How Should I Negotiate for A Better Salary When Being Offered a Job

Understand the Brand That You Are offering In order to seek better compensation, you must understand what you are selling. We are not saying that you are putting yourself up for sale. What we are saying is that you are in essence wanting s company to make an investment in the services (skills and behaviors) that you have to offer. You are telling them that the services (skills and behaviors) that you bring to the table fits their culture and the value that you will be creating will surpass any other services (skills and behaviors) that could be out on the market. Your personal brand which consists of your skills, behaviors and reputation is a valuable commodity and that there is nothing but upside to it.

5 Tips for Negotiating Salary In article in Business Insiders Aine Cain, called the 5 tips on negotiating your first salary (http://www.businessinsider.com/how- to-negotiate-first-job-offer-salary-2017- 7), Ms. Cain list the following 5 Tips which I believe are applicable if it your second, third or ninth time negotiating a salary

Do your research Aine says you never just pull out random numbers when speaking with a recruiter or hiring manager. You have to understand what the market is saying about that particular job. Not only what the market is saying but what are the salaries in the area. What are the competitors paying for this job also? Connect with others who may work for the company. This can be done by connecting with them on LinkedIn or other social media. There is plenty of data out their on this information you just have to do the homework.

Build out a Budget Only you understand what it may take for your to live. Only you understand what debt or bills that you may have that will require a specific living wage for you to live on. You will need to figure out what those specific costs are for you. Now if the job offer requires you to relocate then take the following into consideration: Moving Expenses Geographical location Differences (Cost of Living Changes) Health Care Cost Retirement Savings

Procrastinate a Bit Don't attempt to spring the money talk during the screening phase of the job interview. Hopefully your research has given you some understanding of the salary ranges for the job. However there are times when this questing is unavoidable and you have to give an answer. Understanding the minimum that you need based on your budget and the ideal that you would like based on your research, then you can give a range. A nice fall back answer is “My expectation is a total compensation package that is comparable to the market for someone with my experience and my ability to create real value for your organization”.

Look at the Whole Picture As we mentioned in the procrastination slide, we are talking about total compensation when we say look at the big picture. What does total compensation include: Salary Benefits (Medical, Time Off paid and non paid) Retirement (Pension, 401K, etc.) Relocation Continuous Education (Tutu ion Reimbursement, Training, etc.) Non-financial (Culture, Reputation, Community Involvement, etc.)

Keep Your Ego in Check There is a difference in ego play versus a confidence play. Ego drives purely on emotion no real data. Confidence is the art of understandings oneself which includes the strengths and weaknesses and doing the research. Remember it is a negotiation and therefore there is give and take as well as truly understanding the other sides position but also understanding your bottom line position. DO NOT TAKE A JOB IN WHICH YOU WILL BE MISSERABLE BASED ON A LOWER SALARY OR A BAD FIT!!!. Jim Collins the author of Good to Great said there are no once in a life opportunities if they do not fit into what you are passionate about, you can be the best at and what drives your economic denominator.

Remember the salary that you want is driven by your individual data and research and not by your ego. Now let’s go after what our true brand is worth!!!