Salary Negotiations
Salary negotiation is an important aspect of any job situation, and is often perceived as the trickiest part. Mostcommon doubts raised are " Is it safe for me to negotiate a salary without jeopardizing my chances of getting a job?", as well as "When and how do I negotiate my salary?".The situation in which a salary is negotiated could vary depending on whether the individual is a candidate with acertain degree of work experience, applying for a position in a company, or is a candidate with no prior workexperience, applying for an entry level position in an organization. Another situation could be an employee lookingfor career advancement in his current organization. The details of each of these situations might be different,however certain basic principles and rules regarding salary negotiation remain the same.In this article, we attempt to provide broad guidelines on how to
negotiate a salary when applying for a new job
.This should be useful in providing tips on salary negotiations for other situations as well.
A salary should be negotiated if you perceive the offer is inadequate
The first question to be answered is "Should a salary be negotiated at all?". The answer to this is-Yes, if the offermade is inadequate in your view. To arrive at that, it is important that you, the candidate, applying for the job, doyour homework in terms of knowing the salary range for similar positions in other organizations within the sameindustry, and across industries but within the same functional area. For example, when applying for the job of abrand manager in a food company, you need to be aware of the salary range as a brand manager in marketing inother organizations across industries i.e food, cosmetics, detergents etc. That is find out the likely salary for similarpositions in your field. Most reputable corporations offer a standard salary for a type of job. You, as a job applicant,need to find out what that rate is.Do not enter into a salary negotiation for an ego kick to see how far you can go in raising your price with anorganization, especially if the offer they make is within the salary range for that particular position.For first time recruits just starting out in their careers, it is important to communicate that you are more interestedin the job where you can prove yourself and contribute to theorganization, rather than in a specific salary. The organization, in any case, would probably have a certain number of jobs in definite salary brackets.This is normally true when company representatives come to interview on campuses of educational institutes.Recruiters also may get put off if they perceive that the candidate is too salary-focused !
Discuss salary only after you have received the job offer
The next question that comes to mind regarding salary negotiations is when to negotiate a salary. Should it be doneduring the interview for example, when the interviewers ask the interviewee " Would you like to ask us anyquestions?". Or should it be left to a later date?The answer here is that unless you know or have some indication that you are going to receive the job offer, salarynegotiations are irrelevant. Salary negotiations, during the interview or at any time before the interviewers havedecided to select you, will only create a negative impression.There is a saying in sales that you should never discuss price before you have established value. This applies to jobsituations as well. Unless the prospective buyer (employer in this case) is convinced that you provide a suitablematch for their job profile/requirements, any salary discussion is meaningless.It is better to postpone discussion of the salary till as late in the selection process as is possible. In the meantime tryand present the value you offer to the employer and understand the requirements of the position so that you canarrive at a figure or a range for an acceptable salary. This will allow you to negotiate salary later on, meaningfully,once you receive the job offer.
Use the problem-solving approach in your negotiation
Once you have received the job offer take some time to think over it. Use this time to prepare for the negotiationprocess.
List out the issues to be discussed or negotiated.
These could be for example, the structure of your salary package and the amounts under each head, benefits suchas health, housing, leave, bonus, retirement benefits etc.
Set your priorities
Decide on your minimum requirements i.e. the conditions which need to be met for you to accept the offer. Thinkabout what you are willing to trade off. You will need to do this to be able to appear flexible in your negotiationotherwise you may scare away the employer with too much aggression and rigidity. Remember the employer couldstill withdraw the job offer, so be cautious.
List criteria to justify your stand
To give you a high probability of succeeding in your negotiation, you need to setcriteria to appear objective in your requests. It is better for the organization to realize that your concerns are based
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