Don’t fall for these 3 arguments companies use to lowball your salary


Hi Reader,

This week, we wanted to share with you three common (but poor) arguments companies use during salary negotiations 👇

1️⃣ “If we give you the max salary available now, we won’t have room to increase it later”

▶ Translation: “We don’t have a sustainable way to reward employees other than pay below market now so we can pay a bit more later.”

▶Your move: Ask for the max salary now, stating that it will keep you more motivated than making less money now but more later (and hence less money overall).

Waiting on compensation with the hope of future raises rarely pays off. If the company values you, they should provide a competitive salary now—one that reflects your skills and contributions right from the start.

2️⃣ “The hiring manager [or the recruiter or someone else involved with the job offer] is on vacation”

▶Translation: We hope that you will take that as a reason to not negotiate so as not to bother the decision makers.

▶Your move: Negotiate without factoring it in at all that someone is out of office. It’s the company’s responsibility to manage your job application in a timely manner and not lose you to a competing offer.

Companies who value strong candidates don’t risk losing them over internal delays. If they’re serious about hiring you, they’ll prioritize your offer over temporary scheduling conflicts.

3️⃣ “We can’t give you more money because we aim to pay equitably across the team”

▶Translation: We care about equitability when it means paying everyone below market. But if you negotiate strategically and/or have another job offer, we will set aside equitability and do everything we can to win you over.

▶Your move: Acknowledge and applaud their equitability strategy but keep negotiating regardless.

Market dynamics take precedence over a company’s compensation philosophy (assuming they’re not just saying it to begin with) - i.e. if you have a better offer, they’ll pay more to attract the right talent.

If they need to pay you more to win you over, they could then pay everyone else in the team a bit more too then to maintain equitability, no?

🧳 Ready to get the money left on the table?

If you're job searching or expecting an upcoming negotiation, schedule a free consultation call with us here and get real-time support on how to deal with situations exactly like these.

Best,
Gerta & Alex
Co-founders of YourNegotiations.com

Hi, we’re Gerta & Alex. 👫
We’re Harvard, MIT, LinkedIn, and Instagram alums and we share negotiation tips to help you
negotiate job offers or business deals. Have an upcoming negotiation? Book a call with Alex
here!

548 Market St, No. 922375, San Francisco, CA 94104
Unsubscribe · Preferences

YourNegotiations.com

Gerta & Alex will teach you how to negotiate and add up to 5-to-6 figures to your compensation. They are the founders of YourNegotiations.com, offering consulting and training to help people become stronger negotiators in the workplace. They are negotiation experts, ex-Instagram, ex-LinkedIn, trained by world-class negotiators at Harvard and MIT, and their clients increase their compensation by an average of $90K over the initial offer.

Read more from YourNegotiations.com

We share negotiation tips + a peek into running a business with your life partner. 👫 🤝 Hi Reader, We have a big update for you this week—we launched the first episode of our podcast, Gentle Power! In each episode we’ll be sharing a peek into our personal lives here in San Francisco, as well as a few negotiation tips. And for this first episode, we’re sharing a tip that many people find controversial. More below! Personal Life: Community over Everything If you know me (Gerta), you know I...

We share negotiation tips + a peek into running a business with your life partner. 👫 🤝 Hi Reader, We’re beyond excited (and a bit nervous) to launch our podcast, Gentle Power, next week! Per popular demand, every episode will be part chit-chat about our lives in San Francisco and part sharing negotiations tips. We’ll be looking for a lot of feedback (and support) so stay tuned for launch date, March 24th! Subscribe on YouTube so you don't miss the first episode drop. Podcast launching March...

We share negotiation tips + a peek into running a business with your life partner. 👫 🤝 Hi Reader, Big names like Amazon, AT&T, and JPMorgan Chase are calling everyone back to the office…except for the “chosen few.” According to a new Wall Street Journal article, star employees—the ones hitting (or exceeding) performance quotas—are quietly getting special treatment. Think flexible schedules, more remote days, and far less micromanagement. So, what if you’re not the current “all-star” in your...