How To Get The Job You Really
Really Want - And...Finally - Salary Negotiation
It
is always difficult to know when to conduct the negotiations as far
as salary is concerned.
To be fair, you should have been told "up front" a
range within which the salary falls and this is an area where you
should have completed your research. If you are experienced in a
certain market, you will probably know it well, and therefore, have
a good idea of salary levels in any case. If not, RESEARCH.
Check job adverts in the press, trade press, and also internal job
vacancies.
Speak to your peers...not everyone will play ball,
but find out as much as you can.
You then have to decide how much you want.
Decide what is both your ideal, and what you will not go below.
Once you feel you are getting to the stage where
salary is to be discussed, you need to discuss it from a position of
strength. Now, salary / package could be discussed in one of two
scenarios. It could be the, " if we offered you the job, what sort
of package would you want" or it could be the, " here is the job
offer, let's negotiate"
Nowadays it is normally the former. So, if you find
yourself talking about salary levels in a final interview, you have
the right to expect that you have done reasonably well, at
least! What normally happens is a salary / package is agreed on,
subject to offer.
So, how do you negotiate from a position of
strength? My best advice, is let the interviewer raise the
subject. Now, once the subject is raised, you need to ensure you
maximise the offer, but you should not negotiate aggressively.
Your relative strength in the negotiation depends on whether or not
the company have actually said they want you. If they have, you are
in a strong bargaining position. If not, and you are talking
hypothetically, your position is not so strong.
Anyway, initially, quote your top end, then wait and
see what reaction you get. You should know how this relates to the
market, and the company making the offer, in particular. Therefore,
it follows you will have a reasonable idea of how hard you are
pushing them. In reality, you are unlikely
to be that far apart.
Now, you may find the silence trick used
on you here. If you have asked for £55,000 plus car, and it is met
with silence, you must resist the temptation to talk. No
matter how uneasy the silence may seem, keep it shut. If you
open your mouth, you know what will come out! " Well, £53,000 would
be O.K". Hold your nerve!
If the boot is on the other foot, and they have told
you they want you, you are in a much stronger position. They will
probably quote you a salary and you can use the silence trick on
them, something like this.
" We really want you to join us, how would a starting
salary of £53,000 sound?"
Keep quiet, look pensive, and when the pause has
become almost unbearable, look up and say quietly to yourself, in a
questioning fashion, "£53,000?" Then look reflective.
Now you need a bit of nerve to pull this off, but in
many instances, the pause will prompt the interviewer to say,
"Well, I suppose we could go to £55,000".
Throughout the negotiation phase of the process, you
should always bear in mind that you need to negotiate a package that
not only makes you happy, but also the employer. You need to
make sure you both get off on the right foot, and there are no
misunderstandings. That's why I say do not negotiate aggressively.
You should always with-hold your acceptance until the salary is
agreed.
One other point here, by the way. Once you get to
negotiation stage, you do need to qualify that the offer is a
concrete offer. Being in recruitment for many years, I have had
many candidates come back to me with the old, "It's in the bag
Derek, got the offer!"
I ask two simple questions;-
1. When do you start?
2. Where's the offer letter? - It's O.K. if they say
"We'll post it to you tonight"!
If you cannot confirm these two simple facts, you
have not got a definite offer. Make sure you close the offer
down properly!
This is reasonably easy. Once you feel you have
agreement, you can ask,
"I take it we are agreed then?" and then repeat back
the terms of the offer. You can then state that the offer is
acceptable, and agree a start date. It is preferable this happens
at the final interview, but in many cases, the final offer and
acceptance are completed via the post. But, please, please, please,
beware of the offer that is not an offer, I have known it cause some
serious heartache. So make sure you confirm everything at this
closing stage.
Just as an interesting side note, you should always
look to increase your salary / package from a move. The exception
to this is if you are changing career track (although still
possible), or if you have been unemployed for a length of time with
no other reasonable prospects of an offer of employment.
Other helpful hints. Talk in terms of what you are
accustomed to, not what you need to live on, and talk in terms of
what the job responsibilities are "worth". If you talk too much in
terms of what you should be paid, you may prompt a lower offer. All
you are doing here is re-enforcing what the successful completion of
this role is worth to the company, and therefore, building your
worth into the bargain.
If you really want the job, and can't get the offer
to a level that you really want, you can either try and get perks
added to top up the offer, or get commitment to a review in, say six
months, on the back of satisfactory performance or certain key goals
being achieved.
All you are doing here is using standard negotiation
techniques. We use them every day of our lives. To get your wife /
husband to take you to a show, to get the girl / boy in the disco,
to get the kids to do the washing up, in-fact life is one big
negotiation. It is always worth keeping your negotiation skills up
to scratch, and there are plenty of good books and tapes on the
market.
My personal favourites in this area are;-
Roger Dawson
Frank Bettger (some excellent stories
from the Insurance industry in the 20's and 30's, USA style - great
fun).
Mark McCormack
Jim Rohn
Tom Hopkins
Any books or CDs from these guys are worth getting
hold of.
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Resignation
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