How to Get a Precise Salary Estimate for Your New Job - Pt. 1

Face it: knowing an exact figure of what you should be paid is required before you even submit your first job application. Why? Because one of the first questions you will be asked (usually after "are you a citizen of X country?" and "are you willing to relocate?") is "what are your desired salary requirements for this position?" I have done a multitude of research on this and have my own theories and opinions on whether or not you should answer this question and if a game studio should be asking you this so blatantly and early in the hiring process. There are some strategies you can use to try and circumvent this, but the reason of this article is to explain to you the best method for giving an accurate estimate of what you should be earning and to not get burnt by agreeing to something to low.

You can always use the line "what is the typical salary you offer for this position?" I have actually used this a couple of times, and it works about half of the time. If they want to work with you, or the hiring manager is a bit novice, they will tell you upfront what their figure is. Generally, the party that reveals a number first in negotiations has less power. I successfully got a higher salary by asking this question with WB Games, because I had a certain figure in my head about the salary I was willing to take--I was uninformed as to the area and what they paid, though, as it was a new city I was relocating to--and what they were offering was actually higher than that. So, when time came for them to give me the offer, it was in line with what they told me and I accepted it. I could have made nearly $5,000 less per year, but just because I decided to ask that question and hold my tongue, I was able to win a decent salary for the area. A time when this question didn't work was when I talked to HR at Sledgehammer, and they responded "we don't generally give a specific figure as it is case-by-case and varies based on the individual's experience and skills." This is what most salaries are based on, anyway, but this was a smart way to basically say that they were not going to give me an answer to my question. Thus, you should always have a backup plan but it never hurts to at least try to ask this question before you reveal your cards.

The next step in negotiating is to have your salary figure ready, but to base it on the average market value for the area and by using your current salary and converting for the cost of living difference, if you are indeed moving cities (hint: if you are moving to a less-expensive city, you can basically try to ask for your current salary and they can always match it or tell you they can't pay you that much, and then negotiate more within their means. It seems that it's always easier to make a higher salary in a least expensive city than to transition from a cheaper city to a more expensive one, in my opinion, because they always have excuses as to why the area you are moving to is "really not that much more expensive than where you are living now." Basically, you have to have more arguments than just that, so that's where checking what competing studios pay comes in handy). You do not want to reveal the exact figure that you are expecting to be paid, but rather give a range where that figure falls roughly in-between. I like to give ranges in the form of a $10,000 window, ex: $70,000-$80,000. That way, you can expect them to offer you something near $73,000, but you should negotiate to $75,000. For this, you definitely need to know what the comparable jobs are paying in the area.

I have a solution, that is the most accurate estimate I have recently formulated, to calculating the salary that you should earn while moving cities and while leaving a current job for a new one. Stay alert for part two on this topic: where you will come up will a solid figure that you can benchmark from and form your negotiation game-plan around.

-Ken