How much does a Conversation Designer earn?
Sorry for the clickbait question! The truth is, there’s no magic answer/formula. It depends on many factors. But I’ll talk you through some of them, and provide some guidance on how to approach salary negotiations.
The salary that a conversation designer makes is dependent on a lot of factors:
Location
Size of company
Amount of experience
Job role
…to name a few.
But rather than just focusing on salary, it’s important to think about the total compensation package (as well as benefits). If you get two offers, and one has a higher salary, but the other has better stock options, or a higher bonus, take that into consideration! Or perhaps one offers better healthcare, or more vacation. Don’t take a job based on salary alone.
That being said, it is still very helpful to know compensation ranges. Although you can certainly look on sites like Glassdoor, their data is limited, and as we’ve talked about before in this column, there are a lot of different titles currently used to describe the work a conversation designer does. Looking at Glassdoor under “conversational designer” today, it shows an average salary of $76k, with a likely range from $45-$139. However, this doesn’t take into account number of years of experience, or location.
Another set of data comes from a survey that Women in Voice did in 2020. In their sample, salaries ranged from $65,000 to $120,000 (the survey included people outside the US, but currencies were converted to USD).
Also in 2020, Botmock had a panel about compensation for conversation designers, and included helpful information in their writeup.
If you know people in the industry you’d be comfortable asking about their compensation, that’s always another possibility! Our culture is weird about these things though, and not everyone is comfortable discussing this. Be polite, and if someone would rather not say, don’t push them for an answer. And remember—there is (unfortunately) no apples to apples comparison. Everyone has a different career path, different achievements, etc. Being obsessed with how everyone else is doing is no way to live.
That being said: if you’ve gotten a job offer (congrats!) you should feel empowered to negotiate. Keep in mind, some companies are willing to negotiate on some things but not others; if you have flexibility on which pieces of the package to negotiate on, it helps. Before you get the offer, ask yourself: what compensation am I ok with? What would make it a dealbreaker? Knowing this before you go in can help give you more confidence. Another way to think of it is, how would you negotiate if you were doing this on behalf of someone else? (Sometimes we—especially women—are more likely to stand up for others than for ourselves.)
Often, recruiters will ask you for your current salary, or expected range. There are some states (like California) that make it illegal for companies to rely on your salary history, and are also required to provide you, the candidate, with a salary range. Check the laws in your region. Being given a range by the company can be extremely helpful.
As far as negotiating goes: it’s not always easy to ask for more. When I got my first job in this industry, it did not even occur to me to negotiate! As I’ve built up my career, I’ve become more comfortable with it, but it’s still nerve-wracking.
For more tips on negotiating compensation, or asking for a raise, I highly recommend the wonderful Ask a Manager column by Allison Green. She has a whole section devoted to question about salary, and has written extensively about topics such as how to ask for a raise, whether you should negotiate on the spot or ask for more time, and when it’s the right time to negotiate.
It can also be really helpful to have practice conversations with a friend, so you’ve rehearsed your answers and won’t feel as on-the-spot during a recruiter call.
Sometimes, you can negotiate for better compensation within the same company/role. Sometimes, you have to go to another company in order to have a substantial increase.
Obviously, having enough money is important! But if you’re financially able to, try and think about all the things that go into a job. Does it have a healthy work environment? Do you like the people you work with? Does it have a decent commute, or remote work options? Are you excited about your projects? Weigh the pros and cons of all these things, not just salary.
We all deserve to be compensated fairly. It can be a tricky business, as most companies can be opaque about this information. Do your research, ask for advice, decide what you want, and go for it.