Tips for negotiating your salary

The salary question is always one of the most awkward for job seekers. When you're in the interview and they ask you desired, people usually do one of two things: freeze up completely, or ramble on and dig themselves into a hole.

What I mean is, they ask you for your salary and they end up going "well, 100k is average, but I could probably do 90k, but if you can pay more that's great, but no pressure, blah blah blah..." - don't do that. Below are some tips to make you better at negotiating your salary.

1) Do your homework: It's hard to just outright say a salary or give a range out of the blue. When you've been accepted for an interview, look up the average rates of someone in your position with your seniority level. That's always a good place to start. Also, local rates are becoming less of a thing as the country goes more remote.

2) Understand your worth (and try to negotiate): If a company provides you with a salary, I think you should ask for something most of the time, not just say "okay, sounds good." Asking for more is okay. However, you need to know why. If you ask for 15k more than they offered and your reason is "because I want it", that's a bad reason and no one is going to accept that. If you have unique skills you bring, or ways you know you can be worth more than the salary they provided, that should be your reason.

3) Keep your mouth shut! When you provide your salary numbers, don't overdo it and put your foot in your mouth. You've made your case, now it's time for them to respond.

4) Ask for market rate: If you're still unsure, you can always fall back on asking to be paid the competitive rate for the position you're interviewing for. If you've done your homework, you'll know whether or not the company is underpaying you.

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