Hi Nie!

Imagine that you have a bucket that you need to fill to a certain volume to weigh down a tarp so it doesn't blow away. The thing you care about most is that the bucket has enough stuff in it to weigh down the tarp. You might have a preference for what stuff is in the bucket—maybe water is easiest since you happen to be near a spigot—but sand or rocks would do just as well.

As long as the bucket is full enough to hold down the tarp, you're good to go.

I picture compensation as a sort of money bucket. So when you get a job offer, the company is basically saying, "Here's how much compensation we're offering to help fill up your money bucket."

When you negotiate, you're saying, 'Please add this much more compensation to my money bucket"—you're asking for more of the volume of the bucket to be filled to support your financial goals, spending habits, or maybe just so you feel that you're being paid what you're worth.

Your first ask is when you set the target level for filling your money bucket with compensation. Usually, your first ask will be for the most valuable thing to you—cash, equity, etc. If the company doesn't say "Yes"—if the volume of compensation doesn't match your goal—then you might make another ask, focused on a different, less valuable thing to help fill the remaining volume.

At most, you'll usually make two or three asks. And each ask will usually be for more or less the same compensation amount, just by way of a different part of your compensation.

The LAST THING you should ask for

I usually coach my clients to save a request for a sign-on bonus as their last ask. It's a good thing to ask for at the end for a few reasons:

• It's one-time cash, so it's easier for companies to give you.
• For that reason, it's also a good thing to ask for so they can "close the deal".
• You can choose an amount that fills the rest of the compensation volume in your money bucket.

So that's the general plan I take into most negotiations: Let's try to fill the money bucket as full of compensation as possible, prioritizing the things that are most valuable to my client, and ending with a sign-on bonus request that would fill the unfilled volume with a one-time payment to close the deal.

Next time you negotiate a job offer, try thinking of your "asks" as attempts to fill your money bucket to a certain comp level, and start by asking for the things you care most about to fill as much of that volume as possible. And when you're running out of asks, try asking for a sign-on bonus as your final request.

Have a good week!

Josh