A friend recently asked me for some advice or tips on how to negotiate a salary. They are no expert at salary negotiation and would like to get better.
Being excellent at salary negotiation takes extensive experience. I have been interviewed well over a hundred times and negotiated salary very successfully. I’d be happy to discuss what I view as a quick approach that can help you get ready for salary negotiation and achieve significant results.
While what follows here is a great beginning strategy, there are many approaches to negotiating salary. It is very important for salary seekers to have the full picture. You need to know all the successful and relevant strategies and all the ways to overcome common salary negotiation hurdles.
While salary negotiating is a huge topic and I cannot provide all tactics in one article, I will give you a great outline to salary negotiation.
Lets have a rundown of some of the basic steps.
1) Do your in depth research to find out the importance of the role you are looking to fill. Investigate your worht at some of the following recommended sites: monster.com, payscale.com or salary.com.
2) Document all the things you can where you have added value to the business or employer. Pay special attention to tasks you do that are above the call of duty.
3) Determine where you stand in relation to other personnel in the business. This may take a bit of effort on your part. Ask your friends. It seems more socially acceptable these days to discuss your salary. Be careful how you approach this subject.
4) Plant the thought in your supervisors mind. Approach them at a stategic time when they are not too budy. Avoid times when they are rushed out the door or off to their next staff meeting.
5) Make sure the boss feels it is a good time to talk. If they are busy, or rushed out, then don’t approach them. Rather, ask when would they be free, and plan a meeting for that time. Present your salary negotiation confidently. Confidence is a crucial element to success in negotiation.
6) Make sure you’ve conscientiously rehearsed through some objections and have thought out your responses to the objections. There is always a way to keep the salary negotiation on a win-win path.
7) It can get discouraging in salary negotiatiosn, but do your best to maintain your high self confidence. Never give an ultimatum when negotiating salary because you may be forced to act on it. You don’t want to find yourself looking further for another job.
There are many ways you can approach an employer for salary negotiation. Make sure you do so with tact and keen awareness of pitfalls and challenges you may face. Its crucial to steer away from landmines in order to come out ahead and negotiate the best salary for yourself.
One great tactic is to wait for the employer to address the question of salary first. Either they will disclose their acceptable range, or they will ask you what your acceptable range is. It is best to defer this as late in the process as possible.
Another salary negotiation strategy that I like when receiving an offer that you’re not very happy with is to ask a question. Is that the highest possible salary you can offer right now? When followed up with your silence, the employer is left stumbling for a response. If the answer is yes, you can talk about how you cannot accepted it, and that you believe your contribution is worth more. If the answer is no, then right away ask if it is possible for them to offer you your highest salary request.
Whatever you do, make sure you support your case with facts and value statements that you can back up. Be prepared for the unexpected, and always leave the door open to re-negotiate if you don’t close the deal on a given day. That will ensure you can come back and work towards an end that meets the needs of both sides.
Wishing you the ultimate success in salary negotiation!
