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Comment by LanceH | Hacker News Reader

> While this probably doesn’t apply for small startups with no formal compensation structure, large companies often have strict policies around the how much of a raise they can give to any employee.

I know every company will say this, but every single one I've run across has someone who can sign off on something and change it.

"Everyone starts with 2 weeks of PTO per year." -- I've started with 3 or 4, amazingly -- actually entered into the systems, not an informal agreement to allow me to take it. I've found PTO to be the easiest thing to negotiate at the end of the hiring process for a senior+ position.

"Band 6 has a maximum salary of xxxx" -- I've been hired above that.

And these are big companies with formal rules. They all have formal rules for breaking their formal rules, and the person telling you it's a firm rule knows it.

All of this lends itself to new hires getting paid more, of course.

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A few years ago, I figured out that in dealing with companies (beyond the earliest startup stages), you can ask a few questions that work pretty consistently:

- What's the average for this role?

Explanation: Odds are, they've only given ranges up until now. This helps lock them down to a smaller range and should be closer to what the actual team looks like.

- How do I compare to the average candidate?

Explanation: If you're below average, they wouldn't be talking with you. Therefore, you are likely above average and now have a new floor instead of the generic range. Further, now they're likely going to describe what unique aspects you bring to the table and why you fit the role.

No matter how many times you say "I'm great for this role!" it's 100x more powerful for THEM to say "you're great for the role because of A, B, and C!"

And hopefully now you fit A, B, and C into your talking points and questions to the team, hiring manager, etc.

This is true, but it's easy for them to weasel out of those questions.

That is also informative.

I had a previous boss who had a personal rule that he always wanted to only hire the best and would pay for it. If every hire didn't involve paying above band and having to get an exception the hire wasn't good enough. He fought and won every time.

This was a very big, very formal company. All rules are guidelines if you know how to request exceptions.

I’ve been able to do that when I said I went to certain schools, worked at certain companies and changed my picture

My answers to assessments are the same

I’ve not been able to garner that respect with my actual background, look, and same level of skill

thinking about putting a filter on my webcam and just rolling with it, inventing this fictional person

I tend to ask big companies what the maximum budget allotted for this position is if the negotiation gets too annoying.

Usually works - I think it's because they're setting an upper bound so it forces them to go easy on the lowballing.

An engineer friend of mine once hired me as a consultant for a company he had just started working for. When I got there, I noticed he had a company car, a great office (this was 1990's) and a bunch of other perks. I asked him about it and he said throughout his 20 year career he had watched folks joining companies he was at ask for and get great perks. So he decided to try it this time and it worked. :-)

Wonder if the person in op story could have negotiated better and won against HR…

I get 30 days of private time off on my first job out of university. I live in Germany, here at least 20 days off are required by law for a five day work week.

Negotiating to move the position to Germany is probably out of the question.

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