An unemployed person's guide to salary negotiation

Hint: Ask your employer for more, they can afford it.

Hello guys,

Hope you are doing well x keeping safe. It’s been a fairly eventful week for me. Been busy busy busy. Even now writing this, I’m in between two sessions with two more scheduled later today. Yes it is a Sunday, but na so we see am.

Today, I want to share two short stories around seeking employment x salary negotiation. I haven’t quite figured out how best to structure it, but hopefully, there is some value anyway. My stories are always real, but they might not have happened exactly how I tell them as I tend to forget some details.

A few months ago, my bro Ola called me. It was after Subhi (maybe 6:30 am) on a weekend, so I knew something was up.

‘Broooo…’

‘Yoo what’s up bro?’

‘They’ve called me o’

‘Ah mad mad congrats!’

‘No no, these people are mad! They want to pay me 50 naira!’

‘What?! How can they pay 50 naira?’

‘I’m telling you! If you see the rubbish they sent me, I’ll forward it to you now’

‘Okay okay I’ll take a look and call you back….’

I got off the phone and reviewed the offer letter and attached documents. It was obviously not 50 naira, but you get the point. A few minutes later, we continued the conversation.

‘Bro I don see am, them no serious abeg’

‘Did you see the rubbish they put there? They even have dress code. They want to pay 50 naira and they’re giving me dress code’

‘Bruh pele, calm calm’

‘You know I’ll have to move right? Move city, change wardrobe and still be paid 50 naira because I’m still a corper! Mad people!’

‘Okay okay so what do we do now?’

‘Mehn I don’t know how to reply them, I’m just angry now’

His anger was well justified. He had gone through a hectic recruitment process with about 3 (or more) stages. He had gone through some assessments that involved contributing to some of the work the organization was trying to do. We had never talked about the salary, we just assumed the company (a pretty good one) would offer something decent. Back to the conversation.

‘Wait have you told Akin?’

‘No, not yet’

‘Shebi Akin is the one that recommended you for the role? Tell him to talk to HR on your behalf, 50 naira is too small.’

‘Yeah I think I should call him. I’ll buzz him now and let you know’

Ola reached out to Akin and made his case. He was pretty good at what he did and would not be interested in being paid as a corper. Akin agreed. He took it up with HR and argued that Ola’s remuneration should be increased. Two weeks later, Akin had moved city, changed his wardrobe and was earning more than 3 times his intial offer.

The second story is mine. A couple years ago, I was offered the opportunity to work on a project I found interesting. It was a project I would have done for free, so I wasn’t too bothered about the pay. My boss (to be) texted me at about 8:30pm.

‘Hameed, we need to discuss your salary’

‘Oh yes’

I was nervous. I’m fairly anti-confrontational by default, and this was someone I liked and respected. He dialled me. I either missed or cancelled the call. I wasn’t sure how much to ask for. I didn’t want to ask for too little and be taken advantage of. I also didn’t want to ask for too much. In my head, 3 kobo (haha obviously not real amount) was a good deal. If he pushed, I would probably accept 2 kobo. I dialled a friend that worked in a similar role.

‘Bro how far?’

‘I dey’

‘Quick one. I’m working with someone on xyz project and I don’t know how much to ask for. How much does your company pay you?’

‘Oh okay, 9 kobo’

‘What?! You earn that much?’

‘Yes na’

‘Woah okay, thanks bro’

Armed with new information, I called my boss back.

‘Good evening boss, how are you doing?’

‘Good evening Hameed. I’m good, how are you?’

‘Good, thanks. Sorry I couldn’t talk earlier’

‘Nah no worries. So about your salary…’

‘Yeahh…’

‘How much do you think is a good deal?’

‘You know salary is not the most important thing, I really care about this project…’

‘Yeah, but how much are you looking at?’

‘I think 9 kobo would be fair’

‘9 kobo?! Ah that’s too much. You know what our other expenses are, we can’t possibly afford to pay you 9 kobo.’

‘Yeah but I’m going to be doing a lot, you know’

‘Yeah but we don’t have the money’

‘Okay, I’ll manage 8 kobo’

‘Hameed you’re killing me, you’re killing me’

‘Haha I’m sorry but I really can’t do below this. You know I have other things I’m doing and I’m going to divert my time here’

‘Okay, can you take 7 kobo?’

‘Okay okay I’ll take 7 kobo.’

I got off the phone and started laughing, I couldn’t believe he could actually pay 7 kobo and I would have accepted 2 kobo before calling my friend. Oh it felt good :)

When I started writing this post, I planned to also share a couple of lessons I’ve learnt (the hard way) around gross vs net pay, equity, and some other benefits that may come up in negotiating for remuneration. Because I am much too lazy now, I will just share 3 lessons from the above stories.

1. You know that popular saying, ‘good things come to those who wait’? I call bullshit. I think good things come to those who ask. While we wait for good things to come to us, somebody somewhere is receiving their good things upfront just because they asked for it. You want a raise? Ask for it. You’re interested in someone? Shoot your shot. Waiting no epp anybody.

2. I read somewhere that the only reason you’re still in your job is because your employer hasn’t found someone that can do a better job for cheaper. Many of us become emotionally attached to our employers.

   ‘Ohh but they’re really nice people’

   ‘Really if they could afford it, they would pay me more’

   ‘She is like a mother to me, I don’t want to charge her’

   LOL. You are a resource to your employer, nothing more. If a cheaper, better resource is available, you’re out the door. If the company is broke, they won’t keep you on payroll because you’re a ‘nice person’ or ‘like family’ to them. They would always do what is best for the business. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for community-feel workplaces and building genuine relationships with work buddies, but always remember that it is a transactional relationship first and foremost.

3. I think human relationships are super super important. You see how Ola was able to call Akin to put in a word for him? It was because he had cultivated that relationship years ago. Remember how I quickly called my bro to learn what he was earning? If I didn’t have a good relationship with him from before, I wouldn’t even have known he worked in a similar role. Build your relationships today, they would come through for you one day.

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If you found this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends. Have them read it and subscribe. I try to share personal stories and lessons I am learning around business, human relationships, and Islam. And on some days (is this becoming regular?), I will veer off track and write about something completely different.

Gracias, and see you around.

Hameed