Job Seekers: Negotiate Starting Salary

Job seekers generally find it difficult to negotiate starting salary, as every company gives room for negotiation to candidates. Researchers found that job-seekers who negotiated their salaries during the hiring process increased their salaries an average $5000. Negotiating starting salary can increase the chances of higher compensation but many candidates do not get involved in negotiation process. Follow these recommendations to negotiate starting salary –

• First step towards the negotiation process is to understand your job very well, from your role to responsibilities, from requirements to expectations for the position.
• Do not ask about your salary at first let the employer take an initiative.
• In HR round do not forget to ask how company reviews the employee’s performance as well as the process of salary hike and promotion.
• Give sometime in research to find out the salary for similar position. Search on the basis of job, area, industry and geography. You can easily get appropriate information in many websites i.e. salary.com, payscale.com, glassdoor.com, indeed.com etc.
• Do SWOT Analysis and highlight your strengths and skills that make you an asset for the company, this activity will help you to negotiate your starting salary during hiring process.
• Considering the past work experience, decide how much you would expect in the current job opportunity. Your online salary research will be helpful to target appropriate salary range.
• Jot down the minimum salary that you can accept willingly; also think about the reasons why you would be unwilling to accept lower salary. Write all these reasons to pull them out for discussion with hiring managers during salary negotiation.
• Salary negotiation is a skill that every candidate or job seeker needs to develop. Therefore practice to negotiate your salary. If you still do not have guts to discuss then ask your friend or anyone in your family to play the role of a hiring manager who has offered you a package that is lower than what you expect. Then practice to convince them for the salary you want.