stagelync.com/news: We often hear, “There’s no money in the budget,” or “This is just what we pay.” But here’s the truth: there’s almost always room for negotiation, especially if you know how to approach the conversation. I’m breaking down strategies for negotiating new job offers and asking for raises in your current role, with real-world examples from our industry.
12 comments:
I think this is a really great article to read as someone who is currently in the job market within the theater industry for Stage and Production management for the first time and considering money vs. experience and how much autonomy I should have when considering my monetary worth in context of my time, energy, and experience. While much of this advice I believe can be cross examined in many different fields, as much of it is understanding time and place to ask for money negotiations or raises, it is nice to see that people are specifically sharing information in the context of stage or production management. I think there is a lot of room to grow to ensure that not only companies are willing to pay stage and production managers properly instead of giving excuses, and us coming into the industry setting the standard for ourselves and trying to exact change from both ends of the spectrum.
I think it's important to acknowledge that even when there is a hard salary cap, there are other important things you can negotiate that will positively - maybe even financially - impact your experience with a job. Some examples they gave are free housing, paying for travel, paid time off, among other things. All of these will benefit you financially and will likley provide you with relief - both mentally and financially. These things translate directly into money for you, but it may be easier for the company to offer them than it is to offer a raise. It is also possible to consider whether a raise would be possible in the future, and what that would look like. How much room is there for growth? I think it depends on the job. Obviously it's not the same in theatrical management as it is in a typical office job, but these are stil important questions to ask.
I really enjoyed this article because I found it to be realistic and provided me with clear advice on engaging in salary negotiations, especially considering I am just starting my career. Instead of simply saying "have confidence," the article instead provided steps we can take to prepare using our research and examples from previous work. After reading this article, I felt more empowered in general given that I have always felt anxious about resolving negotiations. This gave me some positive encouragement that made me feel like it was more doable. I liked how the article affirmed self-worth while simultaneously not being aggressive. The article encouraged standing up for yourself while remaining professional. I also appreciated how the article provided different scenarios, like negotiating a salary prior to being hired vs at the time a raise is required in a role. This helped remind me that there is not only one right time to ask for what I deserve. I also found the point about using data and demonstrating value very helpful. I had not previously considered tracking my accomplishments and possible data for conversations in the future.
I really appreciate how layed out and simplified this article talks about the complex issue that is money. Production and stage management finds itself overseeing every part of the rehearsal and performance process. This means that they are some of the most hard working people in a production and their salary doesn't always match that. This article talks a lot about coming to your employer with just reason. They mention this in many different forms such as wanting to gain more experience through conventions or data that shows you specifically have improved production quality. At first I was confused as to how you can track how much one specific person can do for a production because theater is a collaborative art. But instead this article mentions more points relating to extra work someone finds themselves doing to complete their current job. This could include actually doing a job or gaining certification in different fields and using that knowledge to increase pay.
This article is very comprehensive in its advice. I like that there were example scenarios after each piece of advice, it is nice to see it play out in context instead of just being in the void of words. I also in general liked the layout of this article, headers, main points, sub-bullet points, and examples, all were very nice and useful in reading this article. The advice itself is also solid in many ways, I have heard a lot of it before, though not laid out quite so concisely, but there was still a lot that was new to me. I hadn’t thought of asking for non monetary benefits as an alternative to getting a raise before, but it makes so much sense when I think about it. Getting additional PTO, training, and title changes will affect monetary outcomes in the long run when a raise isn’t possible at that moment and that is something that I will need to consider more when I apply to jobs in the future.
This was a super helpful article not just for stage managers but in general as well. I feel like often times it is really hard for me to know how much I am supposed to get paid especially working in an industry where it just largely depends on the budget and there really is not a huge standard for what each person should get paid. Because a lot of the jobs in the industry are gig based, it is hard for people to advocate for themselves because there are so many qualified candidates for the same couple of jobs. Theatre is not an industry that has a lot of money and so looking for other job benefits is really important and I’m glad that it was brought up in this article because I have never really thought about negotiating other benefits in lieu of monetary compensation. One thing that I am interested in hearing more about is how people in the industry save for their future. Do they use 401Ks or do they invest with the stock market or invest in savings with specific banks? I feel like that would be super interesting to learn about.
