Now that you’ve hurdled the final interview and gotten that coveted job offer, it’s time to enter the next and possibly most important stage of the recruitment process. We’re talking about the salary negotiation phase, where you and your employer will discuss the job’s specifics and how much you will get paid. When you don’t negotiate your offer properly, you could end up depriving yourself of attractive pay, superb benefits, and an overall satisfying job.
Even if you weren’t born with excellent negotiation skills, you could still construct a convincing argument for well-deserved pay and benefits. To guide you on the final step of your job application, here are a few tried and tested tips on how to negotiate your salary package:
Reassess What You Bring to the Table
Before even attempting to negotiate an agreeable salary, you first need to know your worth. This means having a clear idea of your skills, experience, and basically all that you can offer to the company. Having professional experience of more than 5 years, for example, might equate to a salary higher than what you previously earned. The same goes for higher educational attainment, such as having a PhD or a Master’s degree.
You may also want to factor in highly specific or niche skills that not a lot of professionals in your field possess. If you plan to work in human resources, for example, you can focus on a certain industry that you may be well-versed in, such as real estate recruitment. To know more about the specific skills and strategies that would make for ideal real estate recruiters, you can go here.
Overall, it pays to have a clear idea of the value you bring to the company. Doing so will prevent you from selling yourself short, plus you will make a compelling case for being a wise investment.
Consider Outside Economic Factors
In addition to your accomplishments, you also have to consider factors that might affect your financial stability if you’re not compensated properly.
This includes economic conditions beyond your control, such as the state of inflation in your country and the cost of living in your area.
Employers would usually consider the financial situations of their potential employees, especially the ones who bring the most to the team. So, when discussing your desired pay, it might help to mention economic factors as well.
Pinpoint Your Salary Range
Before asking for a higher salary, it’s important to do your research on the market average for your position. You could try combing through online sources such as job boards to determine the typical salary range for the job you applied for. It might also help to ask professionals in your field, whether through personal contacts or other avenues such as online forums.
Once you identify your baseline, you can start determining your high point (dream salary), middle point (agreeable alternative), and the lowest point (bare minimum). This is especially important for industries like the hospitality industry. Following a few salary negotiation tips can help professionals negotiate better salaries. There’s nothing wrong with asking for a generous paycheck. That said, you still need to align your skills and experience with a realistic benchmark amount that can be easily justified.
Factor in Other Benefits
As implied by its name, a salary package includes things other than your base pay. These include government-mandated benefits, as well as other perks that your employer might be able to provide. When sealing the deal with your employer, make sure that you’re looking at the whole offer.
Check for potential perks such as travel and internet allowances, signing bonuses, educational support, flexible work hours, more paid time off (PTO), and free meals. On top of these, your employer could be gracious about promotions and offer opportunities for a higher salary the longer you stay at the company.
Simply put, while the salary you end up with is not necessarily the ceiling amount you intended, there could be other factors that make for an agreeable salary package. The key is to know what you value the most and ensure that your employer is able to provide it accordingly.
Maintain Flexibility and Perspective
Salary negotiations may be primarily about considering your terms, but it’s also about understanding the constraints of the employer who wants to hire you.
When negotiating your pay, make sure that you understand any limits that your prospective employer would have: salary caps, the need for staff presence in the office, and the like. Taking these into consideration will allow you to negotiate a compensation package that’s agreeable to you as well as your employer.
That being said, avoiding ultimatums when negotiating your pay is also important. This goes for you, as well as your potential employer.
Make it clear that you’re available to join the team; it’s just that you have certain terms that would allow you to forge a good working relationship with the company.
There’s no harm in mentioning that you have other options waiting for your response, but make sure to communicate your willingness to decline those offers in favor of the one that suits your terms. That’s the whole deal about negotiations: weighing your options and settling on the best compromise.
Be Likable, Clear, and Direct
You don’t have to be a psychologist to know that being mean is less likely to get you the salary that you want. At the end of the day, there’s a clear line between assertiveness and just plain arrogance. During the negotiation phase, make sure to maintain your composure, be polite, and handle tensions with grace. Aside from being nice, it would also serve you well to clearly communicate your terms and be direct about what you want.
Ultimately, effective negotiations push through when people are clear about what they deserve and know how to persist without going overboard. If the terms are still not agreeable, you can always politely decline and pursue other offers.
Final Word: Be Prepared for the Best and Worst
Lastly, it would be ideal for job seekers to stay prepared for unwanted outcomes. Perhaps the employer or recruiter won’t budge on your requests. Or maybe, you need to go through a series of tough questions before getting approved for the salary you prefer. Still, fortune favors the brave and prepared. Negotiating your salary is a natural part of the job hunt, and you’ve got nothing to lose by making your case through strategies that have been proven to work.
