Negotiating your salary can be awkward and challenging
— and actually getting the pay you want often seems impossible. But it isn't.
"A job interview can be stressful, especially
when it comes time to talk about money," says etiquette expert and "Poised
for Success" author Jacqueline Whitmore. "However,
you can get what you
want and deserve — most job seekers just aren't sure when and how to
ask for it."
To master the delicate dance that is a salary
negotiation, you need to be able to push without offending the hiring manager
or undercutting yourself.
Here's how the pros do it:
Research the market.
To successfully negotiate your salary, negotiation
expert Kim Keating writes in "Lean In For Graduates," you'll
need to gather information to figure out what you're really worth.
"The time you invest can pay off in a big way. And I mean that
literally," she writes.
To protect yourself against accepting too little or
asking for far too much, you can turn to sites like Glassdoor and Salary.com to determine
the average compensation range for someone with your level of experience and
skills and in your industry or company (or a comparable one, in terms of number
of employees, revenue size, and location).
"At the end of the day, a candidate has a number
in mind as to what they think they're worth," says Eddie R.
Koller III, managing director and partner at Howard-Sloan-Koller Group, a
technology and media recruiting firm. "But a company has limits to
what they can spend."
Set
your goals in advance.
Once you know what you're worth, decide how
much you would like to make and what's the lowest offer you'd be willing to
accept.
Ivanka Trump, CEO of Ivanka Trump
Collection, says knowing what you want to achieve before heading
into a negotiation is "the golden rule" for negotiating — but
most people ignore it.
"Without a plan, you allow the opposing party to
define your goals instead of the other way around," she writes on
Motto.
Don't
talk money until the interview process is over.
If you can delay discussing pay until there's an offer
on the table, you should.
"Once they've decided that they have to have you,
only then are you in the position to negotiate," says Dan Martineau,
president of Martineau Recruiting Technology, a firm specializing in IT
executive positions.
If your interviewer tries to talk about salary early
on, Martineau tells Business Insider that the best thing to do is to
tell the interviewer you would like to defer a conversation about compensation
until after the company has had a chance to evaluate whether you're the right
fit for them.
Open
with something personal.
As previously reported on Business Insider, in an
experiment where Kellogg and Stanford students negotiated by email, those
who shared unrelated personal details over the course of the negotiation —
hobbies, hometowns, etc. — ended up getting significantly better results than
those who kept things to name, email, and the dry monetary details.
Opening up a bit sends a signal that you're
trustworthy, according to Grant, and it makes it more likely that
they'll reciprocate.
Don't
ever disclose your current salary.
Revealing your salary history has the potential
to negatively affect your income for your entire career.
"I would never, ever disclose my current salary
or salary history to a prospective employer, even if it means ending the
interview process," writes recruiter and "Ask the
Headhunter" author, Nick Corcodilos. "That is my advice to
job hunters."
If an interviewer asks what your current salary is,
Corcodilos suggests politely but firmly declining to disclose your
salary history by saying something along the lines of, "I'd be glad
to help you assess what I'd be worth to your business by showing you what I can
do for you, but my salary is personal and confidential, just as the salaries of
your own employees are."
Liz Ryan, founder and CEO of consulting firm The Human
Workplace, recommends in a post on LinkedIn answering the
question indirectly by giving your target salary range instead.
"How are you ever going to increase your earnings
if every time you change jobs, you get a tiny raise over what they paid you at
the last place?" she asks.
Be
prepared to prove your value ...
Don't be afraid to toot your own horn a little.
"Be prepared to prove your value to the
employer," says Whitmore. "Have all of your facts and
figures in order. Come prepared with a list of your qualifications,
accomplishments (personal and professional), how you saved your last company
money or increased your company's bottom line, and why you are the one best
suited for the job."
...
but only provide a couple reasons for your request.
"When preparing to make a first offer, people
often overcorrect," writes Wharton professor Adam Grant.
"They're so concerned about justifying their positions that they marshal
as many reasons as possible."
Grant points to research that found skilled
negotiators averaged fewer than two reasons per argument, compared with three
reasons per argument from the non-experts.
He explains that more reasons can dilute an argument,
especially if some are weaker than others. And presenting too many reasons can
convey a lack of confidence, "making clear that we're uncertain of the
legitimacy of our offer. An effective first offer is best supported by one or
two compelling reasons," Grant says.
Be
excited, but not desperate.
You should reiterate your excitement and stay
positive, but don't be so excited that you seem desperate. You have no
idea how many other candidates the hiring manager is interviewing so play it
cool, says Martineau.
"Desperate is problematic. Eager is not. I want
people who are eager and excited," he says. "It's only aGOOD
INVESTMENT on
my end if it's a good investment on your end."
