How to professionally negotiate your salary

It’s a conversation that most people dread. Chances are, unless you’re a serial negotiator, talking about your salary with a new prospective employer or your current one is not a fun task. 

Whether you’re considering a new job offer or whether you’ve been at your current job for a couple of years with additional responsibilities added to your role but not reflected in your salary, knowing how to professionally negotiate your salary is a useful skill to have.

Here are some tips to help remove the stress from the negotiation process: 

1 - Do your research

It’s very important to have realistic expectations and know the market range. If you’re negotiating purely for the sake of negotiating and not paying attention to the years of experience you have or to the role seniority or the current market value, then you’re already setting yourself up for failure. 

Information is your best friend here, and by understanding the industry salary trends, you’ll have a better grasp of the range the employer is willing to offer. Adjust your research to incorporate geographic areas and pay particular attention to certain required skill sets that you may have and would prove to be an additional asset to the company. 

2 - Know what you bring to the table

You need to be confident in yourself and your biggest salesperson. If you don’t believe in your value to the employer and if you do know what you bring to the table, it’s hardly fair to expect others to believe for you. 

Whether it’s a new or existing company, it’s always worth keeping track of major achievements and accomplishments. If you’re negotiating for a salary raise, you could highlight how your skills have added monetary value to the company, either in sales generated or costs saved. 

3 - Consider other non-salary related incentives 

At times, the salary you’re looking for may not be feasible, and the employer, despite being keen to have you join the team, is unable to work around other constraints. There may be a particular budget set for example and very little leeway. However, there are other elements you can negotiate that could work for you even better than a financial one. A job is more than a salary and there are numerous elements that could make your working life more enjoyable. Consider your starting date, your hours, flexibility to work from home or vacation days. 

Know what’s valuable to you and what would make the offer more attractive. If you have a number of offers on the table, look at the health insurance coverage and other benefits. Also bear in mind professional development opportunities and future growth - you may be in a position where professional growth is more appealing to you than a large paycheck for instance. 

4 - Charm and likeability go a long way

Don’t underestimate the power of charm. When interviewing and negotiating, a prospective employer is not only looking for candidates with a particular skill set, but they’re trying to see if the person will be a good fit for the team and will gel well. In your eagerness to secure the best paycheck for yourself, it’s important to not lose sight of this and manage the inevitable tensions that arise. Don’t let your persistence come off as a nuisance, and be very aware of your approach and in maintaining the rapport you’ve been building. 

5 - Be prepared for the tough questions

Do you have any other offers? If we make you an offer will you say yes? Are we your top choice? 

These questions will certainly be asked in any negotiation, and they can be tough. If you’ve failed to prepare adequately for these scenarios, you’ll find yourself sounding evasive, or worse, untruthful. 

The other risk is that in an attempt to please, or secure the job offer, you’ll give up some of your bargaining power and come off too keen. You need to answer honestly but diplomatically, it’s fine to let them know that you’re keeping your options open, but also reassure the company that you are a serious contender. There’s nothing worse than a company offering to make concessions for a prospective employee only to discover they’re not very serious about joining. 

Try not to focus too much on the question itself, and understand why they’re asking you these tough questions. If you’ve made it this far into the interview process, it means you’re an attractive candidate and they’re genuinely interested in you. Interviewers are not looking to back you up into a corner, they’re just trying to better understand you. Asking if you’d start a role tomorrow could be a sign of them simply trying to gauge your passion for the role or see how soon they could expect to get you on board the team. 

Are there any other tips that have worked for you? Let us know in the comments.

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Cover Image Credits: Unsplash, Christina @ wocintechchat.com 

Inline Image Credits: Unsplash