Job negotiation for programmers: for your salary, or benefits, or my personal favorite, a shorter workweek.
You’re not sure what to do, or how to approach it, or what to say when the company says “how much do you want?” or “here’s our offer—what do you say?”
Here’s the thing: that final conversation about salary might be the most nerve-wracking part, but the negotiation process starts much much earlier. Job negotiation for programmers:
Which means you can enter that final conversation having positioned yourself for success—and feeling less stressed about it too.
The way you can do that is following certain basic principles, which I’ll be covering in this article.
I’m going to be focusing on salary negotiation as an example, but the same principles will apply when negotiating for a shorter workweek.
How is plan driven development different from agile development ?
In particular, I’ll be talking about:
- An example from early in my career when I negotiated very very badly.
- The right way to negotiate, based on four principles:
- Employment is a negotiated relationship.
- Knowledge is power.
- Negotiate from a position of strength.
- Use the right tactics.
Job negotiation for programmers: The wrong way to negotiate
Before moving on to the principles of negotiation, let me share a story of how I negotiated badly.
During my first real job search I interviewed at a company in New York City that was building a financial trading platform.
They were pretty excited about some specific technologies I’d learned while working on Twisted, an open source networking framework.
They offered me a job, I accepted, and my job search was over.But then they sent me their intellectual property agreement, and I actually read legal documents; you should read them too.
The agreement would have given the company ownership over any open source work I did, including work on Twisted.
I wanted to ensure I could keep doing open source development, especially given that was their reason for hiring me in the first place.
I asked for an exemption covering Twisted, they wouldn’t agree, and so we went back and forth trying to reach an agreement.Eventually they came back with a new offer: in return for not working on Twisted I’d get a 20% salary increase over their initial offer.
I thought about it briefly, then said no and walked away from the job.
Since I had neither a CS degree—I’d dropped out—nor much of an employment history, open source contribution was important to my career.
It was how I’d gotten contracting work, and it was the reason they’d offered me this job.
And I enjoyed doing it, too, so I wasn’t willing to give it up.I posted about this experience online, and an employee of ITA Software, which was based in the Boston area, suggested they were happy to support contributions to open source projects.
It seemed worth a try, so I applied for the position.
And when eventually I got a job offer from ITA and they asked me for my salary requirements, I asked for the second offer I’d gotten, the one that was 20% higher than my original offer.
They accepted, and I’ve lived in the Boston area ever since.
As we go through the principles below, I’ll come back to this story and point out how they were (mis)applied in my two negotiations. Job negotiation for programmers.
2023 Vision: Discover the SAP Jobs with High Earning Potential and Bright Futures
Job negotiation for programmers: The four principles of negotiation
You can think of the negotiation process as building on four principles:
- Employment is a negotiated relationship.
- Knowledge is power.
- Negotiate from a position of strength.
- Use the right tactics.
Let’s go through them one by one.
Principle #1: Employment is a negotiated relationship
If you’re an employee, your employment relationship was negotiated.
When you got a job offer and accepted it, that was a negotiation, even if you didn’t push back at all.
Your choice isn’t between negotiating and not negotiating: it’s between negotiating badly, or negotiating well.
Negotiate actively
If you don’t actively try to negotiate, if you don’t ask for what you want, if you don’t ask for what you’re worth—you’re unlikely to get it. Job negotiation for programmers.
Salaries, for example, are a place where your interests and your employer’s are very much at odds.
All things being equal, if you’re doing the exact same work and have the same likelihood of leaving, would your employer prefer to pay you less or more?
Most employers will pay you less if they can, and I almost had to learn that the hard way.
Applying the principle: In my story above, I never proactively negotiated.
Instead, I accepted a job offer from the financial company without any sort of additional demands.
If they were happy to offer me a 20% raise just to quit open source, I probably could have gotten an even higher salary if I’d just asked in the first place.
Negotiation starts early, and never ends
Not only do you need to negotiate actively, you also need to realize that negotiation starts much earlier than you think, and ends only when you leave to a different job:
- The minute you start thinking about applying to a company, you’ve started the negotiation process; as you’ll see, you’ll want to do research before you even talk to them.
