Salary Negotiation
Salary Negotiations
Convenience, prestige, family-time, commute, benefits, and work hours are among the many factors that influence our employment decisions. But near the top of everyone’s list is salary.
Negotiating a salary is somewhat of an art. If handled properly, it could be not only financially beneficial, but could be the start of a successful long-term business relationship. If mishandled, a myriad of things could occur including being underpaid, straining the business relationship, or losing out on the position entirely.
Salary negotiation is also a process, and usually a complex one. The complexities of salary negotiations can be intimidating, frustrating, and overwhelming. The sophistication of the process can be simplified by four basic principles; value, information, cooperation, and timing. If done properly, salary negotiation can maximize your income and minimize any ill-will.
Let’s start with value. Think of a value as the point where we perceive the worth of an object is more than it’s price. Think of yourself as a product and the employer as a shopper. The shopper doesn’t turn into a buyer until they feel that the product has value. Now here’s the beauty of value. Once you’ve made the mental switch from shopper to buyer, you are usually willing to pay a little more than you planned, right? So is the employer.
So right about now you are asking, What does this mean? It’s simple, it means your first job is to position yourself as a value. Showcase your accomplishments and skill set in your résumé. Keep selling it during the interview. Remind the employer of your value every step of the way.
The next important thing to remember is information. It’s true what they say, knowledge is power. Having the right information is key. Any kind of information is useful, so the more the better. Do your best to research the company so that you can find out what they need out of the top candidate and what the pay range is for the position. How many other candidates you are competing with, any upcoming deadlines the company may have or any information you come across relative to the company and the position will be of use to you.
But the most important information to have is the average salary for someone with your experience, education, skill set, etc…There are no absolutes, so this number may vary from region to region across the country, but it will at least give you a starting point from which you can decide what salary you can realistically demand. You also need to do an assessment of your bills, commitments, plans, and lifestyle to see what is the minimum salary you need to earn to get or keep the lifestyle you want. With this information you can now decide whether the company pay range for the position is going to be in-line with your needs.
This brings us to cooperation. You can’t negotiate on your own, and any negotiation has the potential to be contentious. At all costs, you want to avoid conflict during the salary negotiation phase of the hiring process. Keep focused on your goal but do not forget that you will have to work with the company and need to preserve a positive relationship. So always negotiate with a cooperative frame of mind.
The final principle to keep in mind is timing. The difference between a good comedian and a great comedian is timing. The difference between a baseball player and an all-star baseball player is timing. The difference between a young contender and a champion boxer is, you guessed it, timing. Timing is just as important in salary negotiations. Never negotiate from weakness and never discuss salary until it is to your advantage to discuss salary. This leads to the question of when is it to your benefit to discuss salary.
The answer is simple, once they have shown an interest in you or made an offer. If they are discussing salary early in your dealings with them, then they are probing and trying to see what your salary requirements are and if it’s in their range. It’s best to defer this conversation until you are entertaining an official offer. Once you have been given an offer for employment is the best time to discuss salary, because they have already committed themselves. This puts you in the driver’s seat because they have made that switch from shopper to buyer. They’ve shown that they want you, so now is the time to start having a serious discussion about your salary because you’ve adequately demonstrated your value to the employer.
You will want to ensure that you continue to use knowledge to your advantage and ensure that you are discussing realistic figures when dealing with salary negotiations.
So to wrap it all up, make sure that you keep in mind the importance of value, information, cooperation, and timing. Now smile and go cash that big, fat paycheck!
Career / Résumé / Employment Advice
Thanks for visiting my blog. I will be posting advice on a range of career issues to help you create a revolution in your career and move up in the world! We’ll be writing about résumés, employment, job search mechanics, salary negotiations, and interview techniques.
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