Discover how to negotiate a salary in this article.
It can be difficult to talk about money, because it is often associated with self-esteem. Some of us underestimate our salary expectations out of modesty or self-doubt, and someone on the contrary overdo it.
To avoid these distortions, it is easier and smarter to rely on market data. It is always useful to know how much specialists of your level earn in your position in order to use this data in conversations with the employer.
Learn some data-driven tips of salary negotiation from Values Value.
All data that we use here are based on the Big Games Industry Employment Survey 2023.
How To Prepare Yourself
Before starting conversations with a potential or current employer, you need to do some preparatory work:
- Study the market situation: salaries, preferably in dynamics, economic forecasts.
- Evaluate the condition of the company: how stable things are going, what kind of income it has (evaluate the product or customers if the company is an outsourcer; check when there was a round of investments and when the next one will be; whether there have been recent cuts or, conversely, acquisitions).
- Evaluate yourself. Determine your labor value based on the level of seniority, skillset, market demand for specialists of your profile.
Obviously, all your negotiation techniques should be based on ethical and positive communication. Ask the chatGPT about the methods of convincing argumentation and what positive words and expressions should be used — we will not dwell on this in the guide.
Our goal is to show you, based on the results of Values Value surveys, in which situations the specialists of the games industry most often receive a salary increase.
Sources To Research
- Market reports by industrial conferences, media, associations, recruiting agencies, job boards: learn salaries and salary expectations by your colleagues from the industry, perks and benefits, economical landscape.
- Business media — GamesIndustry.Biz, PocketGamer.biz. Read investments and layoffs news, forecasts.
- The Big Games Industry Employment Survey 2023 by Values Value and InGameJob.com.
How To Evaluate Yourself As a Professional?
- Be in the community. Ask your colleagues from your current company for feedback that can help you to determine your level. Develop your network with people from the industry to have an opportunity to get some internal news about other companies and also to ask for feedback and recommendations.
- Have a mentor. Help others and ask for help, people love to share their expertise.
- Have friends among recruiters, especially from independent agencies. They know the market demand and can help you to understand which hard and soft skills you need to improve to become more needed and more expensive as an employee.
How To Negotiate With a Current Employer
- Do not start negotiations by threatening to quit
Only 6% of respondents raised their salaries after they reported their desire to quit.
- Don’t be afraid to initiate the salary negotiation
26% – 29,5% of respondents received a raise after they initiated a salary review themselves.
Only 15% of respondents received an unscheduled raise by the decision of the employer.
And 20,5% of respondents didn’t have the salary revision on the current job.
The conclusions are obvious!
- Never quit in silence
If you need more money and you like your employer, take a chance before the decision to change a job. Prepare a retrospective analysis of your work, highlighting profits and successes, market salary ranges of your profile’s professionals and go for luck!
”It is important to argue why it is not possible to achieve a promotion in the current position and, in general, why the candidate feels that he has “grown up” to such a salary level (reasons like “high inflation” are not good), what achievements and strengths can confirm this. What scope of tasks they are ready to perform for this level of salary.
No matter how it sounds, you need to practice "selling" yourself, your experience, expertise, soft skills and competencies. You can request an assessment and feedback at the current place (if still at work) to determine your superpower and growth areas, or find a mentor who would help with such a request.
How To Negotiate With a Potential Employer
- Be brave! Name the desired salary yourself
Do not wait for salary ranges from the employer (if they don’t indicate them in job descriptions). More often companies give candidates the salary they asked for — 37,2% of respondents have experienced such a thing. And sometimes companies give even more than requested – 10%!
- Work so well that recruiters want to hunt you
If you are being hunted by a recruiter, expect an increased salary rate. You can safely add 20% to the median market salary for specialists of your profile and level.
- Document all agreements
When and how will the promotion/raise take place? By what parameters you will be assessed? Write the salary down in the contract during the trial period and after it.
”If you want a salary above the median, but still within the market range, then you need to be able to argue which skills make you a stronger candidate than the rest of the applicants.
Of course, it’s better not to argue with your difficult marital status.Always build on your skills. Also, only financial motivation is considered as a bad tone in game development. Even if you have exclusively financial motivation, it is still better to think about additional motives (for sure they exist).
Income Is Not Equal To Your Salary
In addition to salary, it is important to take into account all the bonuses and benefits offered by the employer, opportunities to grow and develop, to develop a network if it is important for your profession, the experience gained at this job for a future СV and portfolio.
So maybe sometimes it’s smarter to choose not the highest salary, but the environment that can allow you to get super experience and grow.
