Each and every person has to go through salary negotiation at least once in their career. Negotiating a salary offer is not an easy process by any means. Many candidates do not even think about how to negotiate salary as an element of fear is attached to it. But it is essential since your salary will determine your future prospects in your career.
Suppose you have finished some Web Development Courses or PMP virtual training and are now on the hunt for a job. You have found the ideal job, and now you have to negotiate the salary. It can be an awkward conversation, but you can impress your employer with the right salary negotiation tips. Read on to learn how to negotiate for a higher salary and land your dream job today.
Define Why you Should Negotiate Your Salary
Always remember to have answers at the back of your mind whenever your employer throws a curve ball at you. Besides the question of how to ask for a higher salary, you must know when to negotiate salary. If your organization is going through a tough time, it would be impractical to ask for a higher salary as the chances of rejection will be high at that point in time.
Ask yourself whether you need a higher salary than your current salary. When employers ask you these questions, it can be helpful if you already have the answers.
Build Your Case on Why You Want Higher Salary
The answer to how to negotiate a salary offer often perplexes candidates. You should always explain precisely why you want a higher salary when your employer asks you. Tell them how you came to the figure you quoted. An important point to keep in mind is to remain humble.
You can showcase your potential and skill by giving a good explanation. Avoid coming up with points such as rising house rent and student loans in your explanation. Your employer might also be going through these problems. Instead, showcase what you will bring to the table for the organization. This can be a well-defined approach to building your case.
Determine Your Bottom Line
By “bottom line”, we mean a specific figure you think is vital for accepting a job offer. If the employer goes below the line, you will walk away. Determining the bottom line is a key component of salary negotiation. Have the figure ready before you go into the interview.
Think about factors such as the cost of living and commuting to the workplace. It is not easy to walk away from a job offer, but it is important to learn when you need to do it.
Learn How To Negotiate
Everyone does not know how to negotiate a higher salary after a job offer. It takes skill and the right mindset to do salary negotiation with your employer. It can be compared to bargaining the price in the market, but you have to be more skillful to tackle the questions.
Mastering the best way to negotiate salary takes some practice. Learn about the various methods you can employ to your advantage. Take the help of online sources and find out from industry leaders how they tackled this process in their lives.
1. Determine Facts of Salary Negotiation
When applying for a job, the question of how to negotiate a salary automatically comes to our mind. In such a case, the primary thing to do is to find out what the world thinks about salary negotiation. Find out why people ask for salary raises and what prompts them to pursue this.
Negotiating salary can be a tedious affair, and often, many fail in their pursuits. If you familiarize yourself with facts such as what percentage of people ask for a higher salary and if there is any gender pay gap, you can prepare yourself accordingly regarding your salary negotiation.
2. Focus on the Future, Not the Past
Employers frequently ask candidates about their current salary in the interview process. It might be dicey for you since you may not want to give the information – you may be underpaid currently or searching for a higher salary. Do not lie; give them the figure and move on to the new figure you are looking for.
Focus on the skills you bring to the company and how they will impact its market value. Explain your idea of growth and always stay focused on the future. If you are confused about how to ask for a higher salary offer, a good point to remember is to look forward and never backward.
3. Become Familiar With Industry Salary Trends
Doing research on your prospective salary is vital to stay a foot ahead. If your employer throws some unfamiliar questions, you can counter them by using the facts you know. You can take the help of online platforms such as PayScale and Indeed to find out the current trends in your field.
You can also ask people you know who are working in your field to determine how much your expected salary should be. Take into account years of experience and qualifications when you research salary trends.
Document Your Accomplishments
Make a list of your accomplishments as an employee on a sheet of paper. You may have pursued a professional course, such as a Data Science course or a Full-Stack Developer course, to increase productivity. Showcase how these have helped in your career growth. You can include awards and testimonials from co-workers in the sheet.
By making a document, you are showing your seriousness for the job. When asked how to negotiate a salary, people often say your accomplishments are your biggest asset. This is true for freshers who can list their academic achievements to date.
