5 tips to negotiate an offer for your dream tech job

They say women are less likely to negotiate salary or raises. Please, let’s stop that.

You may feel slightly uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or even ungrateful negotiating a job offer – particularly if it’s for a job you really want and have been working hard to land during the interview process. 

However, according to salary.com, 84% of managers expect some negotiation, and therefore it’s likely that there is some wriggle room when it comes to the job offer, and missing out on negotiation will almost certainly result in you leaving money on the table – up to $1.5 MILLION over your lifetime, according to an economist in an interview with NPR. 

Especially if you’ve given a strong performance during interviews, it’s always worth negotiating. This article covers 5 ways to negotiate your offer for your dream tech job offer, including real life examples, without alienating your hiring manager, burning bridges or coming across as unreasonable.

Keep impulse decisions for the supermarket queue, not the job negotiation

When receiving a job offer for your dream tech job, it can be difficult to resist the urge to give in to your elation and accept on the spot, particularly if you’re transitioning career and this opportunity represents a really exciting step in your future career into tech, or if you’ve not been having much luck elsewhere so far.

It’s ok to show that you are happy that you received an offer, but always pepper this with

1. Polite, calm neutrality with regards to the figure offered and

2. The ask to send through the offer in writing so that you can review it properly before accepting.

It’s OK to admit you would like to take a bit of time to review it properly before going ahead.

What this looks like in practice:

“I’m thrilled that you would like me to join [company].”

“Thank you for providing details of the offer. I’d like to take some time to review this in more detail.”

And by the way, that initial offer/number should come from them. In most other developed economies – it’s not customary to ask about salary history or current salary as a basis for salary expectations for the next role, which of course is absolutely how it should be. However, the UK recruitment industry has this really career-damaging notion that candidates sometimes need to provide their current salary to hiring managers and recruiters.

The reason this is damaging is that it unfairly anchors someone to a salary band, as opposed to objectively assessing whether the individual has the correct skills for the salary band that comes with the job advertised. 

If a candidate is coming from a company that offers low pay, why should they then be punished in their next role and continue this pattern? Perhaps the whole reason they are leaving that company is down to pay, after all…

Instead, provide your salary expectations for the future role. If enough people reject to answer the question of “what is your current salary” then maybe one day the UK recruitment industry will phase out this bizarre tactic. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this in the comments…

It’s a fine line between petty and persistence

If you’re reasonable, amenable and collaborative in your negotiation, it’s highly unlikely that the offer would be rescinded.

If you’re consistently making unreasonable demands, giving ultimatums, acting overly firm or threatening with other offers (particularly if they are made up) then it could end badly. At best, you join a company where the hiring manager or HR thinks you’re an a**hole and starts your relationship on a sour note – at worst, you don’t join the company at all.

Remember, if you’re successful at this negotiation, you’ll go from the negotiating position into an employee. You should aim to stay respectful and collaborative throughout the negotiation. Always stay positive and polite, this is not a zero-sum game: they get an amazing new employee, and you land the tech role of your dreams. There is no need to act like they are an adversary just because you are negotiating. 

Another tip is that when going back and forth, group your requests together. Imagine being the hiring manager going to lengths with their MD to get a higher salary approved to meet your request of a higher salary, only to receive another request from you for an increased annual leave allowance. This is more likely to irritate the hiring manager, and guess what? Irritated people aren’t going to advocate for you.

By contrast, you should be aiming to form a connection with the hiring manager or HR (whoever is the face of the negotiation). 

Upon re-analysing my recent negotiation to research for this article, I found an example of how I did this without even realising. 

In our correspondence, I took the time to thank the HR manager again for how quick he’d been able to turn around the interview stages, how kind he’d been throughout the process, how I appreciated him being on hand to discuss the offer out of hours and how he’d provided me by far the best candidate experience out of all the companies I’d spoken to. I let him know that I’d passed on praise to the MD too. 

This was all entirely accurate – I did have the best candidate experience and he was lovely – but by sharing this it showed my agenda was not only to secure an offer I was happy with, but also that I was interested in creating a bond with a potential new colleague.

I noticed that by saying “best candidate experience out of all the companies I’d spoken to” I’d also inadvertently dropped in that I was in processes with other companies too, heightening competition. However, it should be realistic to the hiring manager that you will be taking up the offer. You don’t want to burn potential future bridges by wasting their – and your time - in a negotiation if you know you’re going to take an offer elsewhere regardless. For example, if you have interviewed at three companies and have offers at all of them, you may want to narrow down to the top two to save time and complication. Politely withdraw from the process and generally the sooner the better, so as not to waste everyone’s time when you know there is no chance of joining there.

With the companies you are interested with, reiterate how thrilled you are with the prospect of working at the company. Your position should follow the sentiment “Yes, but…” i.e. that you are definitely interested in the offer and the job, but need to come to an agreement on the finer details relating to the offer itself. 

