Episode 9: Salary Negotiating and Knowing Your Worth.

Okay, Team! A Young Designer's Guide.

In this episode, The Team covers salary negotiating techniques, cost of living considerations, and how to calculate how much you should ask for when negotiating your salary for a graphic design job!
Show Notes:
Negotiate a SalaryKnow your worth

• Track all your expenses for a month:
• Needs: Rent, gas, insurance, bills, etc.
• Wants: Dinner, dates, going out, Netflix subscription, clothes, etc.
• Saving: Are you saving?
• - now multiply each of those by 12 and add up = yearly expenses.
• - If everything you do is $1,800 a month, you can live as a cheap college student in Oxford for $21,600.
• - Say you take a $35,000 salary, removing expenses, you have an extra $13,400/year which is $1,116 a month.
• --- consider student debt payments, things your parents will make you pay for once you have a job,
• ---all of this is before taxes: that's a lot of your money based on state and federal taxes.
• ---Nothing will be as cheap as it is in Oxford.

Set up a realistic budget for your living expenses (50/30/20 rule)

• https://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator
• 50% - NEEDS: Bills, expenses, groceries, student loan bills, etc.
• 30% - WANTS: Discretionary spending
• 20% - SAVING: This is anything towards your longer-term financial goals and things like your 401k/IRA (retirement plan)

Do your homework:

• Find the salary range for your job title
• Payscale.com, Salary.com, AIGA’s salary data, Glassdoor
• https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job
• https://www.creativecircle.com/salary-guide/?utm_source=DSMN8&utm_medium=LinkedIn
• Identify a target salary in the 25-50% for your area
• (compare that range to your living expenses)
• Set a bolstering rage (top dollar) that is 20% higher than target
• Set a resistance point (bottom dollar) that fits within your budget

Other things to consider:

• Factor in benefits value: what would sweeten the deal?
• PTO (paid time off, aka vacation days)

Negotiate a Salary: Tips and Tricks

In an interview:

• They put a number out: Ask to hear more about the position before giving a firm answer
• They ask YOU what you’re looking to make, or ask for a range: bring in your research! This city, this position, with my skills, make xyz. I’m looking to make close to xyz
• NO RANGE

Host, Producer, & Editor - Mark Cela
Host, Director, & Script Writer - Kristen Pericleous
Host, Social Media Manager, Social Media Content Creator, & Editor - Dan Lawson
Host, Website Director - Lauren DeMarks