Negotiating Salary
Tips
- Discover what you're
worth by researching salary
surveys for your occupation,
experience and location.
- Research the company
to see if they're booming or
hurting financially. If booming,
go for top salary, benefits and
perks. If not, get what you can
comfortably live on, but think
twice about working there.
- Also research yourself
so you can sell your skills,
talents, accomplishments, work
ethics and experience for top
pay.
- Politely sidestep salary
(say it's negotiable, open or
competitive) until you're
confident they want to hire you.
Then you have leverage.
- When asked point-blank about
salary, counter by asking
what the range is, so you
know the boundaries.
- Command rather than
demand, while working toward
a win-win situation.
- Be eager and
enthusiastic, but willing to
walk away if you've reached
an unsatisfactory negotiating
ceiling. Don't burn your
bridges, but rather politely
decline the offer.
- Even if you get what you
want, wait to accept for a
day or two to think it over,
time permitting.
More Tips:
- Never lie about past
salary. Reference checks
might expose you.
- Consider the value of
benefits and perks too, such
as stock options, bonuses,
telecommuting options, and
promotion potential.
- Ask about extra benefits
and perks, so it appears
that you are compromising if you
don't get them, or attempt to
trade them for a higher salary.
Another Way to Explain Negotiating Salaries (PayScale):
*from Laura DeCarlo, Executive Director of
Career Directors International in Melbourne,
Fla.
- Do your homework. This includes researching the current market
value for the position and carrying that
knowledge with you into the talks. Creating a
PayScale Salary Profile and keeping it updated
helps you to always know the median value for
your skill set. Learn how to negotiate salary
from a position strength by having the most
current salary information for your job.
- Know your needs and wants. "You have a
range in mind of what you'd really like.
Otherwise, if you are out in left field-you are
never going to be successful. [For example] a
woman who wants to make $55,000 a year and
decides she's changing careers and wants to be a
typist-I don't know many $55,000-a-year
typists," DeCarlo said.
- Learn a methodology for handling the
questions, "What are you looking for?" and
"What kind of salary do you want?" According to
DeCarlo, the bottom line is, "I'm negotiable."
If it's too soon to talk about money, she
encourages applicants to change the discussion
topic to job requirements or expectations. Learn
how to negotiate salary by being prepared for
salary questions during the interview.
- Know your options and ask, ask, ask.
Be familiar with possible perks and benefits,
and ways to increase your salary; brainstorming
and making lists can be useful here. "I've seen
people turn it into mileage allowances for
driving. Anything is potentially negotiable
unless you don't ask about it," she said.
- Always negotiate in person. "You can't
read an expression, show a presentation, or have
convincing reasons quite as well on the phone as
you can when you engage them [employers]
face-to-face," DeCarlo said. Learning how to
negotiate salary in person is a key to higher
earnings.
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