Gentle Power

Mia Smithson is a renowned tech industry recruiter who has interviewed more than 5,000 people and hired more than 400. Amongst many achievements throughout her career, Mia joined a startup as its founding recruiter when it was around 50 people and helped grow it to a workforce of 700 across seven countries. Today, she is the Founding Head of Recruiting at a frontier AI company that hires 30 to 50 people every month.In this episode Mia walks us through the behind the scenes on the company’s side of offer negotiations. We get into the mechanics most people wonder about but never actually see, plus the tactics she has watched work across thousands of hiring conversations. She also tells us about the only time in her entire career she has seen an offer get pulled during a negotiation and what caused it.• How a company sets its range on the job posting and the influence that recruiters have over the comp package• Why a company compensation philosophy almost always overrides the compensation market data you found online• Why "whoever says the number first loses," and what to say when a recruiter asks what you're targeting• The pre-read doc Mia recommends sending before your offer call, and the pros and cons of this approach• How to talk about a competing offer without revealing the details that hurt you• How staffing and in-house recruiters get paid, which one can get you more, and where AI helps or hurts your application*Caveat: Mia is sharing her own experience and views, which don't represent any current or former employer, and nothing here is legal or financial advice.Connect with Mia: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miasmithsonRead her AI Hiring Newsletter: https://hiringnewsletter.aiFor more:• Book free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call• Get our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.com• Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.com• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations• Gerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj• Alex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

We get a lot of questions we can't answer because we're negotiators and not lawyers. So we brought on Justin Clark of JLC Employment Law to answer them. Justin has been a lawyer for over 11 years, spending most of his career in employment law. He started on the defense side representing companies, moved in-house to handle employment litigation at two post-IPO tech companies, got laid off himself, and then started his own firm representing employees against their employers.We covered a ton of topics in this episode: how to think about collecting documentation/evidence, what to include, can you really get blocklisted from working at companies within your industry, what happens during background checks, what do companies ask when they speak to your references, and more.• Why being treated unfairly isn't the same as being treated unlawfully, and exactly what to write in your formal complaint to HR• What "pretextual layoff" means, and how someone used this concept to massively increase their severance package• Which documents you can keep when leaving a job, and which ones could bite you down the road• How background checks work, what they cover, and why companies rely on criminal background checks versus civil background checks• Sign-on bonus clawbacks, revocation periods, and what happens once you've signed* Disclaimer: Justin is a lawyer, but he's not your lawyer, and he's barred in California. Nothing in this episode is official legal advice.Connect with Justin Clark:• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-clark-0546069• His website: https://www.jlcemploymentlaw.com For more:• Book free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call• Get our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.com• Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.com• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations• Gerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj• Alex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

Annija Eizenarma started her first business at 15 at a small school in the Latvian countryside, and from the age of 17 spent the next six years building a smart home company that was eventually acquired by one of Europe’s leading manufacturers in the building automation industry. Still hungry after the exit, she moved to San Francisco to find her next move.Every step of Annija’s career was negotiated. Nobody showed up with a golden opportunity, so she asked for each one, usually before she had the credentials to justify asking.How she negotiated her way into her first rooms in high school, by walking up to a visiting lecturer and offering to work for freeWhy getting the seat is only half the job, and what happens to people who don’t advocate for their work once they're in the roleThe free third party audit that turned "we already have a subcontractor" into a signed build contractWhat to offer when you hear a no, and how it can hand you an edge on the next opportunityHer hot take on who decided that asking for what you want is masculineConnect with Annija Eizenarma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annijaeizenarma For more:Book free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/callGet our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.comRead our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiationsGerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalajAlex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

Most people think negotiation starts when the offer lands. Our guest, Soumya Maya, makes the case that for anyone changing careers, it starts far earlier, back when you decide to switch and begin figuring out your story. Soumya began her career in architecture, spent about a decade exploring different fields, and moved into product management at edtech startups before leaving to build an AI tool for career changers. She also coaches people through their career pivots.In this episode, we get into why career changers give away leverage they don't realize they have and what to do about it. Our conversation runs from the inner work of knowing your own worth to the practical mechanics of asking, reading the other side, and how to stay engaged and unrattled after hearing the first no.Why your negotiation really starts on day zero, not at the offerThe reason career changers underrate their power, and how cultural conditioning impacts their thingFinding leverage when a new field treats your experience as a disadvantageWhy the first no is rarely a real noAsking more than once, and why a rescinded offer might be a giftConnect with Soumya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soumyamaya For more:Book free consultation call with Alex: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/callGet our free negotiation worksheet: https://www.yournegotiations.comRead our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiationsGerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalajAlex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki

Amanda Gustafson coaches leaders through conversations most managers dread: giving a co-worker constructive feedback, telling a direct report they’re underperforming, resetting expectations with a peer. She became a career coach via a very winding road, from a physics degree to running a theater at 23 years old, then to a master's in psychology to software consulting.In this episode:• Why describing behavior is better than labeling the person, and how to do it with a direct report• "Don't solution before discovery," and how that relates to job offer negotiations• Framing a hard conversation as project management so people don't get defensive• Building a feedback loop so "we'll do better next time" turns into real change• Amanda's hot take: the bigger the gap between perceived value and price, the easier the yesLearn more about Amanda’s work: https://www.amandagustafson.comFor more:• Book free consultation call with Alex: ⁠https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call• Get our free negotiation worksheet: ⁠https://www.yournegotiations.com• Read our weekly newsletter: https://yournegotiations.kit.com• Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/yournegotiations• Gerta's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gertamalaj• Alex's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexhapki