As you may know, you are more likely to get that big pay raise by leaving your current role and finding another role, but how do you maximize this opportunity? In this post I will walk you through some strategies for timing and facilitating that compensation conversation for entry to mid-level positions in the tech industry.

First let’s discuss timing. Throughout the interview process the recruiter is going to try to break you and get you to say what your current salary is or your desired salary. Do not break, at least not yet. And for your own information, you are never required to give up your compensation history, no matter how aggressive that recruiter is.

You only want to answer these questions with numbers once you are past your onsite and in the verbal offer stage. While you are in the early interview stage, avoid salary questions like the plague. At this point I usually use the following two statements to avoid answering any questions regarding compensation:

• “I am looking for a good fit within an organization and team and I’m sure if I’m the best fit we can figure out compensation at that time.”

• “If I end up being a good fit, I am more than confident that the organization will compensate me fairly for the role I am being hired for.”

Typically, you can get by the early stages with those two statements. On the rare chance the recruiter is still trying to get your compensation information, you can always push back with whether this relevant to determining if you are qualified for the role. The answer is that it is not, and you should move on to discussing topics that will determine if you are qualified for the role you applied for.

The reason you do not want to give up your compensation information this early in the game is that doing so will never end if your favor. If you give your compensation information to them and it’s too high, you may get rejected from the role. Where if you had waited and they really liked you and wanted to hire you, they may have been able to adjust some of those compensation numbers to accommodate you. If you go the other end of the spectrum and give them numbers that are too low for the role you are applying for, they will only continue to maintain that pay gap and you end up leaving thousands of dollars on the table that were up for grabs. So again, at this point avoid these salary and compensation questions like the plague. You’ll be thankful later on.

Now let’s dive into what to do when you are past the onsite interview and at the verbal offer stage. There are varying opinions on whether you should state your number first at this point. If you’ve done your research and are confident on a number then go ahead and put it out there first. This anchors the negotiations to be around that number. This being said, you may want to throw a number ever so slightly higher than your research since it will most likely go down, and if it doesn’t I doubt you’ll be the one complaining. If you are not sure what the market is offering and can’t find a comparable salary for a role on Glassdoor then let them say their number first. All of this can be done WITHOUT disclosing your current salary. This is the best way to get that big pay bump.

Start off by aggressively negotiating to increase the base salary first. When that fails don’t give up, there are plenty of other options to fall back on. Don’t forget it’s a compensation package. So focus on increasing that annual bonus percentage, getting a signing bonus, increasing your relocation budget, or even having some more stock added to your package. Be creative here. How flexible the organization will vary, so find where they are willing to give in and make it work for you.

Remember this is the time to get the largest increase in your salary, so if there ever was a time to be aggressive, it’s when you are negotiating. And as always practice makes perfect. The more interviews you get that make it to this stage the more practice you will have. So go out there and get that big raise you deserve. You got this.