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    Invest in Your Success: The Ultimate Salary Negotiation Workshop (VIDEO)

    Attendees of this webinar left with the need-to-know points from Hired and Pathrise’s Ultimate Guide to Salary Negotiation and their very own salary negotiation script to help them face their next negotiation with courage. Now, we bring you this discussion and interactive strategy session on demand! Keep reading for the first point the experts want you to take away from the guide.

    You’ll hear from:

    Read the beginning of the conversation here and scroll down to access the full webinar. 

    Let’s review the first key takeaway from the guide. 

    Meagan

    Research is really the most important thing for a salary negotiation. In my opinion, research should be done before you even start the interview process. You may have a number in mind based on your previous salary and that’s really a great jumping-off point. But doing your research can actually help you validate if that number is reasonable and help you achieve it as well. 

    Companies entering the process with a salary range in mind will consider a number of factors that determine where you fall within that range. 

    One of these factors is industry. If you’re doing your research on what average salaries are, don’t just look for the average salaries for anyone serving in your role across the board. Make sure you’re doing research on the type of company you’re interviewing with and the industry they’re in – not just what the average salaries are at that company. 

    Also, include their competitors. See what the average salaries are for a similar role at those companies to see how they stack up. There really can be different averages just depending on if you’re looking at fintech, health tech, all of those things. 

    Seniority is another one. Check out what the average salaries are, not just for the role that you are in because roles are different at different companies. You may be leveled at Software Engineer II at your current company but that could be considered a Senior Software Engineer at another company. 

    Related: Code Your Career: Staying Competitive in the Developer Job Market (VIDEO)

    Make sure that you’re doing this research to determine if you put your best foot forward and make yourself stand out in the interview process, where do you think you could be leveled? That can actually change a lot based on not just your previous performance and work history, but how you perform during the interview. Make sure you’re feeling confident going into all those conversations. 

    The last thing I’ll call out is location. The graph references some average salaries in different cities. No matter where the company is located, the salary is actually based on your home location. This is particularly important with so many of us being remote right now. 

    When you’re analyzing the average salaries for a company, keep in mind they may have employees in cities with very different cost of living than your own. Ask that question maybe during the conversation: where’s most of the team located? 

    If you’re looking for more information on calculating cost of living since it can be a little tricky, you can actually read and reference our 2022 State of Tech Salaries report and use one of the online tools suggested in the Salary Negotiation Guide to calculate and compare cost of living.

    Related: Hired’s Salary Calculator

    Alex

    Cost of living is important to consider for your personal finances, but it’s not going to be an effective argument for your negotiations. Companies factor in location when determining pay bands, but they don’t actually look at the cost of living. They look at the cost of labor. 

    Cost of labor refers to how much it takes to hire and retain employees with the qualifications to do a job in a certain industry in place. The formula itself is not important, but you do need to understand that since they are looking at the cost of labor, doing research on the market rate for your role, level, and location is what’s actually important. 

    When you go into the negotiation, be ready to point to a source on the market rate. Don’t worry about showing how much it would cost for you to live in a particular area because the fact is, honestly, employers don’t actually care about that.

    Other key topics from the conversation include: 

    More key takeaways from The Ultimate Guide to Salary Negotiation 

    How to create a salary negotiation script  More

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    The Ultimate Guide to Salary Negotiation

    What You’ll Learn

    Which factors contribute to your salary

    What not to say during a salary negotiation

    How to negotiate beyond base salary

    About this Guide

    Whether you’re looking for a new job or simply hoping for a raise within your current company, salary negotiation is a skill that can not only help you secure higher pay, but positively impact how your work is valued as your progress through your career. To ensure that you’re not only prepared but ready to land the salary you deserve, make sure to arm yourself with the right information.  More

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    How to Build Leverage in a Volatile Job Market (VIDEO)

    Check out a sneak peek of our recent webinar (now on-demand!) to learn how to feel confident entering the job search in an uncertain market. Based on Hired’s 2022 State of Tech Salaries data report, expert panelists discuss salary trends and the impacts of remote work and a volatile economy, share strategies to build confidence and leverage in a salary negotiation, and offer an inside look at the employer side of compensation packages.

