Aloha friends,

We bring you this newsletter from the final leg of our trip, Hawaii! We have some good friends who live on the big island, and thought it would be nice to see them on an extended layover on our way back to San Francisco from Korea. We just laughed right now at the random places we find ourselves working, this time writing this issue while sipping on hot chocolates in a kava bar in the charming town of Hilo.

In this week’s episode of Gentle Power, we walked through some common scenarios where we’ve seen even experienced, very senior job candidates give away leverage without realizing. Sometimes, they even do these things intentionally thinking that it will increase their leverage, but in fact it’s hurting them in the long run. Listen here (YouTube | Spotify | Apple). Highlighting the main takeaways below.

Final negotiation Q&A session next week!

Before diving in, sharing that we have one final live Q&A coming up next Wednesday, November 13th at 12pm PT. It’s been a tough job market, so we’ll chat about the challenges we’re seeing and answer any specific questions you’re dealing with in your own job search. RSVP here!

The exec who made a huge mistake trying to help their case

We were speaking with a client, an executive at one of the top big tech companies, who, during our onboarding, told us that he is a very high performer at his current role and is making well above the range for his level.

Before he started working with us, he said that to help the negotiations with a company he just got a job offer from, he shared with the recruiter how much he was making at his current role, and had even shared his last year’s W-2 as proof.

The recruiter never asked for it. That’s because it’s illegal in many states, including our client’s state, to ask for current and past salary history! But he volunteered it anyway, thinking it would make him present as a more impressive candidate and to prove that his annual comp was way above what one would normally assume.

Sharing salary history will rarely help you

Here’s the problem: when you share your current or past compensation, you anchor the company to that number. Even if they have the budget to pay far more, they now subconsciously benchmark against your last salary.

Your intention may have been to signal strength by sharing your number, but you tightened the ceiling because the other side frames their range around what you shared. This is exactly why most US states have made it illegal for companies to ask for salary history. It limits your negotiating power.

You don’t (and probably never will) know the company’s true ceiling

Every company pays against a different philosophy for a given role, and all sorts of internal factors (urgent timelines, gaps on the team, hiring managers advocating for you) can push their true ceiling above the posted band. We’ve seen even similar roles at the same company land at wildly different final offers.

Your leverage will rarely, if ever, come from sharing what you’re paid now, what you were paid before, or what compensation you’re targeting. That’s why we always tell clients to avoid sharing your preferred salary or total compensation number.

An important note about sharing about your other opportunities

Similarly, disclosing details of other offers or opportunities (the numbers, who the offer is from, names of companies you’re interviewing with, the titles/pay bands/leveling, etc) can feel like a strategic move, but in practice, you’re only arming the companies with information that’s useful to them but may hurt your case.

For example, telling a small, mission-driven startup that they’re competing with a giant tech company won’t push them to give you a higher offer. They may not try to give you even just a little bit more since they know the gap is huge. On the other hand, telling the tech giant that they’re competing with a tiny startup tells them they’ll win on money, so they’ll have no reason to increase their offer even just a little bit either.

While it’s important to let companies know you have other offers, make sure to stay general and vague on the details.

Leverage grows from strategic information flow, tone/approach, and carefully timed communications.

Leading each conversation with curiosity draws out real scope and range. Keeping language warm helps build momentum. Holding your cards close reduces unnecessary anchors and preserves healthy tension. When you approach your negotiations this way, you get conviction that you haven’t left money on the table, which is what we’re ultimately aiming for.

Listen to the full episode here: YouTube | Spotify | Apple​

Best,

Gerta & Alex
​Co-founders, YourNegotiations.com

P.S. Are you job searching or have upcoming negotiations?

Book a free call with us, where we’ll learn more about your situation, offer some free tips, and explore if we’re a good fit to work together: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call​

P.P.S. Know someone who could use our help?

Refer them and earn $500.

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Simply send an intro email to alex@yournegotiations.com and your friend.

See all the details of our referral program on our website here.