The Second Commandment: If Brought Up Thou Shalt Revert All Salary Negotiation Back to Thine Recruiter

Let's Reiterate

The hiring manager shouldn't ask.

What I send them upon submission is:

-Your name
-Your resume
-Your availability
-A blurb about your background
-Any additional documentation you want to provide
-Your rate/Salary expectation

They know this. If they ask you about salary during the interview, they either haven't prepared to meet you or are playing Jedi Mind Tricks

Good thing you've come prepared with a Jedi Master of your own.

Let The Recruiter Negotiate For You

Your job is to make The Client want you. Once you've done that, we'll happily take care of the rest.

Everyone is trying to save a buck and Recruitment is expensive. One permanent agency hire could cost a company anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 depending on the position. Contractors cost even more. Good managers like to keep their costs low and budgets on target. Some prey on the fact that people are gullible, easily intimidated and in most cases, more than anything, just want a job.

I've worked with employers in the past who have gone so far as to tell candidates they will hire them so long as they tell the Recruiter they weren't interested and took another job. The company gets the talent and saves on the finder's fee. The Recruiter get's the shaft.

Companies play all kinds of games to try to get out of paying a Recruiter their finder's fee. We want to keep them to a minimum.

A free word of advice: If the company is trying to pull funny business with you before you're even hired, imagine what's going on behind their closed doors. If they don't want to pay my fee, you think they're going to want to pay your raise next year?  Remember, Past Behaviour Predicts Future Behaviour. If it happens, tell your Recruiter about it. We'll take care of it.

Because jobs are scarce and people are scared that any wrong move they make will lose them the chance at that coveted position, you're probably worried about how it's going to look in an interview if the hiring manager asks you a question you don't want to answer.

So here's how you handle it if it arises.

Hiring Manager: So what are you looking for salary wise?
You: I'd prefer all contract negotiation to go through my Recruiter but am ready and willing to accept a fair offer.

Simple. You've let them know that you'll accept if you both agree you're worth about the same, and that they can have that discussion with your Recruiter.

The Moral Of This Commandment: If the topic of salary arises it could be because the employer is trying to get you to shoot yourself in the foot. Don't let them put you in a situation where you're willing to devalue yourself. At any point a negotiable term arises, revert that discussion back to your Recruiter. We're happy to have it for you. 

The Client Interview Ten Commandments

The Third Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Talk About Salary

Salary negotiation is one of the many free perks you get when you make the decision to work with a Recruiter.

If You So Choose To Use It.

When we have our initial meeting we're going to talk about salary.

What were you previously making? What do you ideally want to be making? How flexible are you for the right opportunity?

When I call you about a specific job we're going to talk about salary again. This is what it's paying, this is what we discussed, are you okay with that?

No matter what, I will never submit you to a job until we have discussed how much the client is looking to pay and how okay you are with that amount. Before that phone call ends, you will have agreed to an exact number that will be submitted to the client. Make sure you're comfortable with that number. Once it's locked in, it's locked in for good.

Some people, rightly so, believe Recruiter's are only out to screw them over. You think they want to keep as much of your wage as profit as they can. That can be true if you're going on contract and that's a topic for a post still about a week away.

However, if we're discussing a permanent job, none of the agency's profit is coming off of the employee's wage. We have an agreed-upon mark-up (a percentage of your first year salary) that the client pays as a "finder's fee." Think of it like a mandatory tip for the delivery person.

Here's the reality: We want you to make as much as possible. It's in our best interest for you to make as much as possible. The higher your first year's salary, the better your Recruiter's weekend is going to be.

Which is why we want to do the negotiation with the client for you.

The client, in most cases, knows they shouldn't be asking you about salary during the interview. Regardless, sometimes they will. If they do, it could be because they're trying to play Jedi mind tricks.

And guess what young Skywalker? They work.

If I tell the hiring manager you'll do it for $75,000 and you go to the interview and tell them you'd consider doing it at $70,000, the phone call I'm going to get will go something like this:

Hiring Manager: Mike buddy, listen, loved meeting with Eric. Want him on the team. Let's make it happen.
Me: Great news. I had a feeling he's what you were looking for. I'll get the references going and get the paperwork ready to send over.
Hiring Manager. Great. Thanks Mike. Say, how much did you say his salary was?
Me: I believe, just let me check, ya, we had submitted him for $75,000.
Hiring Manager: Really? Interesting. Could you double check that for me buddy? He said something about doing it for $70,000 during the interview. I just want to confirm that.

You're mouth just cost you $5,000 and my President's Club Trip to Mexico next week. Thanks a lot.

The Moral of this Commandment: Recruiter's handle salary negotiation every day of the week. The more you make, the more we make, so why not leave that conversation to the professionals?

The Ten Commandments of Client Recruitment