As it turns out most of us work for a living. Meaning, somewhere along the way we’ll spend huge sums of time and money toward college degrees; hours sculpting the perfect resume (in some cases multiple resumes to cast those subtle, but important differing professional nuances). We schlep from place to place talking to jerks, jokes, and good people about their job openings. We put days or weeks into interviews, struggling to top the candidate pools. The most important part, the driving reason for all this –GETTING PAID–we often handle in 60 seconds or less!
Consider the following scenario:
You have met Mr. Employer for the first time, he has your resume in hand, walks you into his office, makes some small talk, glances at your resume, some more cheesy chatter ensues to ensure him you’re the best candidate etc.. then WHAMMO!
Mr. Employer asks, “What sort of salary are you looking for?”
What do you do? Following the first rule of salary negotiations which states; there is one time and only one time to discuss salary- and this IS NOT IT! Side step this question like it’s your job!
Jack Chapman, the author of “Negotiating your salary: How to make $1000 a minute,” and leading career consultant clearly states two essential rules.
The first rule: discuss money after you have been given an offer.
How and why you ask? And yes, this applies to that lowly HR screener as well. When this person says “what is your current/previous salary or how much do you want to make?” dodge this question.
Why you ask? You will either be too low and risk looking to cheap, or you’ll be too high and push yourself out of the candidate pool. Worse yet, you have completely taken away any true bargaining power you may have had. FYI: limiting interviews to salary is the employers’ way of getting the most competent person for the least amount of money! Don’t relinquish this power right from the start! It’s your turn to be on top!
Here’s how you evade the former question:
Respond confidently with: “I’m sure we can come to a good salary agreement if I’m the right person for the job so let’s first agree if I am.”
Or
“Well so far the job seems to have the right amount of responsibility for me, and I’m sure you pay a fair salary, don’t you?” (What can he say?) So let’s hold off on the salary talk until you know you want me. What other areas should we discuss?”
Do this for the first and second requests alike but if it continues you must prevent the tension from turning to anger. So, what if they get mad and it gets awkward? Try softening your ‘let’s wait statements‘ with, “I get anxious when talking about money” or “When we discuss money I’m afraid that I’ll be screened out or boxed in so could we….”
“I’ve noticed we’ve come back to salary again, I’d like you to know that I’d be glad to talk about money, or even share my tax return with you at some point if it’s important, but could we take a moment to talk about why we need to discuss it now?”
If this doesn’t work and they insist you divulge your salary requirements, you can cave but it is not recommended.
For further ideas visit www.salarynegotiations.com
Now that we’ve covered positioning yourself for optimal negotiation position by side stepping salary questions up front, we can now cover the second rule: Make them go first!
What does that mean? We’ll you’ve done your part and an offer is on table (YEAH!!) and if all has gone well, your salary is still unknown. So followed by some glad handing and other stuff Mr. Employer once again asks “How much were ya looking for to come aboard?” DO NOT ANSWER THIS QUESTION WITH A NUMBER!
Instead, make them go first. Why do you want to risk being too high, too low, pricing yourself out, appearing cheap/under qualified, or simply low balling their actual budget set aside for you?
How you ask? Reply with one of the following:
“I’m sure you have something budgeted for this position, what was your range?”
“I have an idea of the market, so let’s start with your range?”
There is a wealth of information and samples of ways to avoid going first just visit www.salarynegotiations.com for more info.
I’ll leave you with the most surprising and unnatural tactic: SILENCE
Say, you are extended an offer and Mr.Employer says, “We’ll offer you $xx,xxx”. What do you do?
NOTHING! Repeat the offer in a quizzing tone “$xx,xxx” and sit there in silence for 30 seconds. Make them squirm, and wiggle, this usually results in a raise and you haven’t even started yet!
I have only highlighted some of the most powerful concepts introduced by Chapman; the book actually covers much more including how to get raises, and how to arm yourself with industry salary standards to justify the salary you deserve.
Please pick up this book! It will empower you tremendously! It’s an easy read and is essential to capitalize financially when working for other people!
An essential tool for Every Job Search!
Negotiating Your Salary: How to make $1000 in a minute by Jack Chapman.
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