Recruiter Shares Industry Secret to Get a Higher Salary Offer

A recruiter has revealed a horror story lowball offer that resulted in a company losing an employee after three months—as well as his secret tips to avoid ever being lowballed again.

While jobs increased by 150,000 last month, this was 20,000 fewer jobs than economists' prediction for a 170,000 jump in total employment, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The number of jobs added hasn't been this low since January 2021, signaling to some, like Forbes' Senior Contributor Simon Moore, that a recession may be on the horizon.

In a fiercely competitive job market, candidates have to do a lot to stand out, but they also have to protect themselves from lowball offers even when a seemingly dream job comes along.

Joel Lalgee, the head instructor at The Realest Recruiter and lead recruiter at Hirewell, said one of the worst horror stories happened when a client in the engineering industry offered a candidate $80,000 even though they knew the job candidate was targeting $95,000.

"I warned them that even though the candidate was excited about the company and the product and might accept that the moment another recruiter came along with more money, they would likely leave the company," Lalgee told Newsweek.

While the candidate was disappointed in the offer, they accepted after being on the job market for a few months. However, three months later, the candidate was gone. They had accepted a different job paying the original $95,000 they were looking for.

While it was a loss for the company, it was also a significant hassle for the employee, who was qualified for a better salary but felt pressured to accept the lowball offer.

How to Avoid Lowball Job Offers

Lalgee advises job hunters to always have the salary conversation early—in the first call with a recruiter. While some people feel it's presumptuous to ask about the salary upfront, this prevents you from being lowballed later on because the company is aware of your expectations from the get-go.

Never Do This

You also need to ensure you never make one specific mistake, Lalgee said, because it gives a company all the power when it comes to salary negotiations.

"Never tell a recruiter what you're currently making, focus on giving them a target range for salary," Lalgee said. "Do your research but don't tell the recruiter you're basing the salary target on your research."

Do Look Out for Yourself

In the current job market, Lalgee said job seekers should expect lower salaries, but this doesn't mean they should neglect their own needs.

"It's an employer market and there are a lot of talented people on the market," he said. "Accept the job if you need to and keep looking. There's no rule saying you can't keep looking, look out for yourself."

Parker Gilbert, the CEO at Numeric and former head of HR and Recruiting at Hearth, said in the current job market, employers will often come in lower than expected on compensation.

Be Prepared With Data

However, candidates should come prepared for each job offer conversation with benchmarking data on the role from other job postings with salary transparency on LinkedIn. You should also be ready with examples of concrete projects you've accomplished that show why the salary you're asking for is accurate, Gilbert said.

"We find successful candidates often frame their concern with, 'From researching similar roles, I was anticipating a number closer to X, but am happy to think through what is fair in this situation,'" Gilbert said. "Then we recommend pausing to let your prospective employer respond."

"By demonstrating your openness to negotiation, situating the conversation around what is fair, and delivering clear research, you increase the chances that your offer ends up closer to your desired range."

When looking for a job, you can no longer lean on the job title to be an indicator of salary.

"A director of operations may be paid an annual salary of $80,000 in one organization and $180,000 in another," Nita Chhinzer, an associate professor at the Department of Management at the University of Guelph, told Newsweek. "Essentially, job titles no longer signal pay rates as clearly as they used to in the past. That leaves a lot of room for interpretation and manipulation."

The Power of Negotiation

When it comes time to negotiate, however, consider all your potential rewards, not just the salary. This includes anything that you get in exchange for your employment, including your base pay, bonuses, number of vacation days or paid time off, incentives for education, benefits, and food or car allowances.

Chhinzer said you're more empowered to counter a lowball offer if you are already employed because the company recognizes they are trying to lure you away from the stability you already have.

Women are also less likely to negotiate than men. Recent survey data from Robert Half found that 56 percent of women said they plan to ask for a raise by the end of 2023, compared to 64 percent of men.

And even more reflective of the differences in salary negotiations is the fact that 35 percent of women surveyed had never negotiated their salaries, while this was only true for 28 percent of men.

"The result is a systemic pay inequity that has a compounding effect year over year," Chhinzer said.