I’ve been talking a lot lately about compensation matters. Young 22-year-olds at JP Morgan are now being paid almost $150k salary per year. Where does that leave you as someone with vastly more experience, skills, and accomplishments in your job search as you negotiate salary?
You have to just get one job offer.
Your compensation should be double or triple that easily.
In my brand-spanking-new weekly LinkedIn Newsletter titled “Everyone Is Being Paid More, How About You?” I describe ways to dramatically increase your compensation. My recent article “The Only Way to Get Paid Fairly Is to Leave Your Job” also had good advice.
Get just one job offer and shop it around. It’s not really that complicated! The fear of missing out will drive your current employer and potential employers to move quickly and pay up. I’m not talking about “using” a company for a job offer. I’m talking about finding a handful of companies you want to work for and pushing really hard for the first offer.
Going back to the remaining suitors will not only super-fast-forward the ridiculously long hiring process but also will get them to revise their compensation thoughts upward (way upward!).
Nancy was tired of investment banking
Nancy worked for an investment bank where politics were severe. After 10 years there, she managed to avoid most of the internal conflict of silly men with their egos. However, the time came for her to declare her alliances.
In addition, she was working 80+ hours a week and had to reintroduce herself to her husband and kids monthly. The Great Resignation got her thinking. She looked at her 2-inch think lenses and knew she needed a change. And a financial services career coach!
Her compensation was ok, but certainly not what it had been. In my day, an MD earned well north of $1 million annually. Now, she was hoping for $500k even in an upmarket. The pay gap between investment banking and working for a client or other corporate employer had really shrunk.
We got a bid away and things clicked
After working on her resume, LinkedIn profile, and ways to tell her “Story,” she found a competitor, (a top name in the business) willing to pay her more, much more. Like 3x more. However, the hours would still be the hours and her family would still be strangers. She had begun discussions with a couple of clients of hers. However, the November/December conversations were going slowly since inertia is always the easiest approach.
We crafted a carefully worded message to her clients that due to her bid away, they needed to get serious and do it soon. We delivered a thoughtful yet powerful message that resonated.
We talked almost daily about how to position herself with all her suitors to maximize her income and increase her restricted stock awards. Did we play one suitor against another? You go it. We were relatively transparent about the process and treated everyone fairly.
It came down to the last week in December, but she secured a position with a client that offered her much more income in the long run and a better work-life balance. She was no longer a cog in a large machine.
My only concern is that she still likes her husband and kids when she reintroduces herself. If not, I can recommend a good divorce attorney given my two times at that altar!
Bottom line
A bid away moves mountains.