    You’ll hear from:

    Talk Talent to Me Host, Rob StevensonFounder & CEO of Ladies Get Paid, Claire WassermanCareer Expert, CPCC, & CPRW at TopResume, Amanda AugustineDirector of Global Talent Acquisition at Glassdoor, Amy Farrar 

    Read the beginning of the conversation here and scroll down to access the full webinar. 

    Hello, everyone out there in Webinar Land. My name is Rob Stevenson. Welcome to the 2022 State of Tech Salaries Webinar, How to Build Leverage in a Volatile Job Market. We’ve assembled a fantastic panel to help you out and to discuss the report to send you off into the world with some great advice for how you can adjust your resume, position yourself, and understand more about what’s going on on the other side of the interview table. 

    I’m going to give you a quick background on this report in a minute but at a very high level: all you need to know is every year Hired releases this report based on the data we have on the Hired platform of hundreds of thousands of job offers made and accepted. It includes everything from the time it takes to salary and title information. We have an understanding on what candidates are ranking really highly in their own job search, and how companies are balancing that and making sure they can remain competitive. 

    We’re going to go through the report and key takeaways. Then, we’ll have our panel unpack the report and put it into terms that you can use in your own career hunt. 

    Now, let’s meet our awesome panel. Again, I’m Rob Stevenson, your humble host. Under normal circumstances, I host and produce Hired’s podcast, Talk Talent to Me, but desperate content calls from desperate measures. Today I am helping this webinar along its merry way and I couldn’t be happier to do so. Also here on the panel with us is the Co-Founder of Ladies Get Paid, Claire Wasserman. Claire, welcome to the webinar and would you mind sharing a little bit about your background and company?

    Claire Wasserman

    I started Ladies Get Paid in 2016 out of extreme frustration and anger around the wage gap and the leadership gap. Before I started Ladies Get Paid, I wasn’t a recruiter but I worked in the recruitment space. I was Director of Marketing for a company that connected talent in advertising, tech, and design. Ladies Get Paid is all about education so we do webinars, conferences, and summits – anything to bring women the tools to make more money and live better. 

    We also have a global community because there’s a lot of power in peer-to-peer sharing, just as much as there are experts sharing. I’m deeply motivated to get women, specifically, into positions of power and I think it begins with asking for more. Negotiating is a way we can at least have agency over our own wage gaps. 

    It really can change not only your life and this year’s paycheck, but generations to come, families, and communities. There’s so much power in speaking up, standing up, and asking for more…  More

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    Evaluate the Job & Negotiate the Job Offer You Deserve

    Editor’s note: this is Part 3 in our series with our partner, Makers, “Build Confidence and Take Control of your Job Search Series.”

    After a successful interview, a job offer often comes next. The offer stage sometimes creates discomfort and uncertainty for job seekers. When do you bring up compensation? How do you negotiate a salary? What should you ask for? Is the offer a good fit for you?

    These are all questions Hired and Makers answer in this chapter. Learn how to check offers and negotiate the salary you deserve! If an interview ends in rejection, learn how to tackle that, too.

    Get Started with Salary Negotiations

    Most of the time, the sourcer or recruiter will ask what you’re looking for in base salary or total compensation. Don’t feel put on the spot! Instead, if a screener asks for your expected salary range, ask about the salary band, or budget for the role.

    Pro Tip: It’s illegal in a growing list of areas to ask candidates for a salary history, or about their current compensation. Doing so promotes bias. These laws are known as a salary ban, not to be confused with a salary band, as mentioned above.

