Many of my readers are young women. A big problem that still exists for women — young or not — is pay disparity, getting paid less than their male counterparts for the same work. Oftentimes, this result comes about because women do not negotiate their salaries as often as men do. A 2018 study by Robert Half, a global staffing firm, found that 68 percent of men but only 45 percent of women negotiated their salaries.
Let’s get that latter number up! Here’s our take on it:
Why should I negotiate my salary?
Don’t forget the means part of living beneath your means. There are two parts to the LBYM equation and the means part is the part you have less control over. Given that reality, when you do get a window of opportunity to do so — when you have some influence over those means (i.e. your wage, your salary, your benefits) — you need to take advantage. Even something like voting can have an impact on this number, as anyone who has ever worked a minimum wage job can attest to.
When should I negotiate my salary?
Do you know which one of my kids’ requests never gets filled? The one that’s never made! We have a version of this conversation on a regular basis:
Kid: Mom always says “no” when I ask for (insert ludicrous ask)!
Me: You never asked me for that.
Kid: Can I have (ludicrous ask)?
Me: No. *cackle*
My point in telling you this — other than needing to get it off my chest — is that 100% of the time you don’t ask for something, I guarantee you won’t get it. If you’re even thinking about negotiating your salary, it probably means you’ve got a nagging sense that it’s time for a conversation (hopefully, a more productive one than the one I shared).
Regardless, there are junctures where a salary negotiation arises more naturally. Some of these include:
“the important thing is just doing it”
us at Live Beneath Your Means
- At the beginning of the interview process or shortly thereafter
- Upon receiving a job offer
- When you realize other people in the organization are paid more for similar work
- After a period when you have added significant, measurable value
- Anytime you can make a financial case for doing so
How do I negotiate my salary?
The first person you should talk to is your direct manager. Often they are in the best position to advocate for you, especially if they have a vested interest in keeping you. Your asking for a raise from someone else also reflects badly on her.
What do I do if I can’t negotiate my salary (they don’t accept/they don’t give me what I want)?
At this point, depending on the reasons for the “No”, you have a few options. If you made a strong argument, but your company seems intractable, you can, of course, walk away (because you’ve saved up for just this eventuality, right?). If they claim the issue is financial (i.e. oh they would love to, but they just don’t have the money for it at the moment), you can also walk, no—run away because a company that can’t absorb the absolutely reasonable bump you’re asking for? It’s a brittle, poorly-managed enterprise and likely on the precipice of financial ruin.
When I get a notification that my water bill is going up, it’s not a sign of personal finance health if I can’t cover that expense going forward. Same with your company.
Seriously, this kind of response is just a disrespectful way of saying “no.” They’re saying “no” with a side order of dismissiveness. Look around you … OK, maybe not literally around you right now. Look around the organization. Where does its revenue come from? Where does it spend its resources? I bet there’s a surfeit of evidence that the company does, in fact, have money to pay you what you’re worth and is simply choosing not to do so.
If you’re willing to take them at their word this time—fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me—ask your employer for guidance on when you can bring up the topic again. Most organizations of size go through a planning process in which they build forecasts for the next one to three to even five years. If the funds aren’t available now, ask to have them included in the next budget cycle. Then put a reminder on your calendar to bring the topic up again when planning time comes.
I’m not a career advisor nor do I play one on television, but I do recognize the outsized impact that your career (among other things) can have on your life, financial and otherwise. There are plenty of resources out there for people trying to find out what color their parachute is or how to lean in at work, but don’t neglect the numbers.