Before going into salary negotiating, it is critical to know exactly what your value is. If you do not know exactly what your value is, then it is a shot in the dark when you ask for a raise or try to get the most in your next job.
Without doing your legwork, your employer will probably suggest an increase that you find disappointing. While people around the world negotiate salary every day, not many of them are able to get the most out of salary negotiation!
Research ahead of time is critical before approaching your boss for a raise, or before putting your foot forward in salary negotiations at job offer time. It is like a card game. Do not reveal your cards too soon. In this case, your cards are personal secrets like how much you made in your last job, or how much money you’d like in the new job, or how much of an increase you’d like.
Know how much compensation you can command before you ever discuss salary negotiation with an employer.
Whether you are looking for new employment or you are asking for a pay raise, do your research first. There are great Internet resources available, like SalaryExpert.com or Monster.com. These sites have continual access to all the salary information that is available.
One challenge is understanding the reliability of the source of the information. If a resume website is reporting salary ranges as reported by their list of job seekers, it may not be as precise as if the salaries are reported by the human resources department of the firms that are seeking to recruit personnel.
If you are not worried about being forward with others, you may just outright ask. I recommend using some tact in this approach, but it is less offensive than it once was. You might just discover inside intelligence about the salary range for that job.
If you know an HR person, even better. Often times, the word will be on the street, company ABC pays well, or company EFG are fairly stingy when it comes to compensation. This information may also help.
Salary comparison is done on frequent basis by human resources personal within companies and between companies as well. There are even research reports published by large research firms and human resource organizations that share information openly about their hiring practice in their regions. If you are able to gain access to one of these reports, you have the diamond mine of information you need.
Many salary sites report salaries in the form of a large range. If the range is $45,000-$69,000, the site will often report that data in 25% intervals. The bell curve is sometimes found within the 0-100% range, and it is important for you to clearly assess where you fit in the range, and make sure you are not below the bottom or too far above the top.
You know how well you perform at your job. Do a self evaluation, and figure where you feel you fit in the percentile of performance for that career level. If you are in a lower percentile, it may be that you’re new to the job role. If you are in a higher percentage, you’re a super-star with plenty of experience, and you know you add a lot of contribution.
If you don’t genuinely know, you might ask for some honest feedback from a trusted co-worker, or from a friend in a similar position elsewhere.
You must be able to express the value you bring to the business in terms that employers really like to hear. If you are able to describe your value in quantifiable terms, then you will have a lot stronger arguement. Think about cost savings, profits you’ve been responsible for and efficiency you may have brought to the business. This is the greatest way to communicate your worth when negotiating salary.
Wishing you success in learning how to negotiate a salary like a pro!