    If this doesn’t come up in initial phone screens, you can start the salary conversation early in the interview process. Be polite, don’t make it your first question, but don’t wait for an offer, either. Waiting to bring up salary until the end of the process doesn’t do you any favors. The early discussion helps you get in front of salary negotiations. 

    You could choose to say, “I’m sure you value alignment as much as I do. Can you share the salary band budgeted for the role?” You may have follow up questions to qualify that number. Is it base plus bonus? Is that a total compensation number, including benefits? Nobody wants to make a false assumption.

    Make sure you are clear about your personal priorities during the interview process. Determine your value in the marketplace before setting foot in an interview. This is very important for women. Female job seekers sometimes undervalue their contributions to the marketplace. This is known as an expectation gap.

    Hired’s salary calculator helps you with this task. We  recommend a starting point for you using data from the marketplace. The Hired platform alerts you to the discrepancy so you are able to make changes if you set expectations too high or too low.

    Remember, this number is just a starting point. Keep your priorities in mind as you negotiate. Some job seekers choose flexibility in exchange for entering a high-demand industry. Don’t share minimum expectations as they can result in low offers. Think about the salary offer that makes you excited to take the job and pursue this number.

    How to Negotiate Your Salary & Benefits

    Ask if you and the company are on the same page regarding salary after stating your expectations. The salary offer isn’t always what you expect or a number that satisfies your needs, and that’s ok. Communicate your desire to negotiate salary quickly so the company can respond.

    State your passion and motivation to join the company. Then, explain that the current offer doesn’t work for you. Be direct and be very clear if you intend to give a counteroffer for your salary. Let the company know that you plan to accept the role if they meet that number. Companies ready to move forward quickly respond when candidates are ready to start.

    Tech jobs and sales jobs have differing salary components. Base salary, target bonus, and equity are common for tech role offers. Fixed compensation and variable compensation or base salary plus commission are components of a sales job salary offer. Benefits and perks are usually included in both.

    Consider negotiating other benefits beyond salary. Getting creative can help you get what you want when there is no wiggle room in the base salary. Some possibilities include:

    Sign-on bonusGuaranteed annual bonusExpedited raiseMoving stipendStocks or RSUsPaid time offHealth benefitsLearning stipends

    Examine the Offer

    Once you lock in salary negotiations, it’s time to take a hard look at the offer. Look at all elements and decide which are the most important in your eyes. Write down your priorities – this trick helps you hold yourself to them.

    Consider these areas when checking your job offer:

    People element – your manager, team culture, and company culturePlace element – location of the office, company size, industryThings element – compensation, benefits, perksTiming element – do you need to find a new job right away, or is there time to be choosy?

    Rejection is Just Redirection

    Sometimes it just doesn’t work out, despite a great interview. Don’t take this personally! Rejection doesn’t always mean you did something wrong or weren’t qualified.

    Stay solution-oriented to keep future doors open. The way you handle rejection can make or break this relationship. Ask the company for feedback. Learn what you can to improve your future interviews. You never know when another position will open. Be civil and respectful despite rejection.  It often leads to new opportunities on different teams or at other offices. Besides, there’s no guarantee the person they hire will work out. It happens more than you think.

    Do you feel like you need to upskill to be more competitive? Makers offers opportunities to increase your technical skills!

    Land the Job Offer You Deserve on Hired

    Master the job search process from start to finish with these easy to follow steps. Hired.com helps you every step of the way! Our Customer Experience managers help candidates achieve success throughout the hiring process. Complete your free profile on Hired’s job marketplace. Be sure to optimize it with these tips, and let employers search for you!

    Related:

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    How to Stand Out Behind the Screen: a Guide for Remote Candidates

    Part of a Series: Setting yourself up for success as a remote candidate

    Editors note: this article was previously posted on LeadDev on behalf of Hired as part of a content series for remote jobseekers.

    Before the pandemic, the job market was split into two uneven parts – office work and remote work – with hardly anything in between.

    Two years later and we now live in a world where you can be, say, 92% remote, visiting the office twice a month. The binary of home and office work no longer exists; ‘remote’ is a variable, and every company has its own baseline.

