How to Negotiate a Good Salary in an Interview
You are just one step away from your job offer, but now comes the nerve-wracking part, SALARY NEGOTIATIONS. Sitting in front of the recruiter, you are negotiating your worth and one slip-up can cost you a great salary cut, or even your job. However, don’t fret! We have come up with steps that you can follow to become a master negotiator and get the most of what you deserve. So let’s begin.
STEPS TO BECOME A MASTER NEGOTIATOR
1) Do Your Research
The first step to strengthening your negotiating skills is to do enough market research. Know what the average salary of your job is as of today. You will do this by dividing your research based on country, state, region, company etc. Furthermore, you also have to be well aware of what YOU bring to the table. What extra skills do you have that you can market to the company that can increase your worth?
If you know what the average range of your salary is, during your interview, you won’t fumble and fall for a lower salary. This will also make you more confident while speaking to recruiters.
2) Dont Rush Into the Money Talk
If you rush into the topic of your salary, you might make a bad impression on the recruiters. They might think you are only there for the money and are not dedicated to the company. That’s why you first have to prove to the company that you are passionate about working there. That you truly align with the vision of the company and want to work long terlong-termm there to help it grow. You should make it seem to the recruiter that money is a secondary factor to you and that you truly want to do this job.
So, demonstrate your work, skills, and experience first before initiating a conversation about your salary. You have to first prove your importance to the recruiter, then ask for what is rightfully yours.
3) Prove Why You Are Deserving Of That Salary
If you want more than what the recruiter puts on the table, you will have to be ready with WHY you think he should do that. Here you will have to prove to the recruiter why you are more qualified than the others, and what extra you will bring to the table. Without seeming pretentious you will have to show them that other companies will pay you more for your skills. This you will have to say without being explicit.
The company shouldn’t think you won’t take their job because you have many other options. This will hamper the negotiations process. You will have to show them that though you truly want to join their company, your skills are above their paygrade. And that is why, they should increase it for you if they want their company to exceel.
4) Never Give an Exact Value, but Always Put a Range
When asked about your salary expectations, always provide a range. This leaves you a lot of space to negotiate. This space, however, has to be more for you than the recruiter, and therefore keep it short. Furthermore, the upper-hand limit of the range should always be more than the salary you want. This is because, even if the recruiters decrease it during negotiations, you might still end up with the salary you truly wanted.
5) Salary Is Not The Only Thing You Can Negotiate
Many companies have salary packs which can truly restrict any negotiating you would like to do. Additionally, if you are applying to big companies, there might be other people working in the same roles with a fixed salary. In situations like these, NEVER just accept/reject the offer blindly with defeat. There are many more things involved while working in a job than just the salary. What you can negotiate here is the bonuses, benefits, leaves etc. These are things that a recruiter can do in cases where a salary increase is not possible. Never leave an opportunity to negotiate if you truly believe it’s important.
6) Dont Share Salary History With Your Recruiters
This is a big NO in any salary negotiation process. If the hiring recruiters find out how much you were paid in your previous job, you might end up being offered a value that can be less than what the company itself offers. This is because they know that you were willingly doing the same kind of job with a lesser salary and that’s why they might limit your growth. Therefore, you have to strictly avoid mentioning your previous salary to the recruiters.
7) Prepare For The Difficult Questions
Similar to how you want the highest possible salary for a job, the hiring manager wants to give you the lowest possible rate to reduce hiring costs. So don’t be the assumption that the hiring manager will increase your pay by just you asking. They will have tough questions already at hand to break your confidence, and once they see a crack, it is game over for you. That’s why you have to come to the battle of words well-prepared.
The negotiators might ask tough questions like, Do you have other offers? Is this company your first choice? Is salary all that you want? Be prepared with your answers! Know what you will say, and how you will deliver it with confidence.
8) Negotiate On All Your Issues In One Go
If you have multiple things you would like to negotiate for, do them simultaneously rather than serially. This means that you have to raise all your issues at a single go to the recruiter rather than raising one issue, and then raising another after the previous one is resolved. The latter will make you seem naggy in front of the recruiter, and he/she may get tired of your demands and stop negotiating. Also, don’t ask to fix A, B,C,D without giving the recruiter the reasons why you want them fixed.
9) Time Your Job Offers
Once you get a job offer, you don’t have much time before you can accept or reject it. If you delay this process, the company might hire another person. That’s why you have to time all the jobs you are applying for at a same time. You should have all the final offers with the salary at a similar time so that you can make the best and most informed decision. You can do this by asking for second or third interviews with the recruiters to talk about job-related enquiries to delay the process.
And that is it! You got the job of your dreams and the salary that you deserve. If you practice these steps, you will become more confident in front of recruiters and get the salary you deserve. You can do this through mock interviews with friends, or industry experts. Here, the Hireyy ATS package can help you out.
This package gives you one-on-one mock sessions with industry specialists from big companies like Deloitte, KPMG etc. Furthermore, it gives a 2800% guarantee that your resume will get shortlisted and you will get a job in an average of 18 days. So, if you want the negotiating tricks from industry veterans themselves, the Hireyy ATS package is for you. Check it out here
Penned by Kritika Pant
