How To Negotiate For The Salary You Deserve
While there is still a pay disparity, especially for professionals of color, salary negotiation is an important step you’ll have to take multiple times in your career journey. It’s even vital when it comes to career advancement and building wealth.
There’s that age-old adage, “Closed mouths don’t get fed,” and I’ve always known this to be true. I’ve found that the few times when I don’t speak up for myself to negotiate for a salary, a raise, or a certain rate of pay that adequately quantifies my gifts and talents, I was seen as someone who can work “for cheap,” (or who offers lower quality work and services), and was on the receiving end of abuse that negatively impacted my mental health, stunted my ability to afford basic necessities, and jeopardized my plans for a prosperous future.
Nobody has time for that. In 2025, we are thriving, living our best lives, and ensuring future generations earn enough to do the same. One way to do that is to use our voices when it’s time for entry-level salary talks and promotions that come with pay raises.
Consider the following tips and strategies to enhance your negotiation skills, straight from the experts and women professionals who don’t like to leave money on the table.
1. Pinpoint Inner Misconceptions And Defeat Them
Society has done a number on women when it comes to not only knowing our worth, but what happens when we actually use our voices to get adequate pay to build the lives we want.
Beth Fisher-Yoshida, director of the master of science in negotiation and conflict resolution program at Columbia University, touched on this in an interview withSHRM, stating that societal conditioning often teaches women to be overly accommodating, which can impact our approach to negotiation. She urges women to work to reshape those internal stories so that you can approach negotiations with greater sense of self, confidence, and assertiveness. Not to be confused with imposter syndrome, women must lean into therapy, self-discovery, and documenting successes via proudly promoting personal brands.
Mentorship and coaching can also help with reimagining and communicating one’s professional value, and it’s important to authentically connect with experienced professionals (both women and men).
2. Negotiate Early And Often
As the experts say, information is power, and the more you have, the more power you have to get what you want after all is said and done.
“I bring up compensation at regular intervals during the year and negotiate every offer,” Chinneah El-Amin, financial educator and founder of Flynanced, wrote on LinkedIn. She negotiated her way from earning $70,000 to $186,000 in five years, and advocates for unapologetically negotiating salaries with intentionality.
Pooja Chabria, career expert and Asia-Pacific head of editorial at LinkedIn, told CNBC Making It recommends getting to know your market value based on facts. If it’s your first job offer, use resources like Glassdoor, Indeed, or Salary.com to be sure you’re getting the most you can for the role and duties based on your location, role, and industry
For the experienced employees, Cindy Watson, attorney, coach, and founder of Women on Purpose, trademarked an approach called the “Art of Feminine Negotiation.” She emphasizes building personal relationships and understanding culture and societal elements at play, something that depends heavily on information-gathering, research, and observation.
3. Practice Your Pitch
Practicing your points aloud is part of an effective negotiation prep strategy, according to Harvard Business School. Write out bulletpoints for what you will say and practice how you will respond to counteroffers or apprehension.
There are a few good salary negotiation templates and scripts here and here that might be helpful to you. Be sure to customize for your situation, voice, industry, and end goal. You can also use AI tools like ChatGPT, but again, customize, put authenticity at the forefront, and be strategic in your use of these tools.
Don’t forget to cover the “best alternative to a negotiation agreement,” or BATNA. This is important if you want to come out of salary negotiations the victor. If one option doesn’t work, there might be another way to meet in the middle or a different approach to getting to your original golden number.
4. Consider The ‘Anchoring Effect’
Sometimes, when you’re close to being offered your first job, you’ll be asked, “What are your salary expectations,” but according to expert insights related to the “anchoring effect,” it can be a power move to allow them to offer a number and for you to counter. This allows you to have a bit more of an upper hand. If you find yourself in the position where you must offer a number first, experts recommend focusing on “your target price—the agreement that would meet all your goals.” Either way, timing matters.
A company merger, boost in budget, acquisition of new business or clients – these are all prime times for experienced professionals to make the ask for higher pay because you might be better positioned to get approval or other compensation boosts like better benefits or equity options. Lean heavily into those relationships and the intel you have to approach this strategically and take full advantage of the anchoring effect.
Try these tips to advocate more for yourself this year, positively contributing in a plight for salary parity – which for some, seems like an uphill battle, but for others is a welcome challenge to take small steps to contribute to win the ultimate battle for adequate pay for women.
