I’m on a mission to help you master the art of asking for more and today marks the start of my new #GetWhatYouDeserve campaign! If you’re a little inexperienced when it comes to negotiating for more money, you’re in the right place.
Towards the start of the year, I was offered a promotion at the company I worked for. The boss and I discussed what the new role would involve and I asked if I could go home and think about my salary expectations before making a decision. The next day I strode into the office with a figure in my mind and when the boss happened to offer me the number that was already in my head, I excitedly accepted the role.
But as the day went on, I started kicking myself for not asking for more. It was as if the joy of getting the promotion was tainted by my failure to put myself out there and try to get an even better deal.
Sure, I’d gotten the amount I’d initially wanted, but since the boss was already willing to give me that figure, would it have killed me to add a bit more on? If I’d have said “I was thinking more along the lines of £X” what’s the worst that could have happened? If they said ‘no’, I’d still have the figure I’d originally been content with. But I hadn’t even given it a try!
In the weeks that followed, I spent a lot of time thinking about how much money I’d potentially missed out on throughout my career due to an inability to negotiate. For a long time, negotiation skills felt like something I could get through my career without. I figured they’d be nice to have but not essential.
How a lack of negotiation skills can cost you hundreds of thousands throughout your career
It was only when I started researching the difference that negotiation can have on your lifetime earnings that the impact my lack of negotiation skills were having on my income really hit home. As this example shows, the figures are shocking:
“Suppose that at age 22, person A and person B receive job offers for $25,000 a year. Person A negotiates and gets their offer raised to $30,000. Person B does not negotiate and accepts the job for $25,000. Even if each of them receives identical 3% raises every year throughout their careers, by the time they reach age 60 the gap between their salaries will have widened to more than $15,000 a year, with Person A earning $92,243 and Person B only $76,870. While that may not seem like an enormous spread, remember that Person A will have been making more all along, with their extra earnings over the 38 years totalling $361,171. If Person A had simply banked the difference every year in a savings account earning 3% interest, by age 60 they would have $568,834 more than Person B.” - inspired by an example from Why Women Don’t Ask by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever.
With all this in-mind, I’ve decided to launch a campaign across Can’t Swing a Cat and Money Mess To Financial Success that provides you with everything you need to know to become a powerful negotiator. It’s called #GetWhatYouDeserve (I’ve had Nine Inch Nails and Miley Cyrus on repeat since I came up with the hashtag) and I’ll be banging on about the importance of knowing your worth and asking for more until you finally give into my pleas and negotiate for better pay.
How to negotiate for a better salary
As part of the campaign, I’m excited to introduce you to SheWins - an exciting new company born from a desire to help women master the art of negotiation. Created by Clare Sutcliffe and Kate Pljaskovova, SheWins is designed to give you all the information you need to overhaul your income and improve your bank balance.
A huge part of SheWins’ offering is their fantastic New Job Negotiation Course. I’ve taken it myself and learned so much. There were numerous moments throughout the course where I thought “Wow. I’m learning things that could make me tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds over the course of my life.”
I haven’t had any job interviews yet to put what I’ve learned into practise, but I can vouch for the course and promise you you’re given a fantastic amount of information in a really digestible and inspirational way.
If you’d like to take the course, you can get 10% off at the checkout by using the code JENNI10. The course is usually £145 but the discount will bring the price to £130.50. I’ll also make a small commission for recommending the course to you.
