How to Negotiate the Salary You Deserve [The Stress Less Show - Episode 80]

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Carlee

Are you caught between the stress of not getting paid what you're worth and not knowing how to get paid what you're worth? I'm Carlee Myers, your friendly stress management expert. And this month we are talking about stress and work. And I brought on Stephanie Heath, who is a job search consultant that helps soft spoken men and women land soul aligned, six figure corporate careers. Her global online business has transformed the lives of thousands of underpaid and uninspired professionals by teaching them how to tap into their corporate worth, interview powerfully and negotiate high six figure salaries. Her work has been featured in LinkedIn as an expert voice, the muse hello giggles, as well as in-person and online workshops, turning awkward interviewees into confident multiple offer earners around the globe. Now, this is actually her second time on the show, back by popular demand. Welcome to the show, Stephanie. 

Stephanie

Hey Carlee, thanks for having me. Hey, guys. 

Carlee

Absolutely, absolutely. So for those of us who don't know you, we don't know your story. Would you mind sharing a little bit about how you got into this line of work? 

Stephanie

Yeah, so I built a career in recruitment, I managed on lots of important teams, really a variety of companies, some large, some small Sony, Amazon, a lot of finance firms, investment banks and hit some burnout took two years off to just kind of find myself and came back and decided to go into business for myself. When I realized that, I don't think that managing recruitment for a company is right for me. So it was the best decision I could make. Super happy to just work with people one on one. And that's that's where I am now.

Carlee

I love it. I love that you've been there like you've been inside. You know what the process is like and you're giving people that inside the inside glimpse as to what they should be doing. So speaking of what we should be doing, what are your tips for getting paid, what we're worth?

Stephanie

Yeah, so I'm just going to give you guys a peek behind the screen, I think a lot of job seekers just don't know what's happening on the back end. I'm just going to work through some common feelings that pop up when a lot of people are negotiating. So the first thing that you want to do when you're setting yourself up for financial success, not being chronically underpaid at work is just understanding that you don't need to feed into the guilt during the job search. So. So the first step is just understanding that negotiations start during the first round. So what happens is that the recruiter, they will be making friends with you and hearing your story. And then one of our biggest objectives is to kind of get what you're looking for. And we'll ask you that. And it's kind of up to you depending on your personality if you are someone that likes to negotiate, then you can or you're someone that's comfortable being direct, putting up boundaries, then you can state the number that you're looking for. Definitely be really well researched. So you understand what is appropriate for you to ask for and then asking for maybe 10K or 15 percent more. So you have some room to negotiate down. And if that isn't you, if you're someone that is new to negotiating for whatever reason or you aren't really good at putting up boundaries and you're not selfish in life normally, then it may benefit you to just say, hey, you know, I've seen some variance in the market curious or I would be happy to hear what the budget is for this role and then letting them state the first number. And then if it's in line with what you've researched and what you are looking for, then you can indicate that. So I did want to be clear with this first tip is that the negotiations, negotiations do start on the first round, that we have about three objectives as a recruiter or a founder or anyone, and that's one of the numero uno ones. So that's a that and number two would just be to employ this thing. I don't have a name for it yet, but it's kind of like in one ear and out the other. And it is when you are, you stated your ask and it's not what they're looking for. So maybe there's something like, you know, to be honest with you, COVID hit. And, you know, we've been going through so much change, we don't have a budget for that right now or they say something like we love to bring you on. Is it OK if you a year from now we discuss maybe bringing you more in line with what your expectations are or they give you some sort of, you know, not to say this wrong, but like a sob story that feels true. The thing is, is that there are candidates out there that don't have those feelings. They really just look at work as black and white. So when someone tells them this, that it goes in one ear and out the other again, they just approach their life separately and they're just more business minded. But I don't for a lot of us, me included, we really take in that guilt and those feelings. And we're just like, OK, I understand. But I really want you guys to commit after hearing this episode that you are just going to be the CEO of your own life and employ what a lot of these other candidates are doing, which is in one ear and out the other. Unfortunately, because you do have to think about what do I want to pay for my child to go to this private school or will I, you know, will I just have them do this thing or, you know, I want to take this four star or six star vacation with my spouse but, you know, let's do this three star thing you have to think about. You have to put yourself first, basically, so you can either have a sticky note on next your phone that has a ton of exclamations, or you know have the be selfish screaming in your ear and have our podcast up. Right. Or just remember your spouse and just remember what's important to you. And so just let the them the person speaking to you, let them wash over you and just come back out. And then that's when you're going to employ a bit of strategy. So let's say they say, you know, again, we really want you and we can't for X, Y, Z reason is that OK? Right. That's when you just take a pause. You acknowledge their honesty and transparency in the process and you acknowledge where they are as a company and their decision. And that's when you ask a clarifying question. And you and it can be any question in the world, you could just say something like, yeah, you know, I really appreciate you sharing that with me. It's so important that we hear these things. And again, I appreciate that you have been more of a partner and a teammate in this because, you know, I'm not used to negotiating my salary. I'm wondering if you'd be open to sharing how you guys came to that decision. And that's all you had to say. Just say, like one question, whatever question, and just let them start talking again and they're going to start talking and just listen and just have it come in one ear and out the other, honestly. And that's when you bring it right back to your initial ask. This is what you're going to say. You're going to say. Again, you're going to go through acknowledging them. I appreciate this. Thank you so much. I really was excited when I spoke to Barbara or Mike, and for these reasons, and at this time, I am looking for xyz the amount, because some of the opportunities that I'm working that I'm in the interview process with are considering me at that amount or have been represented at that amount. And, you know, there are some other things you can say, but basically what are you going to do is just you're going to just restate your ask and then that is the negotiation. And then the third tip is to manage the final conversations by employing vagueness and letting go of the need to provide information you don't want to share, i.e. just setting a boundary. So we'll bring it back to that first call. As a recruiter, it's my job to get everything I can get out of you because it helps me build a case for both my company and for you. So, you know, if you don't have five or six sorry interviews happening, then, then it may not benefit you to share that. It may benefit you to say something like, I have a few different opportunities happening. So that's it. Just in a nutshell. Yeah. 

Carlee

I love that. And I love that you provided us some tactical tools for, like, the whole time you were sharing those tips. I was imagining back when I worked my nine to five sitting in the HR office, you know, having that conversation and asking those clarifying questions in one ear, out the other and then again stating what you need. I can absolutely see why your clients are getting high level six figure offers. And I know that there's so much more that goes into this. So for those of us who feel like they could use a little bit of support during this process, where can we find you?

Stephanie

Yeah, the best way to find me is career coach steph on Instagram or Stephanie Heath on LinkedIn. 

Carlee

Perfect, perfect. So we want to know for those of you who are listening, which tip about negotiation blew your mind, which tip are you ready to implement during your next interview? Now, if you're feeling a little bit over overworked and exhausted, I've got some good news for you. The Stress Less company works with high achieving CEOs, business owners and managers just like you to find that sense of peace and freedom that they desire. And as a result of our work together, they learn how to properly manage their time, tasks and energy so that they can experience more free time, efficiency and prosperity. Sounds pretty great, right? Well, you can apply for a complimentary stress, less clarity session with yours truly today to start the conversation about working together. Visit Stress Less CO dot COM Slash Apply. That concludes this episode of the Stressless show. I want to give one last big shout out to Stephanie. Thank you so, so much for coming on the show. 

Stephanie

Thank you for having me, as always. 

Carlee

Absolutely. So have you enjoyed this week's episode? Let us know by giving us a big old thumbs up and hitting that follow or subscribe button. Thanks for listening. And we'll see you next week. Bye.