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> The manager will have to explain why they are choosing you over every other possible option.

This is severely under-considered by job seekers and low experienced independent software vendors.

I'm into the 4th month (I catered for 6 months) of negotiations with my pillar customer precisely because extra people (from their other country units) have to be brought in to justify the increase in pay I'm seeking.

It doesn't matter that I've been under-charging all along.

Sourcing at large customers and hiring at large corporations have their own internal logic a job-seeker or an independent vendor needs to respect.

Individuals who sign off on your pay package need to be able to explain themselves when they're put under a microscope.

The bigger the jump, the more scrutiny.

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author

Exactly KimSia! Thank you for sharing your experience here.

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Jan 25, 2023Liked by Jennifer Widerberg

Thanks for the industry insights, Jen!

So, given current industry conditions, do you think a manager would prefer:

* a candidate who's asking for max salary but matches all required skills, or

* a candidate who's asking for less than max salary, but only matches on some skills?

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author

Depends on the time frame to deliver the manager is working with

If the job is open because someone else left the team and the manager needs an SME to step in, max salary for matching all required skills to presumably deliver faster is likely preferred.

If the job is generally open, the candidate matching some skills is likely preferred. Managers need to conserve some energy for other battles to come. Like funding, promotions, technical direction, etc.

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