You have a job offer. Congratulations would normally be in order, but for many job seekers, this is where the hard part now begins. Your employer, you see, may be hoping to pay you less than you were hoping for. Which means the negotiating for your salary is just beginning.
If you’re looking for better ways to negotiate, be prepared for these three common negotiation scenarios.
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Common Negotiation Scenario No. 1: You Don’t Know the Salary Range
This can be like trying to find your way to a destination in a blinding snowstorm. Still, this scenario is probably the easiest to prepare for with a pretty straightforward solution: Search for information on the salary range that this job would typically pay.
“Research the type of position you’re applying for in the location you’d be working or if it’s a remote position, using (websites such as) Payscale.com or Salary.com. The information will give you a feel for what the market will bear,” says María Tomás-Keegan, a multi-certified career and life coach based out of Goodyear, Arizona.
Several other websites have salary information that you may want to check out:
— Glassdoor.com.
— SalaryExpert.com.
— Bls.gov. The Bureau of Labor Statistics website.
Your main goal here: To be well-armed with good, accurate information when you do get an offer or someone mentions the salary range. Because eventually you’re going to find out how much you’ll be paid or start being given hints on what your paycheck will look like. And the more information you have, the easier you can handle this next situation.
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Scenario No. 2: The Offer Is Significantly Less Than You Hoped For
If the pay is paltry, and you know you should be offered more, “you can point to your research as a basis for requesting more,” Tomás-Keegan says. “Some employers will lowball an offer but will respond well when a case is made by the candidate.”
And it may be that your future employer is giving you a good or great offer, and because you did your salary research, you can accept it feeling confident that you’re making the right decision.
But if you do get a low offer, don’t panic or assume that you aren’t being respected.
“You’re the company’s first choice. They want to hire you, and they want the role to be filled so they can move on with normal operations. This is true even for big organizations that hire all the time. They want to close the deal just like you do,” says Jessica Sweet, a Boston-based licensed therapist and a career coach.
“Therefore, you need to consider the gap between what was offered and what you want,” Sweet adds.
Sweet suggests a few salary-boosting strategies:
— Explain why you can’t take the offer. Remember all of that data you collected on how much this job should pay? “If your research supports that that particular role should be compensated at a higher rate, bring that to the table,” Sweet says.
— Make a counteroffer. Sweet adds that you’ll want to make it clear that if they accept the counteroffer, you will accept the job. And in doing so, Sweet says, “You can try re-stating your competencies and interests, but it’s not new info, so while it may move the needle a bit only because companies expect negotiation, it likely won’t be hugely impactful.”
— Remember to negotiate for more than the salary. If your employer can’t or won’t budge on the salary, maybe you can get a better benefits package?
Your main goal here: You’re giving your future self some peace of mind, along with, hopefully, more money. Even if you know that you will accept the offer (maybe you love this job and want it no matter what the pay is), you should negotiate, at least a little. You don’t want to be struggling to pay your bills and kicking yourself later because you accepted a lower than desired salary without even asking if the employer could go higher.
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Scenario No. 3: The Offer Is a Bit Less Than What You Want
You might think, “Well, take it, right? It’s just a little less than what you want.” Sure, that sounds like a logical argument, but if you have a pretty meticulous budget, less than what you want could still make your financial situation tight, especially in these inflationary times.
Still, if you’ve been offered less than what you were hoping for, but it’s almost within reach of what you would like, this is a good situation to be in. Not only is it time to negotiate, you can probably get what you want — or at least some sort of creative compromise that will make you and your employer happy.
Here are a few strategies you may want to try for.
— Explain why you can’t take the offer. As with before, if you have data you can cite that shows you’re being offered less than you should be, mention that now.
— Make a counteroffer. If your employer was close to what you wanted, and your counteroffer isn’t ridiculously high, with any luck, it’ll be accepted.
— Remember to negotiate for more than the salary. If your employer can’t or won’t budge on the salary, as noted, maybe you can negotiate on improving the benefits package. Or you may want to see if you can have a more flexible work schedule. If working remotely two or three days a week would save you enough money on gas and give you a better work-life balance that you could accept the lower salary, maybe the employer will go for it.
— Create a roadmap for getting you more money, not far off in the future. Laura Smith-Proulx suggests this. She is a multi-certified executive resume writer based out of Denver: “Ask for an early salary review at a predetermined point, based on specific deliverables or performance benchmarks.” Along those lines, Smith-Proulx says, “You could also propose a future raise based on landing new accounts or opening up additional lines of business — providing a mutual win for both you and the employer.”
— Suggest more money for more training. “Another way to increase your salary is to request a compensation bump for earning a new credential, especially if it benefits the employer by securing more business or expanding services to clients,” Smith-Proulx says.
Your main goal here: If this is a job you really want, you owe it to yourself to start off making the type of money you deserve. If nothing else, Smith-Proulx says, “It’s a good idea to negotiate a fair salary when starting your new job, since your future raises will be calculated from this figure.”
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How to Handle 3 Common Salary Negotiation Situations originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 06/22/23: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