- Your interview is part of your negotiation, and you can in fact negotiate the interview process itself (e.g. suggest sharing a code sample instead of doing a whiteboard puzzle).
- As an employee you will continue to negotiate: if you always say “yes” when your boss asks you to work long hours, your contract for a 3-day weekend will mean nothing.
In short, your whole relationship as an employee is based on negotiation.
Distinguish between friend and foe
A negotiation involves two sides: yours, and the company’s.
When you’re negotiating it’s important to remember that anyone who works for the company is on the company’s side.
Not yours. Job negotiation for programmers.
I once had to negotiate the intellectual property agreement at a new job.
My new employer was based in the UK, and it had a US subsidiary organized by a specialist company.
These subsidiary specialists had provided the contract I was signing.When I explained the changes I wanted to make, the manager at the subsidiary specialist told me that my complaint had no merit, because the contract had been written by the “best lawyers in Silicon Valley.”
But the contract had been written by lawyers working for the company, not for me.
If his claim had been true (spoiler: they were not in fact the best lawyers in Silicon Valley), that would have just made my argument stronger.
The better the company’s lawyers, the more carefully I ought to have read the contract, and the more I ought to have pushed back.
The contracts the company wants you to sign?
They were written by lawyers working for the company.
Human Resources works for the company, as does the in-house recruiter.
However friendly they may seem, they are not working for you.
And third-party recruiters are paid by the company, not you.
It’s true that sometimes their commission is tied to your salary, which means they would rather you get paid more. Job negotiation for programmers.
But since they get paid only once per candidate, volume is more important than individual transactions: it’s in their best interest to get you hired as quickly as possible so they can move on to placing the next candidate.
Since all these people aren’t working for you, during a negotiation they’re working against you. Job negotiation for programmers.
The only potential exception to this rule are friends who also work for the company, and aren’t directly involved in the negotiation process: even if they are constrained in some ways, they’re probably still on your side. Job negotiation for programmers.
They can serve as a backchannel for feedback and other information that the company can’t or won’t share.
Which software tester salary is high ?
Principle #2: Knowledge is power
The more you know about the situation, the better you’ll do as a negotiator.
More knowledge gives more power: to you, but also to the company. Job negotiation for programmers.
Know what you want
The first thing you need to do when negotiating is understand what you want.
- What is your ideal outcome?
- What can you compromise on, and what can’t you compromise on?
- What is the worst outcome you’re willing to accept?
Do your research
You also want to understand where the other side is coming from:
- What is the company’s goal, and the negotiator’s goal?
For example, if you discover their goal is minimizing hassle, you might be able to get what you want by making the process a little smoother. - What resources are available to them?
An unfunded startup has different resources than a large company, for example. - Has the company done something similar in the past, or will your request be unprecedented?
For example, what hours do other employees in similar positions work?
How much are other employees paid? - What do other companies in the area or industry provide?
- How is this particular business segment doing: are they losing money, or doing great?
The more you understand going in, the better you’ll do, and that means doing your research before negotiation starts.
Applying the principle: In my story above I never did any research about salaries, either in NY or in Boston. Job negotiation for programmers.
As a result, I had no idea I was being offered a salary far below market rates.
As a comparison, here’s a real example of how research can help your negotiation, from an engineer named Adam:
Adam: “Being informed on salaries really helped my negotiating position.
When my latest employer made me an offer I asked them why it was lower than their average salary on Glassdoor.com.
The real reason was likely ‘we offer as little as possible to get you on board.’
They couldn’t come up with a convincing reason and so the salary was boosted 10%.”
Glassdoor is a site that allows employees to anonymously share salaries and job reviews. Job negotiation for programmers.
Five minutes of research got Adam a 10% raise: not bad at all!
Listen and empathize
If you only had to make yourself happy this wouldn’t be a negotiation: you need to understand the other side’s needs and wants, what they’re worrying about, what they’re feeling. Job negotiation for programmers.
That means you need to listen, not just talk: if you do, you will often gather useful information that can help you make yourself more valuable, or address a particular worry. Job negotiation for programmers.
