Using Josh’s template and techniques outlined in the Crash Course, I was able to increase the offer a company made me by $10k ($35k more than my previous salary).

In the beginning of the interview process, I was careful not to share my previous salary or my expectations for pay. I firmly believe that if I had shared either of these, my initial offer would have been substantially lower than what they came in at. The recruiter pushed for my salary expectations and I finally relented a little and told her that if she would like to share the range for the position I would be happy to tell her if we are at least in the ballpark. She shared the range and I was silent for a couple seconds before replying that we were close. She laughed a little and said she would be sure to note the top of the range when communicating with the hiring manager.

They made an offer that was $5k over the top of the range the recruiter had shared with me and I sent a counteroffer email asking for more.

When I had the final salary discussion over the phone with the recruiter, she tried to push back on why I was asking for more since they had “made me such a great offer”. She also said that my email had “created quite a stir” and got everyone in their office talking about me that morning. I believe she was trying to get me to fold and apologize for having the audacity to advocate for myself by negotiating. I had done my research on the median pay for the position (which was about what they were offering) and was able to speak to that and my years of experience as to why I was making the request.

In the end, they increased their offer by $10k, which exceeded the minimum acceptable salary that I had privately set for myself at the beginning of the process.

This was my first time negotiating my salary and I will be even more well prepared in future negotiations thanks to Josh’s content.