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5 Tips To Negotiate Salary After The Job Offer
61% of people fail at negotiating a higher salary after receiving a job offer. And you want to guess why? It’s not because of the economy, it’s not because the employer is being unreasonable and it’s not because they have no other offers to leverage.
Most of those people lost right then and there when they decided to not even try to negotiate for a higher salary.
In this blog, I’m gonna first help you understand the three practical consequences of not negotiating, because I have the best salary negotiation strategies in the world, but if you don’t get over that mental barrier first, none of it matters.
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Then I’m going to share my five favorite tips when negotiating salary, after receiving a job offer. So that you can put it to practice right away. So let’s get started.
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The most common reason candidates are hesitant to negotiate salary is because they believe they have no bargaining power. A fresh graduate might think, well, this is my first job, I have no experience, I have no bargaining power.
Even experienced professionals might think, if I have no other offers, I have no leverage, but here’s what you have to understand.
The hiring process is stressful and expensive for the other side as well. Employers screen hundreds, if not thousands of resumes, spend countless hours analyzing and choosing applicants before finally deciding on a few to hire.
By this point, the employer is investing in those candidates. So even fresh graduates have some bargaining power. Diving into three very real consequences if you choose not to negotiate your salary after receiving a job offer.
3 Consequences If You Don’t Negotiate
First and foremost, compounding means you lose out financially in a very big way. Imagine two people with a 10% difference in starting salary,$50,000 a year and $55,000 a year. Now, let’s assume that both receive a 6% salary increase very year for the next 30 years. By year 10, the difference in their cumulative pay will be around $75,000, by year 20, $200,000. And by year 30, a whopping $424,000, almost enough to buy that new iPhone.
Now this oversimplified example doesn’t even take into account future career moves. If you move to another company, that nice 20% pay bump that they’re offering, that’s anchoring to what you’re being paid currently. So often, this $424,000 gap is way larger.
Number two, by choosing not to negotiate, you lose out on factors that the employer could have easily have said yes to. More vacation days, education reimbursement, a later start date. And number three, you lose out on an opportunity to make a strong first impression on your employer.
Negotiation is a valuable life skill that benefits you both personally and professionally. Your employer knows this, and by even attempting to negotiate, that might make you even more attractive in their eyes.
If you can relate to what I’ve talked about so far, drop a like and let me know down in the comments, if you’ve ever tried to negotiate salary before, Hopefully by now, you’re more comfortable with the idea of negotiating salary after receiving a job offer, but what exactly do you do? Here are my top five techniques.
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Be Comfortable
Tip number one, imagine you’re negotiating for a close friend or for a loved one. I found a subtle change in mindset instantly helps you become more confident and assertive.
Think about it, your close friend, he or she worked hard for this offer, spent countless hours on interview prep, revamped their resume 20 times, give up Netflix, Netflix for a month.
Doesn’t he or she deserved to be paid their worth? You feel that? That feeling is called indignation, anger at being treated unfairly. Use that to overcome your fear of negotiation.
Give Employer a Specific Figure
Tip number two, give a specific salary figure as opposed to a nice round number. So what this means is that if you say $57,650 instead of $57,000, you are much more likely to get to a final number closer to what you were expecting in the first place, it turns out according to a research done by Columbia Business School, your employer is more likely to assume you’ve done extensive research into your market value to reach that specific salary number.
It makes anecdotal sense as well because if you have a friend working in a role that you’re applying for with similar background and experience and he or she tells you exactly what they make, you can be fairly confident that this is a number you can successfully negotiate for as well.
Do Research About The Company
Tip number three, have a worst case scenario, a walkaway point. Yes, you should do research and come up with a target ideal number.
You should check out salary ranges on the sites that I throw on-screen hereon the link down below and choose a number at the 80 to 85% mark.
The point of having a worst case scenario in mind is that you’re mentally prepared to walk awayif the final offer is so low that you have to turn it down. You don’t want to accept something that’s just not financially viable or make you regret it afterwards.
Justify Your Salary
Tip number four, come to the table with facts, not feeling. Your employer is much more likely to consider your salary negotiating proposal if you provide justifications.
Because this helps them understand why you deserve what you’re requesting. Saying that you deserve a 15% increase in salary because you have two more years of working experience than the average person on the team is a much stronger argument than just throwing out the 15% number.
Of course, it’s easy to come off as arrogant by mistake when providing justifications. So here’s a sample answer for your reference.
The industry average is $62,500 a year, not including benefits. And I found that Unilever actually pays a bit more than that at 64,000.
The offer you gave is slightly below both these numbers and I’d like to understand a bit more about the reasoning behind that.
With my four years of experience in consumer goods since graduation and based on my conversation with the hiring manager, I feel like I’m uniquely positioned to help with this issue she’s facing.
Is there any way we can get closer to the industry benchmark? Notice I use very neutral language, brought up what their competitor was paying and highlighted how my background was well positioned to help them with their challenges that they’re facing right now. The combination of all these helps me come off as reasonable without being too pushy.
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Being Ethical Is Important
Tip number five, negotiate salary offer ethically. You should only negotiate with an employer, who’s offered you plan to accept if the negotiation goes well. It is unethical to negotiate with an employer who’s offer you have no intention of accepting even if your preferred terms are met.
Once you have accepted an offer, you really shouldn’t continue interviewing with other employers. If you are interviewing with other organizations, you should reach out directly and let them know that you’ve already accepted an offer and you are withdrawing from the application process. At this point, be sure not to burn any bridges.
At a future date, you may have to work with some of these organizations professionally, or you may want to contact them again about employment. Last but not least, show how grateful you are to have received the job offer throughout the salary negotiation process.
Not only will this help you come off as more likable, but will also help your counterpart assume you have good intent. For those of you who are hesitant about negotiating salary after a job offer, hopefully the three real consequences I mentioned, and the five practical tips that I shared had made you more comfortable with the idea of negotiation.
Consider a range between 5-7% above.
There is always a risk that you could lose an offer if you negotiate a salary. However, it is not a common occurrence, most employers expect salary negotiation to be part of the hiring process and are willing to consider reasonable requests. In fact, many employers have a set budget for the position and can adjust the compensation package to meet the candidate’s expectations.
Here are a few
The #1 rule of salary negotiation is to be prepared. This means doing your research, knowing your worth and having the evidence to back up your request for a higher salary. Being prepared allows you to present a clear and compelling case for why you deserve a higher salary, and it also puts you in a position of confidence and strength during the negotiation process.
Many Human Resources (HR) departments expect candidates to negotiate salary during the job offer process. In fact, it is common for employers to expect and even encourage salary negotiation, as it demonstrates a candidate’s interest in the job and their understanding of their own worth. Many employers have a set budget for the position and can adjust the compensation package to meet the candidate’s expectations, therefore, it is important to not be shy and to negotiate your salary.
