Story

Ace the Salary Negotiations

Ace the Salary Negotiations

Salary negotiations are an important part of job search. You should be prepared to play this part well. Avoid leaving money on the table and safeguard your future saving.
Ten commandments for better salary negotiations
#1. Current and expected salary - You may be asked about this information in your job application or in the interview process. Try to push back salary information to the offer stage.
#2. Know the job worth - Do research. Find out how much similar jobs are being paid. Ask your friends. Visit job sites. Ask the consultant. This will give you a good estimate of salary range and know what makes a good offer.
#3. Salary is negotiable and it is perfectly normal to negotiate- At times , we presume that we have got the offer letter and it is final. Offer letter is the beginning of negotiation. Salary negotiation is perfectly normal and to negotiate is not being greedy. This is perfect business. In fact if the offer is lower and you don't negotiate, you will be perceived a weak guy.Your image will be affected.
# 4. Know your living expenses - Know how much are your living expenses including house rent, transportation, education expenses. You also need to save for future and for your holidays. Also add increase due to change in location or country. This is the minimum amount you need to survive and thrive.
#5 Current CTC - It is important to know your current salary. Ensure to include every component e.g. medical insurance, group insurance, bonus, shares, any other allowances etc. Calculate your gross and net salary. If you are making a change, then you deserve an increase. Don't end up selling short.
#6. Study the current offer - Don't accept immediately. Ask for time. Don't mention that you need to show to your spouse or friends. You need to study and make a decision. Compare it with current and expected CTC. Find the missing component.
#7 Build a strong case - Now you have the required information i.e. Job worth value, Your current CTC, Future living expenses . It is important to build a compelling case for asking a better salary e.g. I am due for salary revision( x%) b) I am relocating to capital city. House Rent and Children Education will double. Be reasonable in your expectations.
#8 Send a counter offer - Based on your objective analysis, send a counteroffer on email and follow it up with a call. You will face resistance, which is normal. Persist with your request and request for a face to face meeting.
#9. What else can I negotiate - training, salary review, leave, shares, employment terms. Don't focus only on numeric numbers as intangible things too matter.
#10. Know your leverage - You are looking for job... Is it to escape existing job?, first job, out of job, fired etc. Accordingly you need to adjust your strategy. Be humble and gracious. Be Flexible and know when to back down.
Photo Adaptation / Pixabay / nattanan23-6312362
Share on

Your Comments

Similar Stories


The interview is a game and practice can boost the performance

Everyone wants to do well in the interview. Some don’t know how to do it and some are over confident. When one does not prepare, the end result in both the cases is an outcome based on chance. If we need to increase our chance to succeed in the interview game, then we need to know, learn, prepare and play this game well. The interview is also like any other game. The better get at this game, the chances of success increase. Good thing about interviews is that we can strengthen our skills with practice and improve our ability to present ourselves confidently.

If you are early in your career stage then you need to know what questions will be asked and how to prepare. What is the right approach and avoid common mistakes. You will need to learn what makes a right or wrong response? Know the questions and learn dos’ and don’ts. If you are able to do this step then you have moved up the ladder in the interview game.

Knowing is good but not enough! Career experts point out that very few candidates take the process seriously, they do not prepare at all. They simply lack preparation. Hiring is not only about job knowledge skills or your education. The job skills, education and your background does matter but how you present yourself, your responses matter more than anything else in the interview situation. This fact is surprising to most of the candidates. How can something matter more than the job skills? The good thing about responses is that we can learn correct responses and these can be improved to be more impactful. The key to improvement is to practice your responses.

In fact there is no substitute to good practice. Practice requires discipline and determination. Allocate a dedicated time slot to learn and practice the questions on a regular basis. This effort will help you hone your interview skills. This will help you know what are the common questions, how to answer well, know the dos and don’ts.