Is the salary range you see on a job listing the most money you can expect to get for a job you want?
Because of pay transparency laws in a growing number of states — including New York, California, Colorado and Maryland ― knowing how much an employer will pay you for a listed role is not a secret.
But you could be losing out on thousands of dollars if you believe the salary range you see is the most you can expect to get from a company.
“Some employers are doing a minimum and a midpoint and not a max” for the salary ranges they post, said Kristin Boraas, general counsel for PayScale, a compensation software company. The thinking behind this is to give “some flexibility on the top end, depending on the candidate.”
But you should know that pulling this off is more of an exception than the rule, Boraas said, for most reasonable salary ranges. That’s because paying candidates too much more than the listed range could land an employer in legal trouble if it’s applied only to certain demographics, like white men, or is significantly higher than what staff in the same role receive, she noted.
In pay transparency legislation, “the disclosure requirements are also for existing employees, so you need to be consistent with your practices internally, so that you’re not alienating or undermining your existing folks at that same job level ... because you’re bringing in an exception” to the typical range, Boraas said.
But if you’re a job seeker, you should know that getting more than what was listed does happen every day, and you could be one of these deserving candidates — as long as you know how to communicate the value you bring.
Take it from the people who coach job seekers for these high-stakes negotiations.
“Some companies just automatically give you the midpoint, or they have a certain band that they automatically give you,” said Sarah Johnston, a career coach and former recruiter. She noted that typically “rock star” candidates are most successful at pushing employers to share more than what was initially offered.
Johnston cited one example of a client who got a six-figure bump from the advertised salary range and the final negotiated offer. In these cases, “the range is a launching pad for a conversation,” she said.
But even if you’re not aiming for the corner office, you still have opportunity to push for more than a listed salary range with the right savvy and strategic timing. Here’s how.
Wait until you know you are the preferred job candidate.
Most job seekers should wait until they have a job offer before they start negotiating for more than what is listed. That’s because by the offer stage, the company may have already invested hours of their time to recruit, interview and court you over lunch, and is most amenable to your requests.
Johnston said hiring can be such a drain on short-staffed managers that by the offer stage, “they may be more willing to negotiate $5,000 to $10,000 if it means that they can stop interviewing,” she said.
Johnston also said job seekers are most successful at asking for more when they have a unique skill set or experience that the employer could not find easily elsewhere.
So once you get an offer, “the candidate can let the hiring manager or recruiter know that they are really interested and excited about the offer and would love to have a further conversation about the details in the compensation and benefits package,” said Cynthia Pong, founder of Embrace Change, a career coaching and training firm. “Once they’re in that conversation, they can share that they’re seeking more than the offered base salary and would like to explore what would make that possible.”
Pong said she’s seen it done and once had a client who got more than 20% higher than the starting salary listed.
Interviewers may ask to know what kind of salary you are looking for before you start the hiring process, but you can defer answering until you know you are a final candidate.
If you get questions about your desired salary range before the offer stage, gently but firmly note that you would “be happy to discuss details around salary and compensation if [you] are ultimately selected for the role,” Pong said as an example.
Use market research to point out how the role is undervalued.
The more senior you are in your career, the more leverage you have to negotiate outside a posted range. But someone earlier in their career or in a competitive field can still successfully ask for more if they use research to build their case.
When you are applying for a job, use public job descriptions and listed salary bands to learn if the role you want is paying above or below average, compared to similar employers in your city with similar scopes.
Arm yourself with this knowledge and bring it up to the hiring manager when you negotiate. You can simply be direct and state, “I think that this role is paying under market value. And I’d ask that you reconsider the salary range and my offer based on what we know to be the market range for this position,” Johnston said as an example.
Even if you don’t get the salary you want, you still win in the long run.
Despite the best negotiating, you may still end up disappointed. Even perfect candidates with highly sought skills may be told “no” in a competitive job market.
“If it’s a marketing coordinator position with 150 applicants, there’s probably little wiggle room beyond the stated range,” Johnston said. “But if your experience clearly sets you apart, or the company realizes through the interview process that the role scope should be expanded, there may be room to negotiate.”
The big lesson? Don’t let a salary range be the reason you don’t apply to a job, especially if it’s for a company you want to work for.
“I always recommend casting a wider net — especially in tougher job markets,” Pong of Embrace Change said.
A listed salary range doesn’t have to be the end of the compensation conversation. In fact, with the right planning, those conversations with companies could be the start of how you earn what you know you deserve.
“I hear from candidates all the time where the timing wasn’t right or the compensation wasn’t right, and they maintained a relationship with the employer,” Johnston said. “And, six months, 12 months down the road, something else at a higher band opened up, and they were one of the first that the organization thought about.”