You really want to haggle at a new position: for your compensation, or advantages, or my undisputed top choice, a more limited week’s worth of work.
You don’t know what to do, or how to move toward it, or what to say when the organization says “what amount do you need?” or “here’s our deal — what do you say?”
Consider this: that last discussion about compensation may be the most nerve-wracking part, yet the exchange cycle begins a whole lot prior.
And that implies you can enter that last discussion having situated yourself for progress — and having a less pushed outlook on it as well.
The manner in which you can do that is following sure essential standards, which I’ll cover in this article.
I will zero in on compensation exchange for instance, yet similar standards will apply while haggling for a more limited week’s worth of work.
Specifically, I’ll discuss:
A model from right off the bat in my vocation when I haggled extremely gravely.
The correct method for arranging, in light of four standards:
Business is an arranged relationship.
Information is power.
Haggle from a place of solidarity.
Utilize the right strategies.
The incorrect method for arranging
Prior to continuing on toward the standards of exchange, let me share an account of how I haggled seriously.
During my most memorable genuine pursuit of employment I talked with at an organization in New York City that was building a monetary exchanging stage.
They were really amped up for a few explicit innovations I’d learned while dealing with Wound, an open source organizing system.
They extended to me an employment opportunity, I acknowledged, and my pursuit of employment was finished.
However at that point they sent me their protected innovation understanding, and I really read authoritative archives; you ought to peruse them as well.
The arrangement would have given the organization responsibility for open source work I did, remembering work for Contorted.
I needed to guarantee I could continue to do open source advancement, particularly given that was their justification for recruiting me in any case.
I requested an exception covering Bent, they wouldn’t concur, thus we went this way and that attempting to agree.
In the long run they returned with another deal: as a trade-off for not chipping away at Turned I’d get a 20% compensation increment over their underlying proposition.
I pondered it momentarily, then, at that point, said no and left the work.
Since I had neither a CS degree — I’d exited — nor a lot of a work history, open source commitment meant quite a bit to my vocation.
It was the way I’d gotten contracting work, and it was the explanation they’d extended to me this employment opportunity.
What’s more, I delighted in getting it done, as well, so I wasn’t willing to surrender it.
I posted about this experience on the web, and a worker of ITA Programming, which was situated in the Boston region, proposed they were glad to help commitments to open source projects.
It appeared to merit an attempt, so I went after the job.
Furthermore, when in the long run I found a new line of work offer from ITA and they asked me for my compensation prerequisites, I requested the subsequent deal I’d gotten, the one that was 20% higher than my unique proposition.
They acknowledged, and I’ve lived in the Boston region from that point onward.
As we go through the standards underneath, I’ll return to this story and point out how they were (mis)applied in my two exchanges.
The four standards of discussion
You can imagine the discussion interaction as expanding on four standards:
- Work is an arranged relationship.
- Information is power.
- Haggle from a place of solidarity.
- Utilize the right strategies.
- How about we go through them individually.
Rule #1: Work is an arranged relationship
On the off chance that you’re a representative, your work relationship was arranged.
At the point when you found a new line of work offer and acknowledged it, that was a discussion, regardless of whether you push back by any stretch of the imagination.
Your decision isn’t among arranging and not arranging: it’s between haggling severely, or haggling great.
Haggle effectively
In the event that you don’t effectively attempt to arrange, in the event that you don’t request what you need, on the off chance that you don’t request what you’re worth — you’re probably not going to get it.
Pay rates, for instance, are where your inclinations and your boss’ are particularly in conflict.
Taking everything into account, in the event that you’re doing precisely the same work and have a similar probability of leaving, could your manager like to pay you less or more?
Most bosses will pay you less in the event that they would be able, and I nearly needed to discover that the most difficult way possible.
Applying the rule: In my story above, I never proactively arranged.
All things considered, I acknowledged a bid for employment from the monetary organization with next to no kind of extra requests.
On the off chance that they were glad to offer me a 20% raise just to stop open source, I presumably might have gotten a much more significant pay on the off chance that I’d recently asked in any case.
