Know That Salary Is Not The Only Negotiable
Whether explicitly mentioned or not, compensation packages always come with other benefits woven in. It doesnt matter if youre negotiating a job offer or trying to wriggle in benefits during a performance appraisal know that there is almost always more up for grabs.
The perks that are available to you will vary based on your experience level, role, and the company. Heres a sampling of what you can potentially negotiate for beyond salary:
- A different start date
- Greater 401 contribution
- More vacation or paid time off
- Flexible hours or work-from-home days
- Relocation to another branch or office
- A signing bonus
- A performance bonus later in the year
- Equity percentages or stock options
- Home office set-up stipends
- A direct report or budget for freelance talent
- A better job title
- Reimbursement of travel expenses
If The Offer Is Way Below Your Minimum
If HR makes you an offer that’s significantly lower than what you want, like in the tens of thousands of dollars, Lares says it’s worth pointing out.
Leading with gratitude can make a difficult conversation more palatable: “Thanks for thinking of me for this role and sharing the pay. Unfortunately, that’s significantly lower than what I would have expected for this.”
Next, gauge whether they can be flexible on the offer. Remind yourself, and the other party, that a negotiation is working together to reach a compromise. You can frame it as: “I want to be respectful and not waste your time, but I’m also interested and want to make this work. What’s the flexibility on pay?”
Or, it’s possible the hiring manager doesn’t understand your qualifications or years of experience. Remind them of your candidacy and ask: “Is there a different title or level you’re hiring for that’s a better fit and aligns with my expected pay?”
Why Is It Good To Ask Questions Yourself Too
As an applicant, it is important to ask good questions during a job interview. If you actively take part in the conversation, the job interview will become more interesting and equally balanced.
Always remember that you and the employer are both looking for the right match. The job interview is first and foremost meant to determine whether you fit together. Asking the right questions will help you make the right decision.
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Pick The Top Of The Range
As youre doing your research, youll likely come up with a range that represents your market value. It can be tempting to ask for something in the middle of the range, but instead you should ask for something toward the top.
First of all, you should assume youre entitled to top pay, says She Negotiates founder Victoria Pynchon.
Second, your employer will almost certainly negotiate down, so you need wiggle room to still end up with a salary youre pleased with.
Choose Your Salary Negotiation Strategy Based On Their Offer And Your Minimum Acceptable Salary
Remember when you set your minimum acceptable salary before they made you an offer? This is why: Now that you have the offer, you can compare your minimum to it and determine if you can negotiate with a standard, straightforward counter offer, or if you need to use more advanced tactics to try to get them to improve the offer so you can negotiate it normally.
When you get a lowball job offer
If your offer is more than 20% below your minimum acceptable salary, youll need a different strategy to save the negotiation. As it stands, their offer is very far away from your minimum, which means you cant and wont accept the offer as-is.
Before you continue with your salary negotiation, you need to see if you can get a new offer that can be negotiated up to your minimum. Youll start with the lowball technique, get the best result possible, and then move on to calculating your counter offer.
How to Learn how to negotiate a lowball job offer
When your offer is not a lowball offer
This is much easier: Just continue with the standard salary negotiation process outlined in this guide.
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The New School Method
Here at TheInterviewGuys.com we strongly believe that you need to have confidence in yourself and your skills. You are the ideal candidate and that confidence needs to carry all the way through everything you do including deciding how much youre worth.
Rather than just taking the job no matter what, you need to have an executive mindset.
Liz Ryan, a leading expert in the world of HR, job hunting, and how to not only get your dream job but your dream salary as well, describes the executive mindset as the switch between thinking like a job-seeker and more like a professional in their chosen field just looking for their next assignment.
Rather than being that individual who is so grateful for a job that you take whatever they throw at you, you want to be that person that the company is so eager to bring onboard that they work to make it work for you!
So how do you go from seeker to professional?
Easy.
Confidence.
First off, make sure its genuine confidence. Like weve said time and time againhonesty is the best policy.
Blowing up your ego and swaggering into an interview with an inflated sense of entitlement is going to get you either right back out the door and onto your butt or into a situation where you are vastly underqualifiedand againout the door on your butt.
