Negotiating salary during promotion can be tough; woman shares tips to navigate the tricky terrain

Negotiating salaries can always be intimidating, no matter where you stand in your career. However, there's no denying that negotiating salary during a promotion differs a bit from when you are accepting a job for the first time. This TikTok user, (@sweatingatnaptime) takes to the popular video-sharing platform to talk about how to negotiate a salary during a promotion. "Let's talk about negotiating a salary when you are getting a promotion," she says at the beginning of the video. 

"This is going to be kind of different than when you are accepting your job and then when you're negotiating a salary," she says. She goes on to say that the fact that you are already employed, you know people, and that the fact that the employer already knows how much you are getting paid makes the experience a bit different. "In most companies, every job has a salary band, a budget of what they pay for the role. Where your comp sits in the band is going to be determined by experience, skill, performance, all kinds of things," she adds.  

Then she talks about how many companies would often promote their employees to the lowest part of the next band. This is because the employer deems you new at the role. "The logic is that, 'you're new, you don't know what you are doing, why would promote you to the highest part of the band when you're brand new at this job?'" This is where her tip comes in. She talks about how it's important to get a copy of the new job description and match the work that you are already doing. She also recommends people pull up past experiences and convince them they are already skilled at some of the tasks required in the new role, so they should be placed somewhere higher in the band. She also urges people to directly ask what budget the company has set for the role so that one can negotiate better. 

"I would also call on previous experience in jobs that you've done in the past, and also your amazing performance review and sort of build this case for, 'Hey I am not like a complete brand new, I am already doing the job, and I am great at it and you should give me more money,'" she says. "In most cases, you are the high performer, the company wants to retain you," she adds. 

At the end of the video, she mentions that if one is solely focused on compensation, then it's best to look for a promotion in another company. "They will probably bring you in at the top of the compensation band. On average, the biggest compensation jobs have happened when you move from one company to the other.

Many took to the comment section and talked about how they weren't even given the chance to negotiate their salary. I just asked if I could negotiate my salary with my promotion and they said "No, congratulations on the new role!," writes @Dangerkitty, to which the creator replied, "Omg!!! Time to leverage that title for a new role."

Another user pointed out how people leave after getting a promotion, "Mercer did a study that showed 29% of people leave within 1 month of their promo. This is because they use their new title and comp to shop for a better role," writes, Jackie_Daytona. Look like negotiating a salary is easier said than done!

For more such content, follow (@sweatingatnaptime), on TikTok.