This was an extremely helpful article to read. As I am really just about to enter the workforce, negotiating pay is a skill that I have yet to learn. While this article says it was intended for Stage or Production Managers, this advice really seems like it applies for most positions in most fields. However, the examples were themed towards Stage and Production Managers, so that's something. I like the articles honesty about the timing of how things work. It really stresses how important timing is in successfully negotiating your pay. If your boss is in a good mood, they are much more likely to give you a raise then if they are pissed off because the show last night had to hold for an hour because somebody was late. I also find it interesting how often the article stresses the need to be able to walk away. There are a lot of situations where you aren't able to walk away, so I think more advice on other ways to gain leverage for a raise would be extremely helpful.
Honestly this is something that is seldom discussed, in any field but especially in theatre. People rarely tell you what you’re supposed to say or how you’re supposed to say it to actually properly negotiate your pay. Now I work as an electrician or as a lighting designer so slightly different but the same general principles apply to any of these jobs in theatre. My class just had a very similar conversation about pay and how to negotiate your rate as a lighting designer. And importantly how being in a union helps you and how to make sure you don’t think the union limits your pay as you can negotiate higher, the union just sets a minimum. Obviously it’s helpful to have a union to back you up and to help you negotiate but one of the important things we learned was that you can use the union’s documentation and just take their name off of it and just use it as a standard contract
This is genuinely one of the most important articles that I have read while doing news quiz! This topic is one that s always hard and no one ever has an answer that you like. I felt liek this article did an okay job of laying out a couple of different avenues that one could go down in order to try and achieve better compensation for their work. I think the hardest part for me apart from asking for more money and sticking up for myself, is the last tip number four, it would be so hard for me to walk away. I can know my worth all day long, I can even try and stick up for myself, but at the end of the day if they say no, the likelihood that I just walk away is almost zero. This is a problem and I recognize that, but especially if I don’t have any other options, walking away mean turning down a guaranteed income and that right now seems unthinkable but I am sure that is something that I will get better at as I get older.
Money is something that should be accounted for when your going into an industry, it’s important to recognize what an average salary is, how years of experience come into play and salary growth as the years go by. I’ve never had to negotiate my salary since I’ve always worked minimum wage but I thinks it’s a skill I should develop really soon even if I’m not out of college yet, however I do think it’s a little harder to know your worth and leverage your skills when their is such a power imbalance, the fact that I really need work in order for me to gain experience makes me feel like I wouldn’t mind a lot of things if I can get that work experience which isn’t good since I would be setting a precedent for myself and it’s good t set up this rule for myself early, they will often be a job that will pay what your worth so it’s not really worth it to harp on a job that won’t
While I have no intentions of pursuing stage management, these are still really good points for anyone to take into consideration when trying to negotiate a contract or salary. I think it's really easy in the theatre industry to try to push people to use their own resources when it comes to a job when the atmosphere is so friendly, with the concept of “everyone knows everyone” you tend to want to give favors to your friends both for your friendship and for the sake of your career. Things like reimbursement for using your car for work are things that make sense when I think of the legitimacy of the situation, but I could never imagine actually asking for that in a workplace setting. Though that is more of a personal issue I need to be more comfortable with advocating for myself more, it's really helpful to hear from another source as to what is reasonable to ask for, versus what isn’t.
I have always wondered why it is so hard to approach this topic no matter what job or position one is seeking. I think that asking for more money and knowing the worth of your skills will always remind the employers that if they want your skills they have to pay for it. This sometimes means turning down work because they will not composite you enough. But in this industry turning down jobs can lead to less and less phone calls. I really appreciate how this article approaches this difficult topic because it is hard to find good advice on how to negotiate your wage. But it unfortunately needs to happen with every job we apply for.
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