What if your manager rejects your salary negotiation attempt?
If you’re underpaid compared to industry standards and your employer rejects your pay increase request, you shouldn’t be afraid to find another job, says Hicke. “If you’re not getting paid what you need to build wealth within your family, or whatever you need to thrive, then you need to go somewhere else where you can do that.”
If you’re hesitant to quit your job for reasons like the current economic conditions or not having another promising opportunity lined up, or if you genuinely enjoy the work you do and want to stay, then try to keep the salary conversation going. McNeelands recommends that you “set up regular meetings to discuss your salary and what types of regular performance metrics you need to show to qualify for an increase.” Ideally, she says, you have regular one-on-one meetings with your manager, and you should have check-ins about your development or progress monthly.
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How to approach a wage negotiation conversation for a new job
Let’s say your raise request was rejected, or you feel you are being undervalued, and you want to move on to find a new position where you can earn a higher salary.
McNeelands says one of the most common questions she and Hicke get from Toast members who are applying to new jobs is: “Am I going to be screened out if I give a [desired] salary range that’s too low or too high?” To get around this, when you fill out a job application, leave the field for desired salary blank or enter “open for discussion,” McNeelands recommends. However, she says that if you know the minimum salary you need in order to sustain your lifestyle, and you can’t accept a position that pays less, enter a number up to 20% higher than your minimum required pay. Providing a number that’s a bit higher than your minimum required pay can help buffer your finances against inflation after you accept the new role, says McNeelands.
Chelsea Squires, a Toast member and senior manager of data science at ATB Financial in Calgary, says that her first salary negotiation after switching from the oil and gas industry to the tech industry was met with a flat-out “no.” But she has learned to treat these uncomfortable moments as an opportunity to evaluate the company and help her decide the next steps in her job search.
“If I’m not even comfortable negotiating for my salary right off the bat with the company, I then feel I’m not going to be able to pitch my work or self-advocate for future opportunities there,” Squires says. “So I started seeing that as more of a gauge as to whether or not I would really want to commit to working for this company.”
In a LinkedIn post from May of 2023 Struan explains different ways you can answer the question “What are your salary expectations?” in a job interview. Your response could depend on your personal circumstances (like whether you are unemployed, or happily employed and in demand as a candidate), as well as how much information you have about the salary range the company has determined for the role.
Remember, salary isn’t the only thing you can negotiate in a job offer. Here are some other money perks to keep in mind when evaluating a job offer.