You just landed a new job and are flying high on success. But, the salary is not quite what you wanted. What are you going to do? Are you going to take it or should you ask for more?
Many people find the prospect of discussing money with their current or potential employer to be stressful or nail-biting. After a prolonged job search and lengthy hiring process, the mere idea of negotiating an employment offer over your salary requirements can desire a risk not worth taking.
However, negotiating your starting salary or advocating for a pay increase needn’t be a hard task. It’s often a necessary way for new hires and current employees to fulfill their personal, professional, and financial goals.
You worked very hard to get where you are, so make sure you do not accept the offer short by leaving money on the table.
Here are a few steps to negotiating a salary.
1- Know Your Worth
When negotiating your salary you should be calculative, don’t just suggest a random number. Before discussing do your research, understand how much you are worth, and what the average salaries are in your region.
Several factors influence the salaries including:
● Experience level
● Exact skill-set
● Location
● Employer policies
It’s crucial to think about all these factors when you are deciding on your desired salary. To get the right number, one should do research on :
● Salary rates in your location
● Salary averages based on your years of experience
● Salary averages for your specific skill-set
● Salary averages for the specific employer you’re applying for (you can find this on Glassdoor)
2- Don’t Focus (Too Much) on Yourself
Negotiations are a two-way process.
Instead of looking at yourself (i.e. here’s why I deserve a better salary), target how you’d be more valuable to the corporate (i.e. here’s why I can contribute more than you’d think, and intrinsically, deserve a far better salary).
Explain to the recruiter how you meet and excel in the requirements for the role. If you’ve got any past achievements for an identical role, you’ll also bring them up.
3- Factor in Perks & Benefits
A job offer isn’t all about the salary. In some cases, the salary itself may appear a tad low, but if you think about all the perks and benefits you get from the corporate, it would prove to be far better than at first sight.
Some employers, as an example, offer:
● Better insurance plans
● Flexible days off
● Personal development budget
● Option to work from home
● Better retirement saving plan
● And so on.
So, when comparing job offers, consider perks and benefits to get a more accurate view of things.
In addition, some companies won’t be willing to negotiate on the pay range, but they could be willing to add more benefits.
So, if that’s the case together with your company, see if you’ll be able to negotiate more benefits out of the offer.
4- Back Up Your Arguments
When you are giving the counteroffer during a salary negotiation, don’t just give them a number. Instead, give them a rock-solid argument.
Build a powerful case for a bigger salary and back it up along with your strengths, experiences, and skills.
Really understand what the task you’re applying for is all about, also show the hiring manager how your past experiences will contribute so you’ll excel within the role.
5- Leverage Your Situation
Your negotiation power really depends on your current situation. If you are not employed, you likely do not want to lose your employment offer simply because they did not provide you with a good salary package.
At the same time, if the job you’re applying for will be paying you less than its competitor or your current employer, you can use that as a bargaining tactic.
6- Practice!
You shouldn’t just wing your salary negotiations speech -many things/factors depend on that.
Instead, find a mentor (preferably someone within the business world) who’s willing to practice your speech with you.
Practice makes perfect, after all. If you rehearse your speech well before the discussion, you are lots more likely to be confident and convincing during your actual salary negotiation.
7- Know When to Stop or Walk Away
Salary negotiation isn’t meant to be a long two-sided discussion.
If the employer is (clearly) not curious about negotiating the salary, don’t push the topic. This can simply come off as rude.
In such cases, either accept the job offer (if it’s a proposal with a sense) or just go forth gracefully.
8- Make It Clear You Want the Position
When negotiating salary, make it clear that you hold an interest in working with the Organisation and are also passionate about the job role.
Also, hint that you have other job offers (with better pay) on the table, but you continue to prefer this company as long as they’ll provide a more competitive offer.
The reasoning behind this is that you don’t want to come off as the type of employee that’s just in it for the money and is simply trying to get the best salary possible.
