I'm a salary negotiator. Here are 6 things I'd never do — and one tip I always follow to get more money.

Jeremy Barnyak is a salary negotiator who helps people ask for and earn more money.Courtesy of Jeremy BarnyakJeremy Barnyak is a salary negotiator who helps senior-level executives secure better job offers.He said job seekers should go into a negotiation with a plan and look into others' experiences.Barnyak said the discomfort of the negotiation process can be worth it, and it's OK to hear "no."This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jeremy Barnyak, a financial analyst who founded the salary-negotiation consultancy Peak Negotiations, which works with senior-level executives across the globe.There are very few moments in our lives where we have an opportunity to have a big impact on how much we're earning with what feels like a fairly reasonable amount of effort.But an hour of prep and five minutes of discomfort can potentially increase your salary by $10,000 or get you a $20,000 signing bonus.Take it from me — as a salary negotiator, I work with individuals to negotiate job offers directly and I've helped senior-level executives from across the globe gain 10% to 35% offer improvements.Before founding my consultancy Peak Negotiations in 2022, I'd run into a lot of people who were interviewing for jobs. I'd always ask how they were going to negotiate if they got an offer.Many didn't have a plan or were hesitant to make one. I found that a lot of smart, capable people were uncomfortable with negotiating, regardless of their background. However, there's so much value past the discomfort if you want to magnify your job offers and increase your earning potential. When it comes to negotiations, here are a few things I'd never do — and the tip I always follow.I would never go into a negotiation without a planA lot of what I do with my clients is planning. We spend more time planning than we do negotiating.Plans help give us confidence and avoid missteps, which really help negotiation outcomes. If you have a plan for what is likely to happen and one for if things go off the rails, you can respond effectively.I'd never only use my previous or current compensation to determine my market valueYour past and present compensation shouldn't be the only data points you use for figuring out your market value. Look at salary data posted on places like Glassdoor or Salary.com. Even better, ask people who have similar roles for firsthand information on what compensation ranges and components might look like.More abstract data sets can be helpful, but it's a lot more powerful to say, "My friend Sarah works at Google as a product manager and makes $250,000 a year." Then you can figure out: Is Sarah more qualified than I am? Does she have more experience?This can give you more of a sense of what's realistic to expect and ask for.Always take time to think about your offers, but if a good deal comes up, take it.RealPeopleGroup/Getty ImagesI would never let fear of a rescinded offer stop me from negotiatingPeople frequently tell me they don't negotiate because they're scared their job offer will be rescinded. I hear this concern a lot, but I don't see it happen often. Yet, it's a tremendously powerful deterrent for people to negotiate.I think it happens in two instances: one is the person negotiating has conducted themselves in a way that's made the company decide not to offer them the position anymore. Or, the company is a just a terrible place to work and you're dodging a bullet.If you negotiate in good faith, professionally, and it's a company that is a good place to work, the odds of you having an offer rescinded are very close to zero.I'd never make an ultimatum I was not willing to follow through onFor example, if you offer me $100,000 and I was willing to work for that, I would never say, "I'm not willing to do this for anything less than $150,000." It's not great if the hiring team then says they can't do $150,000 and you say, "Just kidding, I would accept $100,000!" You don't want to put yourself in a position where you're losing your credibility by backtracking or, potentially even worse, being forced to follow through on something that's not actually in your best interest.I would never do a negotiation by myself The hiring side likely consists of a team of experts that is not emotionally attached to the outcome and has done this many times.As a result, they're more likely to have a better outcome. So instead of doing the negotiation process by yourself, ask for help. There are, of course, resources like me, but even just speaking to others can be useful. It's worth asking those around you if they've negotiated their salary before. If they have, ask what they did. It can be especially helpful to hear the experience of someone you know who's applied to the company or position you're looking at.Just remember that the people advising you will come with their own experience, pitfalls, and advice. Take their insights with a grain of salt as everyone's situation is so different. Gather insights about others' job offers and hunts, but take it with a grain of salt. AnnaStills/Getty ImagesI wouldn't feel like a failure if I didn't get what I asked forThe first job offer I negotiated was in 2009. I was going into banking and everything around me was crumbling during the financial crisis. Still, I asked for more money after getting a job offer. I didn't even have other offers. The hiring team told me "no" but it was still a big win — this gave me an understanding that the worst-case scenario was this … which wasn't a big deal.Taking "no" off of its pedestal is super powerful. If you don't get what you asked for, that's OK. It's not the end of the world.That's a powerful insight, especially early in your career when "no" is a likely outcome — later, you won't be afraid to ask. And a "yes" will feel amazing. Lastly, the one tip I always follow to get more money is so simple: Ask for it Simply, closed mouths don't get fed. The fastest pathway to not getting more money is to not ask for it.This means not accepting an initial job offer on the spot — unless it's unbelievably good.Take time to think about your offers, but you don't want to miss out on a good deal. If you've negotiated and got what you want, then usually my advice is to sign as quickly as possible.Read the original article on Business Insider

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