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How to negotiate Salary · True or False

Is it true that you should base your salary goals on what your friends make, regardless of their industry?

False. Salaries differ wildly between industries; always align goals with your specific field.

Industries have fundamentally different pay structures; a friend in finance and a friend in education doing equivalent-difficulty work may earn 3x different salaries.

Feeling underpaid based on a friend's salary in a completely different industry with different economics.

This scenario is one of 500 in the Skillful How to negotiate Salary track. Each card states a situation, you decide true or false, and the explanation follows immediately.

Answer
False
Track
How to negotiate Salary
Topics
salary-research, benchmarking

Also asked as

Should you base salary goals on what friends make? Why comparing salary across industries is misleading? How to set realistic salary expectations for your field?

The scenario in full

You should base your salary goals on what your friends make, regardless of their industry.

Frequently asked questions

Is it true that you should base your salary goals on what your friends make, regardless of their industry?

False. Salaries differ wildly between industries; always align goals with your specific field.

Should you base salary goals on what friends make?

False. Salaries differ wildly between industries; always align goals with your specific field. Industries have fundamentally different pay structures; a friend in finance and a friend in education doing equivalent-difficulty work may earn 3x different salaries.

Why comparing salary across industries is misleading?

False. Salaries differ wildly between industries; always align goals with your specific field. Industries have fundamentally different pay structures; a friend in finance and a friend in education doing equivalent-difficulty work may earn 3x different salaries.

How to set realistic salary expectations for your field?

False. Salaries differ wildly between industries; always align goals with your specific field. Industries have fundamentally different pay structures; a friend in finance and a friend in education doing equivalent-difficulty work may earn 3x different salaries.

Where does this how to negotiate salary question come from?

It is one of 500 scenarios in the Skillful How to negotiate Salary track. Each card states a realistic situation, you decide true or false, and the explanation follows immediately.

How do I practise more questions like this?

Start the How to negotiate Salary quiz. It runs about two minutes per session, the first 150 questions are free across every category, and your progress saves automatically.