So go in with a healthy level of confidence. Make sure youre in charge of the interview.
Of course all this requires having a strategy that starts with knowing your valueand bringing it up yourself
Stay Positive Not Pushy
Negotiation may be scary, but you should always keep the conversation on a positive note, recommends Forbes. off the conversation with something like, I really enjoy working here and find my projects very challenging. In the last year, Ive been feeling that the scope of my work has expanded quite a bit. I believe my roles and responsibilities, and my contributions have risen. Id like to discuss with you the possibilities of reviewing my compensation.
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How To Handle Salary Negotiations In An Interview
Negotiating Salary 101: Tactics for much better Compensation. Worried about compensation? Gather together data from Job Search Intelligence, that the US Department at work states provides the most accurate salary information available. The salary calculator provides you with a customized compensation value to consider for your negotiations. Make use of this tool to steer the conversation to obtain the compensation you deserve.
A lot of women also set lower goals and therefore are pleased with under men, but its not obvious why. Experts frequently state that one theory is the fact that women compare themselves with other ladies and they dont include men when evaluating salaries, benefits, or promotions. For whatever reason, women have a tendency to think lower pay is fair.
- Free Salary Calculator
- Discussing Salary
Video advice: How To Negotiate a Higher Salary
Dont Ignore The Recruiters Motivations
At larger companies, a candidate may be working with an external recruiter, an internal recruiter, an outside agency or a direct hiring manager. Its important to suss this out, as it can help determine how much leverage the recruiter has at the bargaining table and how badly they want to close the deal.
Early in the interview process, ask the recruiter, Are you in charge of all hiring for this team? Where do you sit? How do you work with the hiring manager? Do you have any tips to work with the hiring manager? Andersen said. Generally speaking, the recruiters want to help you because if they get you to say yes, thats one requisition off their plate.
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How To Negotiate Your Salary In An Interview
In negotiations, the first person to blink usually loses. The same goes for salary negotiations. If you name a number first, youll never know how high the hiring manager might have gone to win you.
Here are five sneaky ways an interviewer will get you to answer the money question, and how to avoid them.
Q: What is the salary range youre expecting?
Your ideal answer:Id like to get a better sense of the requirements before I commit to a number. Just so I can make sure I have a sense of what you need.
Q: How much did you make at your last job?
Your ideal answer: Dont answer it. Say instead: First I want to make sure I understand the ways in which this positions responsibilities will differ from those of my former position. Lets discuss the details before we agree on a fair amount.
Q: What are you hoping for in terms of salary?
Your ideal answer: This is basically the same as the first question. If theyve already asked some version of this, try this answer, and keep deflecting: Im sure whatever youre offering will be commensurate with the going market rate for this position. This puts the burden of fairness on them.
Q: In order to make you an offer, Ill need to know your requirements.
Your ideal answer: False! Resist! Deflect again! How about: Lets start with what you have budgeted for this position and then we can discuss from there.
Q: Why dont you want to disclose your salary requirements?
Rehearse With A Trusted Friend
Practicing your talking points can help you gain confidence and identify areas of improvement. The best way to practice would be in front of a trusted friend or colleague that can provide helpful feedback. Alternatively, you can try recording your conversation on a camera or speaking in front of a mirror.
This step is especially important because talking about money can sometimes feel uncomfortable, but the more you practice, the more comfortable youll feel when it comes time to have the conversation.
Related:
confidence you convey, the more confident the employer will be in their consideration of your feedback.
Confidence, an appreciation of our own abilities and qualities, should not be confused with arrogance, an exaggerated sense of our importance. Lack of confidence can also result in over-explaining or apologizing for your ask, neither of which is helpful in a negotiation scenario. Instead, confidently and simply state your requested salary, including a brief summary of your reasoning.
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Negotiate With Your Future In Mind
Even if you are happy with the salary offered, money isnt the only thing on the table when you are negotiating for a new job. There may be other benefits that interest you as well.
