How should I advise a mentee about salary and negotiating an offer?
Pay is the question mentees most want answered and mentors are most nervous about. Silence is worse than an honest range.
- Read time
- 4 minutes
- Module
- Core skills
- Session length
- 30 minutes
What good looks like.
Talk in ranges and about how pay is set in your field, rather than fixed figures from one company.
Sharing your own salary is your choice and never an obligation. What matters more is teaching the mentee where to look up market rates.
Rehearse the sentence. Most people lose money because they have never said the words out loud, not because they picked the wrong number.
A sequence you can follow.
- 01
Set the market picture
Bands, typical progression, what moves someone up one.
- 02
Point to sources
Public salary data, job adverts, professional bodies, union guidance.
- 03
Practise the ask
Have them say their sentence twice, out loud.
- 04
Plan the reply
What they do if the answer is no.
What to avoid.
Naming one company's figure as the market rate
Telling someone what they are worth
Avoiding the subject entirely
Extra tips
Small things that make the half hour better.
Talk ranges, not figures
One company's number is not a market rate.
Your own pay is your choice
Sharing it is optional and never expected.
Rehearse the sentence
Have them say the ask out loud, twice.
Flag the geography
Say plainly that your range is local.
Take this guide with you.
Download a printable version of this guide: the short answer, the steps, the extra tips, the mistakes to avoid and the questions mentors ask, to read before your next session.
The things people ask first.
Do I have to reveal my own pay?
No. A range for the role is more useful and keeps your privacy.
What about different countries?
Say plainly that your range is local, and point them at national sources.
Next: Helping someone choose between two options.
Your job is a clearer decision, not your preferred answer.