Why You Should Share Your Salary Expectations First
Because It Forces You To Know Your Value
The Climate Talent Playbook
Helping Climate Founders Build & Retain Teams that Win — and Solve Climate Change
Welcome back, everyone. Negotiating your salary might make you nervous, but it doesn’t have to.
In Today’s Issue:
👉 Why You Should Share Your Salary Expectations First
👉 Jobs We’re Working On
👉 Word on the Street
Why You Should Share Your Salary Expectations First
TLDR: Recognize you bring the value, understand how employers view value, know that value, and don’t be affraid to share your compensation expectations first.
Nothing is quite as contentious as the salary negotiation aspect in a job search.
Today I’ve got some news for you. Likely surprising news.
Contrary to what most say, you, the candidate, should be willing to say your number first. Here’s why.
You Bring The Value
It’s your career, your time, and your value. You’re the one bringing the value to the employer. Sure, they have built an apparatus that generates revenue. But it’s made up of people, including the founders or owners of the business.
You’re only being considered because they see value in making a hire. They see value in paying someone. Otherwise, they’d just keep the cash. They know that making this hire will increase the company’s value capture in some way. If it didn’t, they wouldn’t make the hire (at least in most cases).
All Jobs Have Quantifiable Value
It’s your time and therefore your value. The real question is, do you know your value in this transaction?
Unfortunately, most people do not.
Salespeople often come close because of how their comp is tied to revenue. For them, it’s easy to quantify. But you can do this for other roles. You simply have to understand where you fit in the broader organization.
If you’re an accountant, your value is likely in preventing a negative circumstance. Like an accounting error or compliance assurance. This could save the company a lot of money.
Nearly every job has this value. If you think about it for a few hours, and can’t figure out the value of your job, it might be a bullshit job. Or you might suck at your job. Or you might need to read The Personal MBA.
I cannot underscore the importance of understanding your value in the company enough. You must learn this so you can increase the value, and as a byproduct, the compensation you can command.
Determining Your Market Value
So, how do you determine your value? There are a few ways.
Value as a talent is relative in some ways. If 99 people with your same skillset are willing to accept a job offer at $100k a year, it makes it pretty hard for you to ask for $150k in the same market. Heck, even a $110k ask would feel like a stretch unless you bring some special value to the table.
The first way is comps.
What are people with comparable experience making in this role? If you don’t know this, you might be early in your career or poorly networked. If you don’t, I recommend learning it ASAP.
Another factor is how happy you are in your current role. If you have little or no incentive to leave your current role, that can increase your value because you don’t need the job. This usually only happens to exceptional candidates. They are known in their niche of the industry, and other execs ask recruiters to poach them.
Beyond this, you can get creative. Do you see ways to directly demonstrate your value to the prospective employer? This is something you will need to learn to do for yourself because each industry and role is unique in some ways.
Once you figure out your number, you’ll have more clarity.
Now you can share your number.
Good Employers Are Not Rigid
A lot of people are afraid of saying their number first because it could be too high. What if it’s too low? If you know your worth, you can say it with confidence.
Keep in mind, good employers don’t end a conversation when a candidate wants more than they can offer. They have flexible comp ranges. They know some folks are top-tier and require higher pay. Some are junior, and you’re doing them a favor by taking a chance on them. In those cases, it’s usually below market pay (for that role).
If your number is way off from their expectations, they will mention it. From there, you can find a way to make it work if possible.
If it doesn’t work out? Don’t sweat it, some jobs are not a fit.
Also note, sometimes they might want you but don’t know how to land you. If you sense this (be careful that you don’t sound arrogant), find a way to open up the discussion.
It’s a Discussion, Not a Mic Drop
Now is a good time to mention, when you share your number, don’t just say a number and let it hang there. Include the nuances.
‘For the right role, I could go lower.’ ‘If the role requires X, I’d need a higher upside.’
This makes it a discussion. It’s not a robotic motion where someone will get the short end of the deal afterwards.
In all cases, I have a hard line for your minimum pay. A number you need to consider for the role. You’ve got mouths to feed and bills to pay. You wouldn’t to sell yourself short for an exciting opportunity.
Confidence Attracts
When you do this, it makes you more attractive because you have clear reasons for your expectations. You are sure of yourself. In most cases, this goes well and leads to them wanting you more.
If you are too insecure to share your number, you’re just hoping for a good outcome. It’s also a massive sign of immaturity when a candidate plays those ‘what is the range’ games. (IMO)
At the end of the day, it’s your career. You’re the one agreeing to spend a third of your life each year for this company. You need to make the decision. Learn to only accept roles that directly correlate to the value you have on the market.
If you can’t command enough pay, start your own business to capture the full value.
Action Item: Spend 72 hours figuring out what value you bring to an employer. Then figure out your number. This will give you incredible clarity in your job search.
Jobs We’re Working On 💼
Here are the jobs we’re supporting currently.
Sales Director - PowerGem | Remote (USA)
Director of Manufacturing - Helix Earth Technologies| Houston, TX
VP of Finance & Ops – EV Charging SaaS Startup | Austin, TX
Sr. Account Executive – Gravity Climate | Remote (USA)
Mid-Market Account Executive – Impact Startup | Brooklyn, NY
EHS Manager – Mission Solar Energy | San Antonio, TX
(→ Want your job here? Reply to this email.)
Don’t see a role for you? Submit your resume here.
PS: If you’re looking to find top talent in the US and struggling, reach out. We’ll help you find the best talent in a timely manner, accurately, and for about half of what other firms charge (we charge 12-15% others charge 20-30%).
Sponsored by ErthTech Talent: 70+ Placements since 2020. Affordable. Accurate.
Word on the Street
ClimateTech is increasingly not a sexy area. However, there are still plenty of people who are still on ride or die. The focus among founders out there is on making economically viable businesses.
Despite the bad aura, there are still some good wins. We continue to see the good companies get funded, while the mediocre companies are still struggling.
We’ve also recently noticed a bunch of PE firms enter the energy tech software space. There is a lot of money to be made there, regardless if renewables or traditional energy sources win.
A year or two of bad leadership is a plague to avoid. A while back I heard of a company that was having massive turnover in their sales leadership team. Over a year later, the same problems is still there for them. It’s created a reputation in the market, and now the best sales folks refuse to even interview there. It’s a shit show and they are steering clear.
It’s a lesson for others earlier in their journey — get your leadership teams right. If you don’t, you could create a supremely negative reputation for yourself. This will lead to fewer good applications.
Okay folks. That’s all from us. See you next week.
~Silas
💬 Share your hiring win, challenge, or war story.
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