    Some are offering remote positions on top of office ones. Many are taking a hybrid approach, giving the flexibility to work some days remotely and encouraging folks to come in for ad-hoc team events or sensitive one-on-ones. I was recently involved in a company effort to design that hybrid culture shift and it changed the way we recruit as well.

    If you’re searching for a partially or fully remote role, how can you navigate through an uneven and saturated market? Here I’m sharing my guide for remote candidates looking to stand out by mixing new ‘remote’ tricks along with proven winning strategies.

    1. Boosting your profile

    Cut through the noise

    It’s important to clearly communicate your personal baseline for working remotely. Let recruiters know if you’re willing to come to the office at all, and specify how often. Put this information on your LinkedIn profile and CV. Otherwise, you’ll waste valuable time talking to recruiters who are looking for something else and miss other opportunities due to a lack of focus. It’s also a good idea to highlight if you’re open to relocation and what your baseline would look like in the new country.

    Plan for limited attention

    As a hiring manager, I look through CVs every day. Attention is the most valuable resource I have, and so my task is to extract essential information as fast as possible to decide whether to start the recruitment process. I only take a deeper look when I’m preparing for the interview.

    This isn’t just me. Some studies suggest you have only 7 seconds to attract a recruiter’s attention. That may be an exaggeration, but most recruiters I know settle on a 60-second interval. To increase your chances, consider structuring the most vital details on the first page and use an E or F pattern.

    Showcase the most valuable details

    When I scan the applicant profile, I personally look for:

    Is it a remote-only candidate? If so, what is their timezone range availability? I hope to find these details at the top of the page, together with their LinkedIn URL and personal website or GitHub.Is relocation needed? Relocation adds an interval on top of the notice period, so if I am proceeding with such a candidate I need to plan accordingly.What can this person do, and what do they like to do? A lot of candidates barely mention what they excel at and what kind of opportunities would make them happy. I get very excited when candidates include this in a summary.What was their last job role in detail? Here, I expect a clear distinction between responsibilities and achievements. When I was refactoring my own CV a few years back, I was surprised by how hard it was to separate achievements and tie them to numbers, let alone business outcomes. It’s no wonder that many candidates fail to paint a clear picture of their recent roles. However, doing this will get you bonus points.Is it written in sufficiently good English? I also use the CV to estimate English proficiency and attention-to-detail levels. This is especially important for remote candidates who rely a lot on written communication. And of course, it may not be applicable to neurodivergent individuals.

    Treat LinkedIn as a minimalistic version of your CV

    Recruiters rely on LinkedIn more and more as a sourcing tool where they can find and reach out to attractive prospects. Moreover, if your profile is detailed and up-to-date, they may treat it as a mini CV. Sometimes, I interview candidates without seeing their CVs, just based on their LinkedIn profiles.

    Consider keeping sections like your ‘Summary’ in sync between your CV and online profile. Often, candidates don’t have any description of their roles in the LinkedIn ‘Experience’ section, which renders their profile semi-useless from a sourcing perspective.

    Remember that exercise of writing down your achievements? These would shine on your profile too. Because of the spam, you would still get irrelevant proposals occasionally, but less so. Having your online profile in check may lead to some of the most promising and well-targeted recruitment invites.

    2. Making the right impression

    Think through your video appearance

    In a remote work environment, the way you present yourself matters. It’s not about how you look. It’s how you impact the experience of others. When we come to the office, we want a comfy, quiet space with a nice interior. In a video chat, each participant’s video and audio stream contributes to the overall environment. It forms that virtual office space. Your own contribution should improve it, so the interviewers can see it would be comfortable for them to work with you remotely.

    Do you have everything listed below? These represent the hygiene minimum:

    Good sound. Don’t use an internal microphone.No background noise. You can also try to bring it down via software.Non-cluttered background. The real one is better, yet you can also resort to a virtual background.Non-blurry webcam. A cheap webcam also might do a better job if you increase the amount of light in the room.Good internet connection. Also, arrange for a backup connection.