What this looks like in practice:

“Again, I’m so happy to receive an offer to join [company] and be a part of the team. However, after reviewing I’d like to discuss the offer in a bit more detail before signing the contract, and if there is any changes that can be made to the [salary/working arrangement/holiday allowance].”

Know your bottom line

When negotiating, have it clear in your mind what is the minimum you’d be willing to accept – what’s a ‘dealbreaker’ for you. It’s all very well getting an offer from a tech company when you’ve been trying to get into the industry for months, but if that comes at the expense of a 50% pay cut, less annual leave and less flexibility to work around childcare, then it’s going to be a deal breaker, not worth the switch and time to walk away.

You should come to the table with a minimum salary in mind that you would take for the role which is based on your personal needs (obviously don’t tell that to the hiring manager).

This could come in the form of a minimum salary to cover bills and expenditure each month and still have enough left over to save and go on holiday, flexible working hours to juggle childcare commitments or it may mean being able to work 90% remote so that you don’t need to relocate. Tech roles are generally flexible so you shouldn’t find those aspects too much of a challenge in your negotiation, but you need to be mindful of what your bottom line is, especially since you’re going for a career change. 

It may be the case that you accept a smaller increase or even a decrease from your previous role to break into the industry and secure your first role, which personally I can say is absolutely worth it in the long run. Had I stayed in my media sales job in a sector I had no interest in, I would not have gained the skills, experience and career progression I have had now. For a short time (6 months or so) in my first tech role, my take home pay was less, but this was quickly and easily outpaced for the long term, with a more fulfilling, interesting and flexible career that I love.

Do your homework

We’ve said it before in almost every other blog post, and we’ll say it again: Do. Your. Research. 

You can use websites like Glassdoor to find the salary range or average for the role you’re applying for, perhaps even at your specific company. You can even reach out to others that have worked there, or are working in a similar role elsewhere, if you know someone already that you think could give you some insight. Knowing what’s realistic will give you the confidence to know what you’re asking for is reasonable based on your knowledge and skill level.

If you have at one end your ‘dealbreaker’ amount, and at the top end of the Glassdoor range, your ‘dream salary’, you can expect to realistically land somewhere in between for an acceptable offer. Where you end up on that scale depends on your skills and experience, and it will also enable you to negotiate with confidence what you consider your worth, as you can cite that you have benchmarked the salary, even against what you have been offered elsewhere.

Your research may uncover that your company has strict salary bands that cannot be strayed from, and therefore your skill/experience level should dictate whether you go for the top of the band or land somewhere in the middle for going back with your counteroffer. If you’re pivoting into tech, you may consider accepting the lower end of that range, compared to someone with years of relevant experience.

Having your assertions backed up by research will also equip you to handle potentially tough questions that could come as a result of negotiating, such as “Why should we offer you this?”, “If we offer you this, are you going to accept?” or “Are we your first choice?”

What this looks like in practice:

“Since I’m transitioning into a career in tech, I have benchmarked the salary for this role and understand it to be in the region of [top of ‘mid-range’] and [top of range/ ‘dream’].”

Negotiating a job offer <> Negotiating a salary

Negotiating an offer does not have to be negotiating a salary. Particularly if there are strict salary bandings or parity that prevent the hiring manager from moving much on their initial offer, there may be other levers that can be pulled to comprise a more attractive offer. For example, is there an option to have a signing bonus, or a bonus or pay rise based on performance criteria (my first tech job offered something like this if I achieved a certification in the first 3 months). This is particularly relevant if transitioning into tech, as initially there will be a steep learning curve, but once you have learned the ropes and are adding value it will be as if you’ve worked in tech your whole career!

Alternatively, flexible working arrangements, holiday allowance, expenses (such as travel, phone or relocation), training or even stock options could be something offered as an alternative.

What this looks like in practice:

“I completely understand that X salary is the maximum that can be offered for someone with my experience, however would it be possible to agree to a [performance/signing] bonus upon completion of my [probation/certification]”

Conclusion

Once you’ve come to an agreement, it’s absolutely imperative you get your offer in writing, especially before declining other offers. To be honest, your whole negotiation should be in writing.

 When you have signed your contract, you can politely decline any other offers or withdraw from other interview processes by sending an email or a phone call. Absolutely do not just ‘ghost’ your other prospective employers. For the sake of a potentially difficult – but probably short - conversation or well-worded email, it’s not worth burning the bridge for the future, especially if things didn’t work out with your first choice. 

Now you have all the loose ends tied together, get excited, you have a new job! Now you can put your feet up, celebrate and bask in the glory of your own success.

However, if you’re still not quite sure how to approach your negotiation or declining offers, consider scheduling a free 1:1 with Verve who can help you and provide you with templates to help you feel more comfortable. We are here to help you succeed.