I was worried that I would get lowballed on compensation, particularly because I’m not in a hypercompetitive geographical location compensation-wise.

In absolute dollars, Josh is expensive! But obviously in percentages, not so much. Even still, that was my biggest hesitation about hiring him.

I highly doubt I would have gotten the compensation I ultimately got had I not been working with Josh. I negotiated 30% higher compensation than my initial offer. Getting that result made it much easier for my wife to take a lower-paid startup job that is more fulfilling for her. I also hope that it will help keep my compensation on a higher track in the future, both at my current and future employers.

Josh was incredibly helpful and I think having someone there to coach me through the overly stressful negotiation process made a big difference in my confidence and the ultimate outcome. Part of me suspects that my recruiters wondered if I was working with someone, and if so, reducing their perceived advantage in negotiation was totally worth it to me. Plus, I was able to avoid stressing my wife more than I already did through the process ;-)