Finally cracked my salary negotiation problem after 4 tries

I kept freezing up when recruiters asked what I wanted to make, especially at smaller shops around Austin where HR is just one person. After bombing three calls, I wrote out a simple script with a range and a reason tied to market data from the local tech meetup group. Fourth time, I said it without stumbling and got $8k over the midpoint offer. Anyone else use a script and does it ever feel less robotic?

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charles_green10d ago

Wait, you actually wrote out a script for this? I used to think that would make me sound like a robot, but now I get it. My first few tries at salary talks I was just winging it and totally choked, said some random number that was way too low. Once I typed out three sentences with a range and a quick reason why, it was like my brain had a cheat code. The recruiter did not even care that I was reading off a page, they just heard a clear answer. Honestly, it feels a little stiff for the first minute, but that beats staring at the wall for ten seconds. Now I tell everyone to do the same, it is just too easy.