Exchange begins early, and continues forever
Besides the fact that you really want to haggle effectively, you likewise should understand that exchange begins a whole lot sooner than you naturally suspect, and closures just when you pass on to an alternate work:
The moment you begin pondering applying to an organization, you’ve begun the exchange interaction; as you’ll see, you’ll believe that should do investigate before you even converse with them.
Your meeting is essential for your exchange, and you can truth be told arrange the actual screening (for example recommend sharing a code test as opposed to doing a whiteboard puzzle).
As a representative you will keep on arranging: on the off chance that you generally say “OK” when your supervisor requests that you work extended periods of time, your agreement for a long weekend will amount to nothing.
So, your entire relationship as a representative depends on discussion.
Recognize companion and adversary
An exchange includes different sides: yours, and the organization’s.
While you’re arranging it’s memorable’s vital that anybody who works for the organization is on the organization’s side.
Not yours.
I once needed to arrange the protected innovation understanding at a new position.
My new business was situated in the UK, and it had a US auxiliary coordinated by an expert organization.
These auxiliary experts had given the agreement I was marking.
At the point when I made sense of the progressions I needed to make, the chief at the auxiliary expert let me know that my objection had no legitimacy, on the grounds that the agreement had been composed by the “best legal advisors in Silicon Valley.”
Be that as it may, the agreement had been composed by attorneys working for the organization, not so much for me.
Assuming his case had been valid (spoiler: they were not as a matter of fact the best legal counselors in Silicon Valley), that would have recently suggested my viewpoint more grounded.
The better the organization’s legal counselors, the more cautiously I should have perused the agreement, and the more I should have pushed back.
The agreements the organization believes that you should sign?
They were composed by attorneys working for the organization.
HR works for the organization, as does the in-house enrollment specialist.
Anyway amicable they might appear, they are not working for you.
What’s more, outsider enrollment specialists are paid by the organization, not you.
The facts really confirm that occasionally their bonus is attached to your compensation, and that implies they would prefer you get compensated more.
Be that as it may, since they get compensated just once per up-and-comer, volume is a higher priority than individual exchanges: it’s to their greatest advantage to get you employed as fast as could really be expected so they can continue on to putting the following competitor.
Since this large number of individuals aren’t working for you, during a discussion they’re neutralizing you.
The main expected special case for this standard are companions who likewise work for the organization, and aren’t straightforwardly associated with the exchange cycle: regardless of whether they are obliged here and there, they’re presumably still your ally.
They can act as a backchannel for criticism and other data that the organization can’t or won’t share.
Guideline #2: Information is power
The more you are familiar the circumstance, the better you’ll do as a mediator.
More information gives more power: as far as you might be concerned, yet additionally to the organization.
Understand what you need
The principal thing you want to do while arranging is comprehend what you need.
What is your optimal result?
What might you at any point think twice about, and what mightn’t you at any point think twice about?
What is the most terrible result you’re willing to acknowledge?
Properly investigate things
You additionally need to comprehend where the opposite side is coming from:
What is the organization’s objective, and the mediator’s objective?
For instance, in the event that you find their objective is limiting problem, you could possibly get what you need by making the cycle a little smoother.
What assets are accessible to them?
An unfunded startup has unexpected assets in comparison to a huge organization, for instance.
Has the organization accomplished something almost identical previously, or will your solicitation be phenomenal?
For instance, what hours do different representatives in comparable positions work?
How much are different workers paid?
What do different organizations nearby or industry give?
How is this specific business fragment getting along: would they say they are losing cash, or doing perfect?
The more you comprehend going in, the better you’ll do, and that implies doing all necessary investigation before discussion begins.
Applying the rule: In my story above I never did any examination about pay rates, either in NY or in Boston.
Therefore, I had no clue I was being offered a compensation far underneath market rates.
As an examination, here’s a genuine illustration of how exploration can help your exchange, from a designer named Adam:
Adam: “Being educated on pay rates truly assisted my haggling with situating.
At the point when my most recent boss made me a deal I asked them for what reason it was below their normal compensation on Glassdoor.com.
The genuine explanation was reasonable ‘we offer as little as conceivable to get you ready.’
They couldn’t concoct a persuading reason thus the compensation was helped 10%.”
