Episode 19: How to avoid getting lowballed on salary

In my first SDR role I was making $80,000 with 60% base and 40% commission. Then $90,000 with 50/50 split. Before I got the hang of the market, buyer, product, etc. my paychecks would vary wildly. Sometimes one paycheck would go completely to rent and I would have no income until the next. Later on, one paycheck covered my entire month’s expenses and the second went to savings.

My first salaried role was at $60,000. Because it was “guaraunteed” I didn’t negotiate the salary, but they wanted me to move so I negotiated all those expenses as well as a starting bonus. Then I went to $90,000 in my next job and then $150,000 after that. While it felt like a big jump to me (almost double) I later learned that one of my peers on the same team who started 2 months before me and never had experience actually doing the job was offered $180,000 with a $10,000 sign-on bonus. I believed them when they said “the company doesn’t offer bonuses”. Never again.

Here’s my playbook to maximize each offer today:

“What are your salary expectations?”

This is the question you can expect in every 1st or 2nd round call. Do not answer with a number. At this stage in the process you likely have not done research of your market value or have an understanding of the compensation structure. Instead here’s what I recommend saying:

Recruiters will often say they don’t want the negotiation to break down because you want an unrealistic number which is true. The reality is though if you can demonstrate you’re an exceptional fit then you can dictate your own number. More on that in a future episode

Backchannel with contacts at the company:

Go through your network on LinkedIn and find a warm intro at the company. It can be any role but try to match relative seniority (e.g. if you’re applying for a director role talk to other directors). Your goal here is the understand the compensation structure. Questions I ask:

1. What did your offer consist of (salary, bonus, equity, other benefits)?

2. What was their opening offer / what did they negotiate it to?

3. (If they are uncomfortable sharing above) Share the range the recruiter told you and ask if they think this is an acceptable range for a Director at company x? What is that based on?

4. Any gotchas they remember from the interview process or things they wish they would have known?

5. (For equity at private companies) What was the latest 409a valuation and how many shares are outstanding?

Backchannel with future peers at the company:

You can ask the folks you know for intros to a future peer if you don’t know one already. This time you are specifically looking to meet people on your future team/in your future function. Your goal is to ask similar questions and pressure test any department nuances - e.g. customer success may offer a bonus component but marketing does not.

If they have been there 12 months+ also ask about career progression — who have they seen get promoted on the team/was the process ambiguous? Understanding the future growth at the company is key because you may want to focus on a longer term negotiation (e.g. level your role maps to) rather than short term (starting salary).

Close the loop with the recruiter:

You should time these informational interviews about the compensation structure and process along with your interview process. If you time it right then the recruiter will want to have a call once you’ve finished your final round interview. If not schedule it. In this final call you will then ask the the recruiter questions about the compensation structure, promotion path and any outstanding info like 409a valuation etc.

Remember the recruiter’s job is to maximize the budget for the company — not your paycheck. They are a source information for you but they are there to advocate for the company not you. While they are excellent sources of information, assume all $ and figures are lowballs and you will need to negotiate up to where you want to be.

These tactics will help with the research, but the only way to get leverage in the negotiation is by ensuring you have clearly articulated and demonstrated all of the skills the team is searching for in this position. It’s less around what you think you can do and more around what they think you can do based on your interactions. They only know what they see/hear directly from you and people will assume the rest.

As always feedback is a gift and I welcome any/all feedback on this episode - good or bad. See ya next week 👋.

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✨ Special thank you to Gigi Marquez who suggested I start this newsletter 🙏7Iq