How to Negotiate A Salary

How to get the most money possible before your accept a job.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Always make sure that you have a job offer before you discuss pay.

2. DON'T SAY OK!!!!
   
   When your are offered a job and the manager tells you something like:
   "This position comes with a $40K salary" don't just say "OK" and nod your head. That is what most people do, and most people regret that they did it right after "OK" slips out of their mouth.
   
   If you are not ready to negotiate tell them that you want the job but you are not ready to accept the salary until you get some time to "run the numbers" to make sure you will be able to "feed the family".

3. How aggressively you can negotiate depends on several factors such as your experience, education, and skill set. This is somewhat complex but basically it boils down to: "How many other people are able and willing to do this same job for less money?". If your most marketable skill is the ability to mop floors you should be happy with minimum wage, but if you are the only person in a 100 mile radius that can prevent the nuclear reactor from blowing up, well, then you got it made.

4. Another factor that determines your ability to negotiate is having the ability to turn the job down. If you know that you have marketable skills and can easily find something else you should be upfront with your company and tell them that you will accept the job if you get X amount of money.

5. Before you discuss pay you should consult friends and colleagues in the same field to see what the market rate is. You can also visit www.salary.com and get fairly accurate market rates for your job title.

6. Research is key to negotiating effectively. Don't be stupid and walk into a salary negotiation like I did. When I was offered my first "professional" job with a salary the manager asked what kind of pay I was looking for. I had no clue because I did not research the company or the position, I was just happy to have a job offer. I said "I'm not sure, at my last job I made $12 and hour, so that would be my minimum." The manager looked at me for a second and said "Well, usually for this position we start people at $32,000 a year." That was nice of him cause $12 an hour is about $24,000. The

7. Once you know what the market rate is you should set that as your minimum amount of what you are willing to accept. Remember again that your negotiating strength comes from your skills and the ability to say no to the job. If you have neither you might have to settle for something below the market rate.

[creshanda]

on 5/28/2009 Great post, I am the one that just shakes her head ok. LOL