You’re Worth It
Introduction
In observance of Equal Pay Day, divhersity has compiled a series of articles that address questions focused on equal pay, with the goal of helping women specifically, close the pay gap that is all-too-often present in organizations worldwide.
This article is the second of a multipart series based on a Q&A session hosted by divhersity called “How To Ask for What You Deserve”. In the series we will be sharing the questions and answers provided by our expert panel: Meenakshi Tripathy from Facebook, Savvithri Sivaraamakrishnan from Qualio and divhersity Founder, Nidhi Gupta, formerly Chief Product Officer at Hired.
Q & A Part Two; Jobhunting
In our introduction post we looked at how gender stereotypes play a role in how women tackle negotiation for compensation. While it’s widely acknowledged that the gender pay gap requires systemic change, we’re not going to sit idly waiting for that to happen. Instead, we will help women advance their pay negotiations in order to help drive that systemic change. Read on to hear how our three panelists recommend approaching your job search and pay negotiations.
How do I know what I deserve? Are there salary calculators you use?
MT: I don’t use traditional sources, I look online. I look at threads and if there is a lot of info on salary, I look at levels.fyi. If there isn’t any new info available, post your question and you may get details or answers. Ask colleagues--and especially male colleagues--about comp as well.
SS: I use the same methods and a few more. I have a small set of trusted peers and we openly share our salaries so we know what is shooting for the stars and what is a lowball salary.
Now is a great time to remind you that as a part of this series, divhersity is offering our community members a free, 1:1 consultation with a salary expert who will access real market data to assess and advise on whether your current compensation plan is on par with your male counterparts.
The recruiter I am speaking with is asking me “How much do you expect” right at the beginning of the conversation. What should I say?
MT: When it comes to questions like that, I flip it with something along the lines of ‘Let’s have that discussion later as I want to hook the fish in first.’ If the recruiter then says, “I don’t want to waste your time ….” Know that what they are actually asking of you is unethical and in many states, not legal. What they might then ask is, “Tell me what your range is.” If you haven’t had time to research, then let them know you will get back to them, don’t be afraid to draw a boundary around these types of questions by responding: “I’d like to understand more about the position and the benefits package as this is an important part of the compensation mix, let’s get to that if we get to a place that we agree that this role is a good fit.”
Because you may value other things when evaluating a new role; there are benefits outside of salary. For example, I took a role close to home as I didn’t want to commute when my son was going into kindergarten; I wanted to be close to him to reduce stress and conflict between my job and my role as a caregiver. When I moved companies and went to a new role, my comp package was 3x what I was making when I chose to be close to my son. I didn’t use the prior job as my base because I traded some salary for my quality of life. I used my husband’s salary as the basis of what I negotiated in my next role, and not what I had actually been paid at since I had chosen a compromise that I valued sufficiently.
SS: Sometimes recruiters will ask where you want to be to evaluate if that works with the company. I think it’s ok to be open as to where you want to be in terms of compensation. For example I got burned once because I loved the role and the team loved me but the company was WAY short of my current package. I had invested weeks interviewing with the company to discover there was a mismatch in comp. If the company won’t offer the range, I won’t waste my time interviewing. Sometimes you just need to make a move and the criteria changes but (and this is a SUPER important but!) never, ever take a pay cut.
Negotiating Your New Position
OK, so you’ve competently navigated prying questions about your salary history, you’ve provided a range that you’d like to be in to the hiring manager or recruiter, and they put together an offer. Let’s now talk about how to get what you need effectively.
What is a good way to split the elements of a compensation package?
MT: I used to look at the base salary and now I’m more focused on the total cash package. Base, bonus, sign on, and equity. I always negotiate a severance if I take on more risk, which I did when I joined a startup.
NG: Another strategy is to be ready to negotiate for less ‘visible’ benefits that might be important to you. I have always negotiated for a higher amount of PTO; this is really valuable to me as I want to be able to see friends and family in my home country, and I don’t want to reduce time there or the frequency of travel. Always look for ways to support your quality of life, which is not always directly corresponding to a dollar amount.
How do you negotiate a stellar package? Base/bonus?
MT: At the negotiation stage, I give a total comp expectation and then I play with base, RSU (stock options), bonus and signing. In the past vacation wasn’t flexible but it’s another lever to use as part of the negotiation.
SS: If I’m talking to a pre-IPO company, I need to pay my bills with cash. Then I focus on what the stock options may be worth and that needs to add up over the 4 year period. I negotiate base as the biggest component. Bonus can be annual or semi-annual.
NG: I had a really great engineer on my team focus their negotiation on options/equity initially. Then some 6 mo or 12mo later, they were way below the comp bar and I needed to significantly increase their base as I was afraid to lose them. In the end the engineer ended up with both. It was a very smart approach.
SS: Another approach is to just ask the company to give their best package as you don’t want to have to go back and forth.
MT: Something to keep in mind about recruiters for FAANG companies, they negotiate with the hiring team, not your manager. Since you’re negotiating with your recruiter, having your numbers ready is really important.
Do you start high or at your goal?
SS: If it’s for a new offer, I go for a range after doing all the research. I know the minimum I should get or I won’t join that company. That could be 20% or 50% above your current salary, but it needs to be a number that you believe in. I try to stay within 15% of the range. Generally when you provide the range, the offering company will go somewhere in the middle or lower end of the range. They’ll want you to be happy joining so your lower range should be the minimum bump you are looking for.
MT: I go for the top of the range. Why not? After all, it never hurts to ask. Worse case, they say “no”.
NG: Did you know that women typically ask less, and consequently they get paid less! Typically women ask for 3%-6% less salary than their male counterparts. So this is sage advice to close the expectation gap!
Takeaway Points
In summary, today’s discussion highlighted a handful of tactical strategies to support you championing the best possible package for your precise needs.
Know your rights; don’t let a recruiter force you into sharing information that is not relevant to the role you are negotiating for
Know your range: research pay ranges for the role you are evaluating; work out what you need to feel good about making the move.
Know their range: be direct; ask the recruiter what the pay range is for the role and don’t wait for weeks to find out.
Get creative: prepare to negotiate for things that you value in order to increase the overall value of your package such as additional PTO or increased stock options.
Never ever take a pay cut.