Forgot the first and most important commandment: always force them to open.
They will always low ball, so you know what they think of your skillset and you can negotiate upward if they really want you. If you open you have nowhere to go but down.
They will always low ball, so you know what they think of your skillset and you can negotiate upward if they really want you. If you open you have nowhere to go but down.
Uh...that's literally the first one though?
> Do not — I repeat, do not — give them a number.
> What to do instead: Ask for the range they’re budgeted for the role.
opening with a high but not unthinkable number is way more likely to maximize your comp than playing games and refusing to give a number. the worst case is they deem you not worth it and stop the process but if you are confident in your worth that is a good outcome for you
However, if you're in a market where most companies will offer less than half your current compensation while still thinking they're paying well, and potentially be right about it when compared to many other companies on the market, I am not sure what the best strategy is.
You need to filter out the companies that are a no-go from the beginning, and you need to do so early, because the amount of time and energy you can invest in the job search is finite. Giving a (vague, higher-than-current-salary) number that you're looking for seems to be the only way to do so. Of course, this puts you in a terrible position once you do find one of the few companies actually willing to pay comparably.
“I’m looking for a total comp number that starts with an X or an X+1” is the way I generally approach it.