55k to 85K - but I was vague on previous salary.
100K to 160K - told them what I wanted, not what I was being paid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Each job move I've made has resulted in a pretty substantial pay jump. 28k (reporters don't get paid!) to 40k. 55k to 75k. 75k to 90k.

I would love to say it was because of negotiating skills, but I don't know that I am a stellar negotiator. Somewhere during these processes, I just put out the range of numbers that I wanted... and waited for a response. In each case, no one balked.

nice, maybe luck?

PP here. I think luck always has something to do with it. But also, I didn't apologize, or put lots of qualifiers or stumble or backtrack. (I think these are the stereotypical "womenly" things to negotiating salary.)

Interestingly, when I was on the hiring end recently, I was very frustrated at the way people would respond when I asked them what they wanted to make. I wanted to tell the women in particular to stop being shy about it. Stop telling me what you are making now or what you made before. Just tell me what you believe you are worth. If I balk, then say you are flexible and care about the whole package. Out of about 16 people I interviewed, the vast majority responded in a way that didn't put them in as strong of a position as it could have. One was hostile to the question. So there's my anecdata. Would be interesting to hear HR Bitch's take.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are most of you women?

I distinctly remember my male mentors telling me to always seek a 20% pay raise from one position to the next. I always did, and succeeded in negotiations. I was pleasant and appreciative of the offers each time but quite firm about a rate that I thought was fair while taking into consideration my unique skill set.

I got the biggest offers when companies were competing against e/o.

Yes, i am a woman, why ? In this current job market, for every position, there re hundreds of well qualified candidates applying, some of them having been out of a job for some time, will work for pennies, so how do you leverage a higher salary in these instances if someone else is willing to work for less?

Another woman PP here, who recently went from ~65-74 - true indeed but this fella has a very good point. Over and over again data says that women don't get raises, or as high of raises, because they don't ask. I think most women are unaware of their worth and thus their negotiating power.

Anonymous wrote:Each job move I've made has resulted in a pretty substantial pay jump. 28k (reporters don't get paid!) to 40k. 55k to 75k. 75k to 90k.

I would love to say it was because of negotiating skills, but I don't know that I am a stellar negotiator. Somewhere during these processes, I just put out the range of numbers that I wanted... and waited for a response. In each case, no one balked.

nice, maybe luck?

Anonymous wrote:Are most of you women?

I distinctly remember my male mentors telling me to always seek a 20% pay raise from one position to the next. I always did, and succeeded in negotiations. I was pleasant and appreciative of the offers each time but quite firm about a rate that I thought was fair while taking into consideration my unique skill set.

I got the biggest offers when companies were competing against e/o.

Yes, i am a woman, why ? In this current job market, for every position, there re hundreds of well qualified candidates applying, some of them having been out of a job for some time, will work for pennies, so how do you leverage a higher salary in these instances if someone else is willing to work for less?

Each job move I've made has resulted in a pretty substantial pay jump. 28k (reporters don't get paid!) to 40k. 55k to 75k. 75k to 90k.

I would love to say it was because of negotiating skills, but I don't know that I am a stellar negotiator. Somewhere during these processes, I just put out the range of numbers that I wanted... and waited for a response. In each case, no one balked.

Are most of you women?

I distinctly remember my male mentors telling me to always seek a 20% pay raise from one position to the next. I always did, and succeeded in negotiations. I was pleasant and appreciative of the offers each time but quite firm about a rate that I thought was fair while taking into consideration my unique skill set.

I got the biggest offers when companies were competing against e/o.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:has anyone negotiated a hiring bonus to compensate if the employer would not budge on the salary itself? just wondering how this works since I hear people getting hiring bonuses but never understand how/why people are offered them.

Step 1 to getting a sign on bonus: ask

Seriously. There's lots of reasons you can cite. Lost bonus at old job. Forfeited 401k. In lieu of higher base. To compensate for a move. Just because its the norm in the industry ( if it is). Because they want you to start sooner and that means you have to cancel a vacation and eat non refundable fees. Because you have to pay back another sign on. As comp for educational expenses.

