A short career-advice YouTube video by Madeline Mann arguing there are two reasons you might not want to negotiate for a higher title when joining a company: (1) inflated titles reduce room for future promotions and can lock you into lower salary brackets/percentage increases, and (2) inflated titles hide a pattern of promotions that recruiters value. Mann advises researching current employees (e.g., on LinkedIn), understanding company title conventions, preferring incremental senior titles (senior manager) to create more promotion steps, and timing promotion conversations within 1–2 years.
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Hey everyone, this is self made Millennial. I'm Madeline Mann. In this video, I'm going to discuss two reasons why you may not want to negotiate your title to be higher. When signing on with a new company, there are several things to take into consideration before negotiating and so I will walk you through each one so that you can take the right approach in your negotiation. When we go to our next job, one of the things that we like to do is negotiate for our title. We a flashy big title that makes us sound super important. I know, I feel the same way. And the company may give it to us because they want to get us on board. And after all, title is free. I am Ms. Always Negotiate. You get so much more when you simply ask. So do it. But let me present an alternate view and then you can decide. Here are two reasons to not negotiate your title. Reason number one, Room for growth. When you take an inflated title, it doesn't give you much room to grow and progress in the organization. The reason why you want more titles above you is you have a growth path of promotions. This is good because with each promotion you generally get a compensation increase. Some companies decide how much you're going to earn through brackets. So each title, vp, Director, manager, they each have a range of salaries that you can have in that role. I'm guessing if you're trying to negotiate a higher title, your salary will likely be one of the lower ones in that bracket. Also, another way they do it is by percentage increases. So every time you get promoted from one job title to the next, there's a set increase like 10%. The problem with this is, is that it favors people who start out with a high salary at the company. So if you know two people, they have the same job, one came in the lower salary, one came in higher, and they both have the same percentage increases. Maybe it's, it's 6% each time. The person who came in higher is always going to have a higher salary and the difference is going to become greater. This is all to say that you want your salary to be the highest possible one that you can get for the title that they are giving you. That means that hopefully with each promotion, you are hitting the top of the range for each of the job titles. Okay, Reason number two, showing a pattern of achievement. One of the key things recruiters and hiring managers look for when hiring new employees is a pattern of promotions. That is a super clear indicator that you are a high performer, that you are valued by the company, and that your achievements are recognized. I mean, it's probably the most obvious indicator that you are a champ. Then when you go to your next role, you can say something baller like yeah, I was promoted three times in four years. What? Rock steady. Another tip is once you're in the role, instead of asking to get promoted from manager to director, ask to be promoted to senior manager. And that gives you more steps to step up in and get more promotions. Just don't wait too long to have these conversations. I mean, it really depends on the organization, but I guess aim on getting that incremental promotion within one to two years depending on how fast things move for your company. So how do I know if I shouldn't negotiate title? Well, look at the other people who have the higher title that you're eyeing. You mean the people who would be on the same level as you if you received the higher title? I recommend looking them up on LinkedIn and get an idea for how much experience they have and how long they've been in their role. If they have the same experience level as you or less, then yeah, consider negotiating for the higher title. If they seem to be a bit more advanced than you or many of them earn their higher title after being at the company for a period of time, this is a great indicator that you will likely get promoted and shouldn't be too focused on the advanced title. I also want to underscore that titles mean different things at different organizations. I get it. You may scoff at the idea of being a director when you're used to being a vp, but at another company getting a director title could be lot more difficult to get than at other companies and comes with a higher level of responsibilities. Really understand the context of the company and don't let yourself get up in your head and your ego about needing a certain title. The next video for you to watch is six Things to Negotiate For Besides Salary okay, so employers are always ready to go toe to toe with you on salary negotiation because that's what they prepared for and they want to make sure it's full fair among all employees. But when you ask for something that's not salary, they start to get a little bit more flexible. Well, make sure you subscribe to this channel and like this video. Thanks so much everyone. WiFi high five.