However, Koller says that showing the employer that
you're excited about working for the company does make them more inclined to
give you want you want.
Make
the first offer.
As conventional wisdom goes, you should wait for the
other party to make the initial offer in order to get more information to act
on.
In reality, Grant says it's much better to
make the first offer because you get to set the "anchor," the
figure that affects the trajectory of the negotiation. As previously
reported on Business Insider, people who make very high first offers end up
with a much better result.
The first offer pulls the other person in its
direction, and it's difficult to adjust the other way.
Emphasize
what the company gains by hiring you.
Recent research suggests that, when negotiating,
emphasizing what you're giving the other person as opposed to what they're
losing makes the other person more likely to concede.
Make sure you highlight what skills and experience
you're offering the company and your potential boss first, and use that to
justify what you're asking for.
Give
a salary range rather than a target.
Offering a pay range instead of an exact number
opens up room for discussion and shows the employer that you're flexible. A
range also "gives you a cushion," says Martineau, in
case your asking salary is too high.
"Most companies will meet you in your range, even
if it's the bottom third of that range," he says. "Basically,
if they want you, they don't want to send the wrong message by not meeting you
in that range."
Presenting a range gives people information about
what you're actually asking for, and it makes you seem polite and reasonable —
which means you're less likely to get hit with a hard-line counteroffer.
Use
odd, extremely precise numbers.
Using a weird, precise number makes sense during
a negotiation. For example, instead of asking for $70,000, you're better off
asking for $68,500.
Malia Mason, lead researcher in a study published
in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, tells Business Insider
that using a precise number instead of rounded numbers will give you a
solid anchor. It also gives off the appearance that you've done your research.
Even when giving a range, you should use precise numbers.
Pay
attention to your body language.
"The way in which you carry yourself, even when
seated at a desk, matters," Trump writes. She notes that most of our
communication is nonverbal and that messages are often conveyed through
our facial expressions, gestures, posture, and audible elements, like
sighs.
Her suggestions: Don't fidget. Don't pick your
nails or tap your foot. Don't sit on the edge of your seat because it could
make you look overeager. Don't hunch over and drum your nails because
it could communicate aggression or frustration. Don't cross your arms
protectively because it could make you appear meek and intimidated.
"Regardless of how fast your heart may be
beating, sit upright, make eye contact, and focus on breathing evenly," Trump
writes.
Mirror
the other person's behavior.
When people are getting along, they mimic one
another — mirroring each other's accents, speech patterns, facial
expressions, and body language.
A Stanford-Northwestern-INSEAD study found that
people who were coached to mimic their negotiation partner's behavior not only
negotiated a better deal, but expanded the pie for both people.
"Negotiators who mimicked the mannerisms of their
opponents both secured better individual outcomes, and their dyads as a whole
also performed better when mimicking occurred compared to when it did
not," the authors wrote.
Listen
more than you speak.
"When people are uncomfortable, and many people
are when they have to negotiate, they start rambling as a way to fill the
vacuum of silence," Trump writes.
"Some of the strongest negotiators I know just
sit back and listen. The less they engage, the more likely the other person is
to slip up and offer information they otherwise would have kept guarded,"
she says.
Always
counteroffer, but don't do it more than once.
Once you receive their offer, you are expected to make
a counteroffer. No employer wants a pushover. However, Koller says that you
should not go back to the negotiation table more than once because
then "it becomes annoying to the hiring manager."
"Once it gets really drawn out, it gets
frustrating for both sides," and you don't want to start a new job
off on the wrong foot, he says.
Consider
your alternatives.
If the employer can't meet your requested salary, be
prepared to negotiate for benefits, like additional vacation days or the
ability to telecommute one day per week, Whitmore suggests.
"Salary isn't everything, and I think you
should be open minded," she says.
"If you don't get the amount you want, reply
with, 'May I have a job performance review in six or nine
months?' This will give you a window of time to prove yourself and then
re-negotiate for a salary increase," Whitmore suggests.
Practice
patience.
Give yourself time to think about their offer,
Whitmore says. "Try not to give a definite answer right away. Ask the
employer, 'May I get back to you at the end of the
week?'" Separation creates anticipation. This extra time will allow
you to review your options with your family or other potential employers, she
explains.
Keep
a positive attitude.
"If you don't get the salary you think you
deserve, don't share the news with everyone you know," says
Whitmore. "News travels fast and your comments might come back to
haunt you." And never bad-mouth an employer on social networks, she
adds.
"Don't take it personally. The timing may not be
right or the economy may be partly to blame. Consider this: The hiring manager
may even call you again in the future if a position in your price range opens
up."
Source:
http://www.businessinsider.com/tips-for-negotiating-the-salary-you-want-2016-2?utm_content=buffer9dfda&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