The company might offer to contribute to your travel expenses or promise you an attractive raise after a few years or after certain goals are met. There are many features of the job that can help you make your decision when an offer is made, so take your time answering and consider everything that is on the table. If you have any questions about job offers in the IT sector, the professionals at Fed IT can advise you.
Dont Take No For An Answer
No doesnt essentially imply no! Youre not the only one making an attempt to get the best deal out of the negotiation.
Simply because the employer said they cant meet your salary or compensation range, it doesnt imply the employer wont name back and up the supply later.
Employers altering their minds occurs on a regular basis. Usually, its not more than negotiation ways.In spite of everything, if the employer wont meet your value, perhaps its time to ask yourself whether or not that is the corporate you wish to work for in the first place!For those who presently use even one of many following six interpersonal gems, youre already forward of the pack.
Most are oblivious to the leverage they will obtain, and naturally, it prices you nothing however time in preparation.
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Dont Be Afraid To Use A Competing Offer As A Bargaining Chip
Theres no need to reveal competing offers during negotiation. Just make sure to keep the conversation congenial and let the company in question know its your frontrunner.
Dont do it in an ultimatum sense, Andersen said. Do it in a helpful way. I have this other offer. Youre my top choice. If we can get closer to this number, were done. I dont have to worry about at all.
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If the company makes it clear they aren’t willing to meet you in your range, then you have to have the confidence to turn them down and move on. An employer unwilling to pay you fair market value for your skills is likely to undervalue you in other ways.
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Plan The Right Timing
Turns out, timing is everything. Most people wait until performance review season to ask for a salary adjustment, but by that time, your boss has probably already decided what raises will be doled out to the team.
Instead? Start talking to your boss about getting a raise three to four months in advance, writer and former human resources professional Suzanne Lucas of EvilHRLady.org told LearnVest. Thats when they decide the budget.
Dont Fill In Salary Boxes
Seen the types that ask you in your final places salary or contract charge? Go away this half clean, which is one of the factual salary negotiation interview tricks.
If an employer asks for your salary expectation, inform the employer that youre open or are negotiable. Why?
When you state a salary, this charge will type the ceiling beneath which the negotiation recreation shall be performed.
Equally, in case you present a salary range, you possibly can guess which finish of your range youll be anchored to.
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Understand The Person Across The Table
Companies dont negotiate people do. And before you can influence the person sitting opposite you, you have to understand her. What are her interests and individual concerns? For example, negotiating with a prospective boss is very different from negotiating with an HR representative. You can perhaps afford to pepper the latter with questions regarding details of the offer, but you dont want to annoy someone who may become your manager with seemingly petty demands. On the flip side, HR may be responsible for hiring 10 people and therefore reluctant to break precedent, whereas the boss, who will benefit more directly from your joining the company, may go to bat for you with a special request.
Development And Career Opportunities
- Can you tell me more about the growth opportunities within the company?
- How can I determine my career opportunities when I decide to leave this role?
Its always a good idea to ask about future career opportunities after rounding off the role you are taking within the company. It will inform you on your future options and the possibilities to grow within your role.
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How To Accept The Offer
When you choose to accept the final offer and the salary and benefits package along with it be sure to thank them. Reiterate your excitement about taking the position. From this day on, you’re part of the team and congrats on the new role!
This is a good time to ask for clarification on any other benefits, like a 401k, health insurance, or paid time off. Any changes to your standard offer, like a signing bonus or stock options, should be written in your offer letter.
Negotiating your salary can be challenging, but it’s a great way to start off your role on the best foot. You want to feel as confident as possible, and you don’t want the thought in the back of your head that you could have and should have asked for more money.
Negotiating your salary up-front should help you feel good about speaking up for yourself, and reassure you that the company values both you and your contributions to the team. And learn more about the relationship between your mental health and money.
When Youre Ready To Start Searching Again Use This Interview Preparation Guide
Its never too early to start thinking ahead to your next opportunity. The more prepared you are for your interviews, the better youll take advantage of doors that open in your career.
Check out this interview preparation guide to learn more about how to use positioning to stand out as the candidate for the job next time you interview!
Learn more How to stand out in your job interviews and get more job offers
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