In 2016, professional poker player Haseeb Qureshi famously leveraged offers from Google, Yelp, and Uber to land a $ 240k starting salary at Airbnb. That is more or less double the starting pay of a software engineer fresh out of bootcamp. Condensing his tips here for anyone interested, his original articles are published on Medium for a more comprehensive guide.

Express your keen interest in the opportunity, but never take the first offer that comes your way. Politely ask instead to discuss the specific details of the offer whether in-person, over the phone, or via email. Whichever method works best for your confidence.

Never state outright a salary range that you are expecting. Why should anyone be expected to indicate a package that works for them in the absence of vital information about a company’s salary benchmarks, bonus payout, yearly increment, stock options, vacation policy, work flexibility, parental benefits, etc.?

Instead, be honest about where you’re at currently salary-wise and what salary surveys point to as the benchmark pay for this position. Mention that you’d need more specific details about the company’s compensation policy to make an informed decision about what you are comfortable with. Also, that you are in the midst of interviewing at other firms.

Time your job applications so that offers happen at more or less the same window. Offers can and do have a deadline. The strongest leverage you will have is multiple offers on the table, better yet with competitors of this organization. Scarcity always creates demand.

The Big Ask: So you’ve been presented with the offer and all necessary details around and about it. You’ve weighed the pros and cons of taking this one offer versus another. You lean more favorably towards this one offer because you’re excited about the opportunity or company. Now’s the time to ask, with as much care and politeness as you can possibly muster. Now’s the time to be specific about what it is exactly that you want. Gently mention your other offers, remind the employer again why you are excited and are such a great fit for them.

Better yet, offer valid reasons for why a better salary package helps you achieve specific goals you have in life, financial or otherwise. Do you need to pay off student loans, start a family, finance your MBA, or support your parents? Cite actual reasons to recruiters as they are probably why you are asking for more in the first place.

Don’t be the sole decision-maker when buying for more time to consider the opportunity. Say you’d like to discuss the offer with your family or mentors or pet before making a final decision.

Constantly sell yourself in a way that truly resonates with the company’s business objectives. This doesn’t mean saying: ‘I have X number of years in this field and I am Z-qualified or certified.’ That’s weak and self-focused. Make it instead about the company. As you negotiate, demonstrate your cutting insight into the gaps that this organization is facing and how you are a perfect fit. Doing so also show you are genuinely motivated by new challenges, a career path, bigger scope, the opportunity to work alongside bright people, and not just by the money and perks.

Challenge assumptions, ask questions nobody thought to ask, explore alternative ways to sweeten the deal. If base salary isn’t something the company is able to budge on, get creative about any of the following: stock options, a salary review upon confirmation, signing bonuses, special allowances for training, further education, commute, or relocation, more time-off, flexible work arrangements, anything really that matters more to you than it does to your employer.

So there you have it - make sure you negotiate well, or at least attempt to negotiate, during your next offer.

As someone who hires across APAC for an American chemical company, the answer varies based on many things including:

1. How many other CVs or resumes can I call that day / how difficult or easy it is to recruit for that particular role
2. How strong of a candidate this person is

If I have quite a large pool to pick from, I normally wouldn't try more than twice to ring a potential candidate. Same goes if the candidate isn't exactly great. But if the role has very niche requirements, I tend to do everything I can to chase and hunt down the candidate.

But given how scarce good talent is, normally if it's a decent or could be decent candidate, I'd call twice, text the candidate, and drop an email asking for a better time to speak today or tomorrow.

Your best bet with your issue of not being able to answer calls might be to indicate in your resume itself the hours that you can be reached at (early morning? lunch? after-hours? though recruiters hate that) and that you'd prefer setting a time to speak via email first. If ringing in and you get to the company receptionist, just say that you're a candidate returning a call to HR / Recruitment. Ask either to be transferred immediately, or if not possible, get a name and direct line/phone extension/email so you can reach out directly.

GXFC everybody!!! I've been recruiting for the past 7 years in Malaysia and later on, the APAC region (both agency-side and in-house), and started a resume editing and interview coaching side hustle about a year ago for fun.

Every single day I see poorly written resumes/CVs, or sparse LinkedIn profiles that do little to highlight why a recruiter should even write to you, and realised - nobody really teaches any of us how to game the job application process, how to stand out from hundreds of applicants to a Jobstreet or LI ad, how to write high-impact resumes, or how to crush an interview, or why you should never take the first offer you're given (and how playing your cards right could result in a 50% improvement on your first offer that dramatically compounds over a lifetime).

Covid has also meant that we now get double or triple the number of applications for every role or vacancy available. Standing out has never been harder...

I've been compiling job application, resume / LI writing, interview, and salary negotiation tricks here for free so go check it out for tips and advice that might help! https://www.careersifu.com/

Aaaaand so here's a deal for you, if you've been covid-hit / jobless for the past couple of months, or a fresh grad entering the worst possible job market in the past decade, or just want to supercharge your resume / LinkedIn profile, or you've been applying to countless jobs and not hearing back from anyone, hit me up!

Send your LI url to me, or email over your resume, and I'll do a free 10-min diagnosis of 3 things you're doing wrong right now and how to make it better. Hope to hear from you at careersifus@gmail.com