Glassdoor is a site that permits workers to namelessly share pay rates and occupation surveys.
Five minutes of exploration got Adam a 10% raise: not terrible by any means!
Tune in and sympathize
On the off chance that you just needed to fulfill yourself this wouldn’t be a discussion: you really want to comprehend the opposite side’s requirements and needs, what they’re stressing over, what they’re feeling.
That implies you really want to tune in, not simply talk: assuming you do, you will
Also, you really want to feel sympathy towards the individual you’re conversing with: you don’t have to concur or subordinate yourself to their objectives, yet you truly do have to comprehend how they’re feeling.
Share data cautiously
Sharing data at some unacceptable time during a discussion can fundamentally debilitate your situation.
For instance, sharing your past compensation will frequently moor what the organization will offer you:
Adam: “I moved on from college and began working toward the finish of 2012.
At my most memorable work I worked for way under my market rate.
I knew this and was alright with it since they were a decent organization.
Then, at that point, I exchanged positions in 2013.
What I hadn’t represented was that my compensation at my most memorable occupation planned to restrict my future compensation possibilities.
I needed to contend energetically for raises at my next work before I was in accordance with individuals straight out of school, since they would have rather not multiplied my compensation at my past organization.”
As a general rule, while meeting for a task you shouldn’t share your past compensation, or your particular compensation requests — besides obviously when it is useful to do as such.
For instance, suppose you’re moving from Google to a small bootstrapped startup, and you realize you will not have the option to get a similar degree of compensation.
Sharing your ongoing compensation can assist with pushing your proposition higher, or utilized as influence to get more limited hours: “I realize you can’t offer me my past compensation of $$$, however here’s something you could do — “.
Simply make a point not to share it too soon, or they could conclude you’d never acknowledge any deal whatsoever and stop the screening too soon.
More often than not, nonetheless, you shouldn’t share either your past compensation or explicit compensation prerequisites.
Assuming the organization demands getting your past compensation, you can:
In the event that you work some place with pertinent regulations (for example California and Massachusetts), bring up that this question is unlawful.
Getting some information about compensation assumptions isn’t unlawful in these wards, so be cautious about the differentiation.
Request the organization’s compensation range for the position, as well as the powerful up in the compensation tree.
Odds are good that they will won’t share, in which case you can correspondingly decline to share your data.
Express something like “I hope to be paid industry-standard compensation for my experience.”
Applying the guideline: I shouldn’t have told ITA Programming my compensation necessity.
All things being equal, I ought to have inspired them to make the main deal, which would have given me more data about the thing they were ready to pay.
Standard #3: Haggle from a place of solidarity
The more grounded your discussion position, the more probable you are to get what you need.
What’s more, this is particularly significant while you’re requesting something strange, similar to a long weekend.
Have a decent contingency plan (BATNA)
Assuming discussion comes up short, how will you respond?
Anything that it is, that is your contingency plan, at times known as the “Best Option in contrast to an Arranged Understanding” (BATNA).
The more your backup plan, the more your other option, the more grounded your bargaining posture is.
Continuously sort out your backup ahead of time, before you begin arranging.
For instance, envision you’re going after another position:
In the event that you’re jobless and have a vacant financial balance, your backup may be moving in with your folks.
This doesn’t give you a solid bargaining posture.
On the off chance that you’re utilized, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg or less happy with your present place of employment, your backup is remaining where you are.
That makes your position a lot more grounded.
In the event that you have areas of strength for a, you can decide to leave whenever, and this will make requesting all the more a lot simpler.
Give and show esteem
The more an association needs you as a worker, the more they’ll offer you.
Individuals you’re haggling with don’t be guaranteed to know your worth: you really want to ensure they comprehend the reason why worth you’re inquiring.
For instance, while you’re talking with for a task, you want to use part of the meeting to clear up your incentive for your imminent manager: your achievements and abilities.
Whenever you’ve laid out the worth of your abilities, requesting more — more cash, surprising terms — can really cause you to appear to be more significant.
What’s more, having another proposition for employment — or a current work — can likewise help, by showing you are popular.
