Do You Know Your True Market Value?
Curt Skene’s In2Win! Career Coaching Supplement.
What you earned in your previous position has no bearing on what you will make in your next one, especially in an employers’ market! In fact what you earned in the past only really matters to you! Take time to research your industry and salary trends so you have an understanding of the range you might expect. No one does a better job representing your value than you, so be prepared to earn your next pay increase.
Remember that compensation today is more than dollars; figure out what else is important (e.g. equity, subsidies, education, vacation, corporate perks, life-work balance). Go in prepared to discuss openly all aspects of compensation as you never know when this subject will come up.
When asked the compensation question, always give them an answer. Avoidance will only lead to concern and doubt. Provide a fair range and let them know that like all humans you desire to be higher on the scale than lower. Never be afraid to stand up and ask for fair compensation but always be prepared to justify your request.
Be wary of how hard you push because you have yet to earn that right. Most times it is easier to negotiate things like vacation and tele-commuting when you are in the job and have proven your worth. While many companies have policies in place to manage these things most “good” managers have ways to work around them when needed.
Be aware of how a request looks from the employer’s perspective and negotiate from the reality of the moment.
Why I Wrote This Page
Because the first number mentioned in a negotiation disproportionately shapes everything that follows. This is a well-documented effect, and it’s exactly why walking in with your own researched number matters more than most people realize.
If you let the employer anchor first with a lower number, the entire rest of the negotiation happens relative to their anchor, not the market’s real number, even if their opening figure was arbitrary or lowballed on purpose. Knowing your true market value before the conversation starts isn’t just useful information. It’s what lets you set the anchor instead of reacting to theirs.
Your previous salary is not your market value. It’s a historical fact about a different job, at a different company, at a different time, and it should carry far less weight in the conversation than most candidates give it.
Action Steps
- Research your real market range before any compensation conversation starts, not after an offer arrives.
- Where possible, let the employer name a range first, but have your own researched number ready so you’re never anchored by theirs alone.
- Separate your past salary from your future ask in your own head first. It’s a fact about history, not a ceiling or a floor for what comes next.
In2Win! Afterthought
Curt’s current observations and updated guidance will be added here.
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