How to negotiate your salary: One mind trick helped Gen Z job candidate get $25,000 more than the maximum listed price range

A young job seeker has shared a salary negotiation experience on Reddit that shows why candidates may not want to accept the salary range in a job advertisement as the final word. After three rounds of interviews, the candidate asked HR if there was any room to negotiate and eventually received an offer that was $25,000 above the top of the advertised salary range.

The Gen Z candidate, who described the experience in a Reddit post, said the job was based in California, where the listing had included a pay range. The interesting part was not just the amount offered, but the way the salary discussion was handled.

The salary negotiation trick that worked

When HR asked about salary expectations, the candidate did not immediately give a number. Instead, the candidate first pointed out that the upper end of the advertised range was below their existing base salary.


The candidate also explained that the comparison was not as simple as looking at annual pay. The new position was non-exempt and involved a 35-hour workweek, with overtime paid separately. The current job, on the other hand, was exempt, involved 40 hours a week and often required unpaid overtime.

That meant the new role could actually work out better on an hourly basis, even though its advertised annual salary looked lower.

The candidate asked HR if there was "any wiggle room" and explained the situation. The HR representative then responded, "We definitely don’t want you to take a pay cut. For this role at this level, the maximum pay is $######, which still leaves room for annual merit increases. What number are you thinking?"

Instead of anchoring the discussion to the posted maximum, the candidate gave a number above their current base salary.

The HR representative said he would see what he could do.

A few days later, the candidate got the result they were hoping for.

"This past Friday, he called to extend an offer at the exact number I requested. It ended up being $25k higher than the top end of the posted salary range."

Why candidates should not assume the listed range is final

The Reddit discussion that followed suggested that the situation was unusual.

One commenter, who said they were a retired HR and compensation professional, explained that employers generally do not pay above the maximum of an established salary range. The commenter suggested that the company may have published a narrower hiring range or may have considered placing the candidate at a different job level.

The original poster replied that they also suspected the company had posted a narrower hiring range.

Another commenter explained that salary decisions often involve more than HR. According to the commenter, HR usually establishes salary ranges and provides guidance to hiring managers, while the hiring manager, and sometimes their manager, may have the final say on an offer.

The lesson for your next salary discussion

The biggest takeaway from the Reddit post is that candidates do not necessarily have to treat the advertised salary ceiling as an unchangeable limit.

Instead of simply asking for more money, the candidate gave HR a reason to reconsider the value of the offer. The comparison between annual salary, working hours and overtime helped put the number into context.