Negotiating
Successful negotiation begins with thorough research. Assessment and market analysis are completed at the beginning of the seeking employment phase, and investigation into salary ranges is part of that process. Now, the candidate must delve deeper into the salaries typically paid for a specific position. When considering a relocation, the job seeker must consider and calculate cost of living differences from the home area to the new location.
Avoid A Series of Wrong Turns
In Career Services we see candidates who prepared thoroughly for a key interview, but did not pay the recommended attention to salary and benefits research. The candidate may be asked salary requirements, and they pull a number out of the blue, or respond by giving an overly broad range. A candidate may overvalue their skills and state a range that is unrealistically high. An unprepared candidate may profess ignorance and ask what the employer is prepared to offer. Or the candidate uses the salary in their current job as the basis for the salary in the anticipated job.
Any of these responses has potential to trap the candidate in a position from which there is no recovery. When a candidate states a specific range, negotiatons have begun. Desired salaries above the standard industry range are considered unreasonable and may preempt a job offer. An offer made within a candidate's stated range, even if that range is below the industry average, is an acceptable offer from the employer perspective. Buyers would be foolish to pass up good value at a bargain price. The candidate must think of themselves as a product, and learn what price the market will bear. Poor research and negotiations resulting in a low salary negatively affects earnings for years.
In another pitfall of negotiations, the inexperienced and unprepared candidate responds emotionally to a salary offer. This common trap is perhaps best expressed in an anecdote:
A student who first visited Career Services when he was in the midst of salary negotiations, had been offered $23,000 annually for a middle management position in an educational institution. He commented, "I can't believe someone is offering me $23,000! That is so much more money than I have ever made!" As a college student in part time jobs, he had earned low hourly wages. He had very little savings, and his monthly bills were small. This otherwise savvy student saw $23,000 as a huge amount of money and as such, a positive indication of his worth.
With some sample budgeting, he quickly came to see the $23,000 as inadequate to cover his expected monthly expenses. Research in the Career Resource Center revealed in short order that the average offer for similar positions in the field was $27,000. The student possessed credentials that made him an above average candidate, so he was encouraged to set his opening request at the higher end of the range, between $27,000 and $32,000. Still not a high salary, but competitive in his chosen field, for his chosen market. In addition to salary advising, the Career Services adviser educated him about the importance of benefits in his overall compensation package, an aspect of compensation he had not considered.
Fortunately, the student had not responded to the salary offer, and had advised the employer he needed time to consider. He was able to return to the bargaining table to negotiate a salary at the higher end of the range plus enhanced benefits.
Staying On Track with Salary Statistics
It is best to go into a job search with knowledge of appropriate compensation, even though salary is negotiated at the end of the interview process. Candidates who are asked about salary requirements at the beginning of the application or interview process may respond by giving the most appropriate sector of the researched range for their field, and identifying it as such; or may defer discussion of salary to the end of the interview process. The candidate should not initiate inquiries about the salary in the first interview.
Realistic Strategies for Negotiating Salary
Avoid revealing current salary. It is not relevant to the job opportunity. What is relevant? Current industry salary ranges, local adjustments for cost of living, market analysis, saturation of the market by competing candidates, the candidate's skills, abilities and experiences as they relate to the job.
Consider the non-monetary potential of the job. If the salary is lower than average or lower than desired, and evaluation of the organization indicates it will not or cannot go higher, are there compelling reasons to accept the offer anyway? Some considerations would be the opportunity to earn credit for accomplishing a high profile assignment; the chance to work with a powerful mentor; a choice position in a new career field that promises excellent connections for the career changer.
When the wages offered are less than ideal, negotiating for increased benefits and perquisites is one option. Life insurance, health insurance, retirement plans, tuition remission, flex time, increased vacation, parking fees, company leased cars are examples of benefits and perqs which may be subject to negotiation.
In the Career Resource Center, Career Services has books about interviewing and negotiating. Students and alumni can use these books in the CRC, or order them through their local bookstore or public library.
Review Career Resource Center titles.
Learn more about negotiating for salaries and benefits.
NACE JobWeb: Salaries and Benefits
NACE JobWeb: Students Rate Job Benefits and Policies
The Four Step Salary Negotiation Method, at The Five O'Clock Club
Return to the Beginning: Job Search Readiness General Information
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This page was last updated Thursday, 15-May-2008 16:16:27 EDT.
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