Understanding Salary Negotiation

Before you sign your salary negotiation letter, you need to understand the art of negotiating your way to receiving a salary you are happy with.

Answering Ads
Obviously you don't want to provide a number, unless you're in a profession where everyone makes between x and y, and you don't want to leave your present job unless you can get y. Give a low figure, and you may be leaving money on the table. Give a high one, and you may be weeded out fast.

It's especially hard if you're changing fields; e.g., from librarian to investment analyst, or vice versa. If you're moving up in salary, you have to convince your potential employer that there's a reason you were willing to work for slave wages before. If you're moving down, you have to show that you're serious about sticking with your new career even if it means giving up lobster.

It's also tough when you're applying for a job beneath your previous level for good and sufficient reasons, like not being able to find a better one. If you divulge that you were making twice as much before, or even request a salary that's obviously below your previous level, the HR people may tab you "overqualified" and toss your resume into the recycling bin. Their logic: You'll leave as soon as you get a better-paying job.

You can ignore the request for salary requirements, but if some automatons in human resources are screening all the letters, they may use that as an excuse to trash yours.You can get interviews, and favorable comments from interviewers, by writing, "My salary requirements are flexible. I expect to enjoy this job so much that I won't need to indulge myself with lobster dinners," or, "This job sounds so exciting that I'll be willing to defer buying that Porsche." If you want to hit the question head on, try, "I know the salary you're contemplating for a social worker is less than what I made as a talk-show host, but I accept that as part of the career I want and feel qualified for."

The riskiest approach is to say you'll take a salary in the thirties or the sixties or the nineties, unless you really mean you'd take less. The HR people will see that as $31K or $61K or $91K.

At Interviews
Now that you've made it this far, you'll be facing a chicken game. The object is to make the other guy blink first. Ideally, the interviewer will say, "We're paying in the fifties (or thirties or seventies). Is that OK with you?" You can then say, "I'm aiming for the high end of that, but it sounds fair."

Most interviewers, though, learned in their interviewing classes not to do that. They're after a bargain, and they have the advantage of knowing that you've been coached never to ask about money in an interview. They'll say, "I notice you didn't give a salary requirement. What do you have in mind?" You can respond, "What range do you have in mind?"

An important rule in salary negotiation is that you don't want to leave the interview with no idea of what the job will pay, unless you're guaranteed to be called in for a second one. If you see an HR person as well as the hiring manager, that's the person to ask. Hiring managers often aren't sure what they can pay anyway. Be casual. When they ask you whether you have any more questions, how about "What is the salary range for this job, anyway?" While you're at it, find out about benefits. Whether you work for this organization isn't just the employer's decision, it's yours as well. You have to know about those things before you make it.

Remember, you have the advantage in the chicken game. The employer does have an idea of what it wants to pay. However, the interviewers may have no idea what you'll accept. The idea is to make them feel you're indispensable, so they'll be willing to start higher.

After the Offer
Suppose you haven't come to a tacit agreement about money by now, and you get a letter offering you $20K less than you had in mind. It's not an up-down decision. This is your chance to say, "That's awfully low. I don't know that it's worth changing jobs for. Would you consider raising that?" At this point the employer has committed itself to you for at least a week or two and doesn't want to have to go down the list. Chances are that it'll work.

If you're hesitant, think about ballplayers and how they negotiate for millions at a time. How long could you live on the difference between the Yankees' last offer to Randy Johnson and their second-to-last offer? Asking for a small amount more isn't so momentous, is it?

Article provided by Homesteader.