Those are all reasons I've used. I've never had a job without at least a few thousand thrown in.

What field do you work in and what do you do?

Anonymous wrote:has anyone negotiated a hiring bonus to compensate if the employer would not budge on the salary itself? just wondering how this works since I hear people getting hiring bonuses but never understand how/why people are offered them.

Step 1 to getting a sign on bonus: ask

Seriously. There's lots of reasons you can cite. Lost bonus at old job. Forfeited 401k. In lieu of higher base. To compensate for a move. Just because its the norm in the industry ( if it is). Because they want you to start sooner and that means you have to cancel a vacation and eat non refundable fees. Because you have to pay back another sign on. As comp for educational expenses.

Those are all reasons I've used. I've never had a job without at least a few thousand thrown in.

Anonymous wrote:has anyone negotiated a hiring bonus to compensate if the employer would not budge on the salary itself? just wondering how this works since I hear people getting hiring bonuses but never understand how/why people are offered them.

I know some companies do this, i got an offer once and i was asking for me, company said that was at the higher end of their budget for the position and that was above market rate, yadi yada, but they could give me a hiring bonus to compensate for that

has anyone negotiated a hiring bonus to compensate if the employer would not budge on the salary itself? just wondering how this works since I hear people getting hiring bonuses but never understand how/why people are offered them.

I've used a few things:

ONe job I didn't want offered me a 20K bump but I didn't want the job. I was sitting there, quietly thinking on the phone when I got another 5K. So I took the job for 25K and quit it 2 years later b/c it was really boring.

I am currently underpaid at a nonprofit. I was talking to a recruiter, told her my "total compensation" meaning package, and said "I'm underpaid by about 20% compared with some of my colleagues at XXX and YYY". She agreed and said that my salary expectations where fine and in line with the two positions we were discussing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$105 to $150k

It was mostly just good negotiation.

Wow, how did you do that?

I lumped every possible figure into my comp when asked - I didnt lie, I just took the optimistic view. I was also very clear early on that I wouldn't move for under $150. I recently had a similar conversation and quoted $230 (I'm at $190 now). They didn't balk. I've learned that salary negotiations are almost entirely driven by your own chutzpah and willingness to be firm. I think a lot of people just assume 5%, but if they want you they'll pay for you.

Great advice. Thanks for sharing, I think you also need to have enough leverage to be able to swing these negotiations, if you are at the bottom of the totem pole, kinda hard to be this firm

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$105 to $150k

It was mostly just good negotiation.

Wow, how did you do that?

I lumped every possible figure into my comp when asked - I didnt lie, I just took the optimistic view. I was also very clear early on that I wouldn't move for under $150. I recently had a similar conversation and quoted $230 (I'm at $190 now). They didn't balk. I've learned that salary negotiations are almost entirely driven by your own chutzpah and willingness to be firm. I think a lot of people just assume 5%, but if they want you they'll pay for you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just moved into the private sector. Job had the same salary and they wouldn't budge. So I negotiated being in a good bonus bracket. I can now make up to a 25% bonus which to me is insane that I would have a lump cash infusion like that. VERY excited.

Congrats that's pretty exciting, but also know that bonuses are taxed at a very high rate so you won't get all that money in your pocket.

But will get the cash as a fund at the end of the year assuming the taxes withheld are more than the tax liability on return.

Here's something about how the IRS taxes them http://blog.turbotax.intuit.com/2011/12/09/bonus-time-how-bonuses-are-taxed-and-treated-by-the-irs/

I know very well how the IRS taxes bonuses. When you get your w-2 the bonus is not reported separately, it is part of your salary. Yes, when the bonus is paid to you the withholding is more than if it were your regular paycheck BUT at the end of the year you cold get that withholding back if it was overwhethheld in excess of your income tax liability.