Salary negotiation tactics are vital to obtaining the salary you want. Negotiations in general are tough for most people, but we often encounter opportunities to negotiate with others in our personal and professional lives. Navigating salary negotiations while avoiding costly mistakes can be considered a fine art, but check out some of these suggestions for success as well as mistakes to avoid during your next salary negotiation.
Negotiating “Don’ts”
- Don’t accept or decline a job offer too quickly. Regardless of how you perceive the offer, whether it’s the best offer you’ve ever received or the money is way below average, take the time you’ve been allotted to review it thoroughly with a clear head. Usually you’ll have several days to a week to look over the salary and benefits before submitting your decision. If the salary isn’t high enough, look at the benefits. There may be stock options, better health insurance premiums, or larger bonuses and incentives paid throughout the year that offset the lower salary amount. Just remember that when you’ve received an offer from a company, they have chosen you. The power is in your hands, so use it as leverage. Sometimes there isn’t way to salvage an offer, and that’s ok too. The point is to take your time to assess the offer!
- Don’t settle or opt to not negotiate. Whether you’re uncomfortable with asking for more money or you don’t completely understand the process, this is one of the biggest mistakes made when accepting offers. Females and younger jobseekers are prone to making the mistake of settling for a lower salary. What people often don’t realize is the long term implications this has on your earning potential. Raises that are based on a percentage of your salary will be less than if you had negotiated a higher base salary.
- When discussing salary, don’t be the first to bring it up and give your interviewer the opportunity to provide their salary offer first. That way you won’t short yourself by asking for two little money or giving a number that is too high. Let your interviewer approach the subject on their terms, but be prepared with your reasonable salary requirement range. This requires that you do research on similar positions in the industry while knowing what value you can bring to the position. If you haven’t been able to do the research to understand your true market value, and you’re not prepared to have the salary discussion, let your interviewer know that you’d like to learn more about the position and responsibilities before answering the question.
To sum up these salary negotiation tips, be patient and review the job and salary offers with a clear head to avoid accepting or declining a job too quickly. Step out of your comfort zone, be bold, and negotiate for the salary that will set you up for better future bonuses and salary increases that are based off of that base salary rate. Finally, put your interviewer in the position of being the first to name a number that you can leverage in your salary negotiations. Navigating negotiations can be tricky, but approaching the situation armed with information will spark your confidence and help you negotiate the salary that you deserve.
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