderstanding. 

It’s like this weird salary dance between candidates and me.  I’m the in between – the person negotiating to make both parties happy, the company and the candidate with the offer. Usually, I’ll get a range but occasionally the person won’t give me one which makes it awkward to work with them because every time I present a job it’s another guessing game and we're dancing around the salary. It's exhausting. 

Hey candidates, take advantage of a recruiter looking to negotiate a great salary for you – give them your expectations for salary! Keep it easy! They will get you more money.  It’s all in the same realm of questions we ask about, commuting, remote work, healthcare, vacation, salary etc. For a recruiter is just another item on our check list to make sure you take the offer – if you get an offer.

Salary Negotiation Tips

Focus on your value, not what you need or greed.

If you don’t have much of a work history, you need to be very flexible with salary. Employers don’t want to pay a lot of money to teach.

Pay attention to your tone. Attitude and tone can convey a lot during negotiations.

Research what the job value is online. Keep in mind the online salary tools are national averages.

Be honest with your salary if asked directly. Also, be honest about your expectations and when people ask salary they are typically asking base salary.

Don’t take the negotiations personally. It’s a business deal.

Consider other perks beyond base salary -- benefits, extra vacation, free meals, flex-time, stock, bonus etc. This only works for small to medium sized companies. Too big of company = little wiggle room. They are harnessed by Human Resources.  

Ask for an offer in writing.

You can counter offer but be prepared to hear no.

Most companies want an answer to an offer within 24 – 48 hours. It’s easy to stretch it over the weekend if the offer comes the end of the week. If you are putting off answering them is it the right job for you?

If you only have one offer and it’s not great but you need to get to work, it is OK to take the job. Some of the best educational experiences are from bad experiences.  Work is work it’s not called play. If you can find a job you can “play” at, you are one of the lucky ones. Most people understand that work only partially fulfills your life. You must find other ways at times to be happy. Work is not always flowers and fairies. You can learn anywhere and then take that knowledge with you when you move later.

Do not take an offer and then not show up because you got a better offer somewhere else. SoCal is smaller than you think and word does get around. Don’t burn bridges.