Show What You Can Do
Remember the document of your achievements you prepared. Now is the time to go through them with your hiring manager. This will show them what you can do. A primary response to how to negotiate salary in a new job is to show your capability to the employer.
Converse about your deeds and give the manager a printed copy of the document. You can tell them about times when you did work beyond your responsibility. It can be a good case for you when asking for a raise. Speak about new ideas that might benefit the organization.
Get Everything in Writing
Always ask the employer to give you a written document, whichever way the negotiation process leans towards. This is the most important thing to remember when you look for answers on how to negotiate a salary. A documented proof is a must as it is evidence that you have made a successful salary negotiation and the organization has agreed to it.
Never go for oral promise as it is not solid evidence, and the employer might back down later. Keep a copy of the document with you and if possible, make multiple copies of it. In that way, the employer cannot refuse your higher salary at a later stage.
Tips to Ace Your Salary Negotiation
1. Know Your Worth
You know yourself better than anyone else. Your value to any organization does not depend only on the job role. Your experience is also a contributing factor when you ask for negotiating salary. For example, if you have 10 years of working experience as a data scientist, your worth will be much higher than a person with 2 years of professional experience.
If you equip yourself with Cybersecurity courses and your data science knowledge, then your employer might even offer you a larger salary than you previously had. Always know your own worth in the industry you apply in. This can assist you in negotiating a higher salary.
2. Organize Your Thoughts To Pitch
When you ask an employer to negotiate a salary offer, it is essential to be precise in your thoughts. Give them a specific figure and not a range. If you give them a range, then in all probability, they will stick to the lower figure and negotiate accordingly.
By providing a precise salary amount, you can assure them that you know what you are talking about and that you have done the research yourself. Stick to points and do not digress to other things. You don’t want to oversell yourself and, in the process, fail at salary negotiation.
3. Walk In With Confidence
As you enter the room, your employer has begun the hiring process already. Take confident strides as you walk through the door, and keep your head high. You can smile as you enter, as positive vibes matter a lot. If you slump while walking, you have already lost your negotiation rights.
4. Stay Positive
When you ask somebody, “How do you negotiate salary?” the response is mostly tinged with a sense of negativity. Negotiating a higher salary in the same organization can be a tricky affair, and it can also be scary, but you have to keep a positive attitude.
Show confidence in your statements, which will automatically bring a positive zeal to the interview process. Start the conversation with something like why you enjoy working in the organization. Move on to new possibilities you can bring forth for the growth of yourself and the organization.
5. Plan for Tough Questions
Always prepare to respond to the employer when faced with questions about your previous salary. Be calm and focused, and remember it is not compulsory for you to disclose your salary history. But never lie since it might come back to you and is also unethical.
Start preparing for questions that might expose your flaws, make you feel jittery and make you defensive. You aim to be honest while negotiating salary without throwing away your negotiating power. Your preparedness will benefit you immensely while you sit for a job interview.
6. Plan What To Say During Your Negotiation
If you are also wondering how to negotiate salary after a job offer, the good idea is to plan ahead. Think of the possible questions you might face in the interview and prepare the answers mentally. Be precise in your answers and speak confidently.
Do not get intimidated by the question of how to negotiate a higher salary, and focus on the conversation. Get detailed knowledge of the market trends and use them to your advantage. Always listen to the other party so that you can understand their needs and their expectations from you as an employee.
Conclusion
It is never a fun experience to do salary negotiations, but the skill is required to be successful in life. The above salary negotiation tips can come in handy when you go for a job interview or even for a hike in salary. Learning how to negotiate by yourself can be taxing. In such a case, you can take the help of online platforms such as KnowledgeHut, which has articles on salary negotiation tactics to help you.
It is necessary for an individual to upskill themselves in their current job scenario. This will improve your productivity and ensure you do not lag behind your peers. Check out KnowledgeHut courses like Bootcamp courses and Cloud Computing courses that will equip you with the latest technological knowledge.