    If adjusting your current setup is entirely impossible, consider renting a meeting room through a coworking space or taking an interview from a friend’s house with a better setup.

    Related: Video Interviews 101: How to Impress in the Digital Age

    Demonstrate remote professional traits

    Every company has different needs, so there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to the personal qualities you should demonstrate in the interview. Some companies may consciously allow for specific traits as a part of their D&I strategy. A good trick is to ask the recruiter what kind of remote candidates they’re looking for.

    That said, there are a few common things that would highlight your capacity to work remotely

    You come across as an organized person. To the extent that you are on time to join interviews, responsive to recruiters over email, and appear composed when speaking.You have good written communication skills. The typical signals are your CV, online profile, and any written content you generate during the recruitment process (e.g., email exchange with a recruiter) or posted online earlier (e.g., your article).You can be concise when speaking. This means you don’t take too long to deliver a point. Folks who can’t do this tend to bloat work meetings, increasing zoom fatigue. If brevity and structure don’t come naturally, you can practice in advance (try using the STAR or PARADE methods).You can bring results autonomously. This is especially important if there’s a timezone difference. The ability to organize and unblock yourself while your colleagues are asleep becomes crucial.

    3. Applying the secret sauce

    Highlight what makes you special

    Every person is special and can contribute in a unique way. As a hiring manager, I also have to be very pragmatic. Ultimately, I will prioritize hiring those applicants who are already aware of what makes them stand out. These folks write about it on their profile and highlight it during interviews.

    Things I would look for include open source contributions, pet projects, tech articles, non-tech initiatives, and public speaking. Your personality and past experience can also make you interesting. I’ve hired pilots and poets, architects, and party people. Carefully growing a team and adding diverse personalities into the mix can make it incredibly performant and creative. It also makes for a fun place to work. Consider what kind of community you want to join, and make your profile stand out in that way.

    Reflections on standing out as a remote jobseeker

    One thing I haven’t mentioned at all in this article is tech skills. Those alone could get you a job, and there’s a magnitude of resources dedicated to perfecting them. But it’s a shame that so many people overlook the importance of presenting themselves in a clear, appealing, and authentic way. By boosting your profile, making the right impression, and applying a bit of secret sauce, you’ll surely increase your chances of swiftly getting the best offer from the company that’s right for you.

    This article was written by Matthew Gladyshev as part of a content series for LeadDev.

    Related articles: More

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    How to Negotiate Your Job Offer

    So, you received an offer — congratulations! Now, you might be wondering, Can I negotiate it? Yes, you definitely can negotiate your offer! Companies will not retract the job offer if you do. In fact, those who negotiate are often successful in getting a better outcome. If you’re unsure, your Candidate Experience Manager can offer […] More

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    How to Maximize your Job Offer as a Remote Engineer

    This article is reposted from one originally contributed to LeadDev.com and authored by Lawrence Barker for Hired… How can you get the job offer you want? And how can you feel confident you’re getting paid what you deserve? With so much confusion around salaries for remote roles, these questions are top of mind when you’re […] More

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    Why you should seek accurate salary data to land the salary you deserve