At last, recollect that you want to ensure the opposite side’s requirements are met — not entirely on your own, but rather on the off chance that they don’t think employing you is worth the effort, you won’t get anything.
This is the way Alex, one more software engineer I conversed with, makes sense of how he realized this:
Alex: “Ponder the other individual and how they will respond, how you can attempt to proactively deal with that.
You really want to treat your arranging accomplice personally, not a program.
At first I had been moving toward it adversarially, ‘I want to separate worth from you, I need to wrestle you for it’ yet it’s more useful to haggle with a mentality of ‘we both need to get our requirements met.’
The individual you’re conversing with is hoping to enlist somebody useful who can make esteem, so sort out how might you love seat what you need in a manner that proactively addresses the other individual’s interests.”
Guideline #4: Utilize the right strategies
Whenever you’ve understood you’re arranging, have done all necessary investigation, and are haggling from a place of solidarity, applying the right exchange strategies will build your odds of coming out on top considerably more.
Request more than you need
Clearly you would rather not request not as much as what you need.
Yet, why not request precisely exact thing you need?
To begin with, it could turn out that the organization will give you undeniably more than you expected or expected.
Second, in the event that you request precisely exact thing you believe it’s absolutely impossible for you should think twice about getting not as much as what you need.
By requesting more, you can think twice about as yet getting what you needed.
Applying the guideline: Assuming I’d needed a $72,000 pay, and examination recommended that was a fair compensation, I ought to have requested $80,000.
In the event that I was fortunate the organization would have said OK; if they needed to bring me down, I would have no issues consenting to a lower number insofar as it was above $72,000.
Arrange numerous things on the double
Your objective while arranging isn’t to “win.”
Rather, you want to arrive at an arrangement that passes your insignificant bar, and gets you as much as is doable.
Practicality implies you additionally need to consider what the opposite side needs too.
Assuming you’ve arrived at a stalemate, you actually figure you can make an arrangement that you like, attempt to think of inventive ways of working out an answer that they will like.
In the event that you just arrange one thing on the double, every exchange has a champ and a washout.
For instance, on the off chance that all you’re arranging is pay, possibly you’re getting more cash, or the organization is setting aside cash: it’s a lose discussion.
This restricts your capacity to concoct an answer that boosts an incentive for you while as yet addressing the opposite side’s necessities.
Applying the standard: In my story over, the monetary organization needed licensed innovation assurance, I needed to have the option to compose open source, and we were at a stalemate.
So they extended the extent of the exchange to incorporate my compensation, which permitted them to make tradeoffs between the two — more cash for me as a trade-off for what they needed.
Assuming I’d thought often less about dealing with open source I could have acknowledged that proposition.
Never offer a response right away
During the genuine discussion you ought to never settle on the spot, nor are you expected to.
Assuming you find a new line of work offer you can make sense of that you really want a brief period to consider it: express something like “I need to show this to my life partner/critical other/occupant master.”
This will give you an opportunity to think about your choices in a more quiet perspective, and not simply exclaim “yes” at the principal semi-good proposition.
Having another person survey the give is a decent suggestion overall; a companion of mine showed her work offers to her sister, who had a MBA.
But at the same time it’s helpful to make reference to that other individual as somebody who needs to approve the deal.
That empowers you to say you might want to acknowledge a deal, yet your companion/master figures you can improve.
Notice that the business quite often has this advantage as of now.
Except if you’re haggling with the proprietor of the business, you’re haggling with a specialist: somebody in HR, say.
At the point when you make an interest, the HR individual could say “I have go to check with the recruiting director”, and when they return with short of what you needed it’s not their shortcoming, they’re simply passing on the terrible news.
The ramifications is that is just reality, and there’s no way around.
Try not to succumb to this stunt: they frequently can change the deal.
Past haggling for pay
You can haggle for a more significant pay — or rather, you ought to haggle for a more significant compensation.
The Adam I talked with in this article is presently an accomplice in DangoorMendel, who can assist you with arranging a more significant compensation.
Be that as it may, compensation isn’t the main thing you can haggle for.
You can likewise haggle for a more limited week’s worth of work.
Also, indeed, this is more enthusiastically, yet all the same it’s most certainly conceivable.