Salary Negotiation 411

You might be moving into the salary negotiation phase of your job search soon. This area is a big one as we all want to come out of these negotiations feeling that we set ourselves up for a fair wage (after all, we worked so hard just to get to this point!).

Below are attached some infographics on salary negotiation that you might find useful to you. As always, feel free to share them with friends, colleagues, or across social media:

 

My main advice when it comes to salary negotiation is simple:

Know what the market says your worth. Too many people walk into a salary negotiation unaware of this, but it's the main ingredient. We'd all like to think we can "name our price," but the market really does that (so capitalistic, I know!). So do your research and build your salary range off of that.  

Never offer your lowest number. If your lowest salary expectation is $100K, then your range should be something like $105K-$120K. Chances are you will end up somewhere around $110K, but even if you do end up at $105K, you are still above your bottom number. Of course, there are other factors involved, like benefits and vacation time, and you should weigh them in the offer, but companies know that candidates are willing to make sacrifices in salary for these benefits, so they use it to get you to agree to less money, which means you have to work your way up (here and at the next company) from a lower base.  

Desperation never "sells." Sorry, but like it or not, you are selling something here...your services. We can call it by any other name, if it makes you more comfortable, but what you really need is a good understanding of sales 101: Desperation is a vibe we carry (even if we think we don't). So work hard to keep a level head. The best way I know is to focus on the benefits, not features, you bring to the employer. What problem are you going to solve for them? Don't just say you are good and worth it because you have X. Instead, tell them how you will leverage X to make the employer's life better. Believe it or not, you still have to connect the dots! Ultimately, you want to "win" the offer at a rate you desire, but the company gets a bigger win: an answer to a problem it has because you are going to provide it. (And you want this, by the way. You want the other side of the negotiation to feel like it got a great deal, not because you came cheap but because you offered a great benefit. Your working relationship will start out much better this way.)    

--About Stephen----

Stephen Van Vreede is not your average IT/technical résumé writer. He provides career strategy and concierge job search solutions for senior (15+ years) (ITtechExec) and up-and-coming (NoddlePlace) (5-15 years) tech and technical operations leaders. Stephen and his team focus on building simplified, targeted, and certain career move campaigns, be it an external search or an internal promotion. He is co-author of UNcommon with career development leader Brian Tracy (out June 11, 2015). Contact Stephen directly at Stephen@ittechexec.com or send him an invite at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenvanvreede. To see whether Stephen and his team are a good fit for you, take their free (and anonymous) 1-minute compatibility quiz, Is the ITtechExec Approach a Good Match for You? Also, feel free to take his complimentary resume self-assessment quiz, How Certain Can You Be About Your Technical Resume? You might be surprised by what you find out!