    Discussing salary or going into a salary negotiation conversation can be nerve wrecking for many reasons — and you’re not alone. Some may feel like they lack enough (of the right) data to discuss numbers, while others might not feel confident in the actual words to use when approaching a salary conversation to appear fair while achieving a salary they deserve. Both instances can cause unnecessary anxiety for job seekers, and can prove especially difficult for candidates of underrepresented communities, even though it continues to be the top motivator for tech candidates to look for and accept a new role.
    Leveraging salary data can help empower job seekers to not only ask for the compensation they deserve, but also expect it. In our webinar, “Staying Empowered With Data: Knowing & Asking For The Compensation You Deserve,” I had the opportunity to discuss with our guest speaker, Virgginnia Buccioni-Hillman — an experienced D&I recruiter, HR professional, and DE&I Program Manager at Tile — about why it is important to seek pay equity, how to uncover accurate data sources, and approach salary discussions.
    Empower yourself with accurate salary data
    With a wide variety of resources available online, job seekers must be keen to know where their salary data is coming from. Salary information can be presented as base salary or total compensation, which may include equity, stock options, and bonuses. In addition, salary data can be characterized as employer-reported or self-reported data, the difference being that self-reported data cannot be confirmed by employers. While both types of data sources can be helpful for research purposes, this is what can confuse job seekers and make salary discussions more intimidating and possibly misleading.
    For technical candidates, there are various factors that should be considered when researching salary data and defining a target salary range, including the career field and role you are in or interviewing for, your current city, the location of the prospective role (if it differs from where you live), your core skill-set, and your years of experience (i.e. overall, within a role, coding in a particular language/framework). In her recruiting experience, Buccioni-Hillman shares that this is how different salary bands are developed and how candidates are evaluated for starting salary within the interview funnel.
    Using your research to discuss salary
    On Hired, we encourage a type of salary discussion at the first introduction between a candidate and recruiter to establish a preferred base salary on both ends. While this is not set in stone until a final offer is extended, it elicits a conversation around this early on to ensure there are no surprises or time wasted for both parties. It can also be common for salary discussions to happen as the process approaches an onsite interview.
    Job seekers should invest themselves into the role and team you are interviewing with and lean into these conversations. When asked what your target compensation range is, you can lean on the data you’ve gathered and share your preferred base salary range based on the market research you’ve done. Likewise, Buccioni-Hillman encourages candidates to feel comfortable asking what the base salary range is for the role and level you are interviewing for. By having an open dialogue early on with the recruiter and hiring manager, it can be an ongoing conversation as you proceed through the interview process.
    After doing research into salary data, it is also important to take stock of what is most important to you in a total compensation package, including stock, equity, bonuses, and benefits. Especially in a remote world, examples can include additional vacation time, flexible work schedules, professional development budgets, technology allowances or incorporating a compensation adjustment with a performance review after 6 months and other perks. In an instance of negotiating salary, candidates might shy away from countering to not appear greedy or ungrateful for the opportunity. Companies won’t retract their offer because you would like to negotiate — if anything, they expect you too so don’t be shy. 
    Displaying confidence in your pitch
    If a company has extended a job offer, they believe that you would be a great addition to the team. Displaying gratitude and humility for the opportunity is great but Buccioni-Hillman challenges job seekers to strike a balance between that and ensuring that you aren’t leaving money on the table. Buccioni-Hillman shares that candidates should remember to do the following in salary discussions or negotiations:
    Display confidence in your ability to perform the job successfully
    Focus on the value you can bring to the role and team
    Reiterate your commitment and motivations
    Confidence starts within yourself. When you know your worth, it isn’t boastful to ask for what you are valued. Buccioni-Hillman explains how, while there are systems that may work in favor of some more than others, it shouldn’t stop people from believing in themselves. Gaining visibility and a seat at the table starts with asking for help, gaining mentors, and surrounding yourself with like-minded people that you aspire to be like. While it might feel like it, success doesn’t have to be a lonely road. You can go much further in community with others.
    Additional Resources:
    If you are looking for employer-reported resources and tools to seek accurate salary data, we recommend the following:
    Hired’s Salary Calculator: Discover tech role salaries for specific markets, roles, and years of experience based on real offers extended to candidates by companies on Hired.
    Hired’s 2020 State of Salaries Report: Understand tech role salaries and compensation trends by market, over time, and across different demographic groups, especially in the rapidly changing world we live in today.
    SalaryList: Online tool with real salary data collected from government and companies – annual starting salaries, average salaries, payscale by company, job title, and city. More