A jobseeker once asked me: I am planning to accept a job that pays below market because everything else about it is ideal, and I expect to move in two to three years anyway. How much impact will the lower salary have on my future negotiations?
A jobseeker once asked me: I am planning to accept a job that pays below market because everything else about it is ideal, and I expect to move in two to three years anyway. How much impact will the lower salary have on my future negotiations?
I commend the jobseeker for considering other factors than salary in her job decision. At the same time, the decision to take a lower salary now will require extra work in the future because salary history impacts how you will have to manage your future career:
You will need above-average negotiation skills. Your past salary is a very strong anchor in the minds of prospective employers. I once conducted a search for a leading Fortune 500 company who finally found their ideal candidate after almost two years of searching. Their prospective hire had been grossly underpaid so to bring him to market, the company would effectively have doubled his salary. Even though the new salary was well within what they intended to pay, in their minds doubling his salary suddenly seemed like a lot, so instead, they offered him slightly below market but still an enormous increase over his former salary. The candidate eventually negotiated for market value, and everything worked out, but the negotiation took much longer than it should have (and the candidate needed to be a much better negotiator than he needed to be) because of his original salary discrepancy.
You will need to position yourself accurately regardless of salary. Your past salary signals to employers your level, title, and responsibilities. Once you accept a lower salary to start, you then have to convince successive employers that you belong at the level/ title/ responsibility that in their minds commands a higher salary. You will need to position yourself so that future employers don’t have to think, “if she’s so good, why isn’t she paid accordingly?”
You will need to manage your money better. Employers aside, your decision to take a lower salary is something that affects your personal bottom line. You will have less money to save, invest, and cushion you from bad markets. A strong financial foundation enables you to have confidence and take risks, so a lower salary indirectly may influence your ability and willingness to take future risks.
Is Your Job Search Flexible or Just Unfocused?
As a recruiter, I’ve seen lack of flexibility on the recruiting side with employers clinging to every last detail in their ideal spec while perfectly good candidates get overlooked. As a career coach, I see jobseekers prematurely dismissing possible targets waiting for that perfect job. It’s true that you want to be focused in your job search (otherwise you dilute your efforts and come across as scattered and possibly desperate).
5 Questions to Test If Your Resume Is Recruiter-Proof
After recruiting in search and in-house for over ten years, I have read thousands of resumes. Due to sheer volume of resumes received and all the other things that vie for the recruiter’s attention in the hiring process – scheduling, interviewing, networking, reference checks, client debriefs, and more – the resume review process is ruthlessly quick.
Why Conventional Wisdom On Work Flexibility Is Always Wrong
In a previous post, I wrote about why employment statistics are always wrong. In a similar way, conventional wisdom on work flexibility is always wrong. It is impossible to generalize something that is inherently case-by-individual case. Therefore, any boilerplate advice or conventional wisdom is bound to omit a key consideration, underweight or overemphasize other considerations, or take too long-term or short-term of a view.
