Salary negotiation is one area of the job hunt in which I have failed miserably.
Many years ago, I was interviewing for an employment opportunity that I was very qualified for in both education and experience. The ad had listed a salary range for the position, with the upper part of the range being more in line with what I was hoping to receive for a salary.
The interviews went well, and then it came down to the job offer. The salary that the hiring manager came to me with was at the bottom of the range. Instead of negotiating for a higher salary, I just took what was presented because I wanted the job.
Now that was stupid of me.
In order to help you to avoid making that same mistake, here are a few resources that have good advice:
- Job Offer: What’s Your Bottom Line? — This post on Working Girl includes links to other resources that help you determine how good an offer really is.
- What to Ask for at a Job Interview — Another great post at Working Girl that contains this smart advice: “One of the secrets to successful negotiation is to not babble.” There’s much more to the post, so go read the whole thing!
- What You Need to Know Before You Sign a Job Offer — Pongo Blog offers excellent tips for what to do when you are at the stage of accepting an offer.
- How to Choose the Best Job Offer, Part I and Part II — If you are in the situation where you are evaluating multiple offers, this two-part series from Pongo Blog will provide much guidance. The first part details how to break down the various factors that determine how good an offer really is, and the second part gets into accepting the best offer and turning down the others in a way that won’t burn bridges.
- 100+ Salary Surveys, Databases and Calculators from Around the World in 2009 — This list on JobMob compiles resources that can help job seekers around the globe with the salary negotiation issue.
Do you have any great advice on what has helped you negotiate a good salary?
Twitter: jacobshare
says:
People don’t like to negotiate. Why? Because they weren’t taught how, so negotiating makes them uncomfortable. Now imagine how much harder it is when you’re negotiating for something really important like your salary.
The reality is that almost everything is negotiable if you just try. I was shopping at a major hardware store recently and when I arrived at the checkout, the cashier asked if I had their membership card. I said no, but can I still have the 10% discount anyway? She thought about it for a minute…and then said “why not?” and knocked 10% off my bill. Sweet.
By practicing negotiating in situations like that, you’ll begin to be more comfortable negotiating in higher-pressure situations.
Thanks for your comments, Jacob!
You’re right that salary negotiation skills are not taught. It’s a shame, too. I think it is almost harder to do than answering the tough interview questions.
I need to learn to ask for discounts more, though I think I’m getting better as I get older. I was the primary negotiator for our last vehicle purchase since it would be mostly for my use, and I was able to get the final sale price reduced a decent amount.
People should negotiate more. And employers should be willing to do so.
I suspect that employers are more willing to negotiate than job seekers think. If they have a high-quality candidate they are considering, I wouldn’t think they would let them go easily.
As Jacob said earlier, there is a lot of discomfort with this part of the process because it’s stressful and salary negotiation skills are not taught. Maybe that’s something that should go along with the instruction that is given about resume writing and interviewing skills.