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5 Steps for Negotiating Your Salary

June 26, 2017 by Bethanie Ryan

business woman negotiating her salary with her boss

One of the most difficult problems facing professionals, especially those relatively new to the working world, is pay negotiation. However, while the situation might seem intimidating, there’s no reason that it has to be. Here are a few rules of thumb to keep in mind when navigating the issue of compensation:

  1. Be Realistic
    The people who have the most success negotiating a great salary are those who have put thought and research into their request before making it. Look carefully into the company’s statistics, and then come up with a reasonable bottom line. For example, if your company usually offers a 10 percent salary increase with promotions, asking for a 20 percent increase on their initial offer is essentially asking for two promotions. And that’s fine, as long as you’re sure that your qualifications merit it. Which brings us to point number two…
  2. Know Your Worth
    Make a realistic evaluation of yourself, taking into account things like education and experience, so that you can better determine what you can honestly expect from an employer. Tools like a salary calculator can be very helpful in determining what your salary parameters should be.
  3. Think It Over
    Most new hires are understandably eager to secure their position right away, taking the attitude that compensation can be discussed later, but don’t feel pressured to accept immediately. Ninety-nine percent of the time, waiting to accept an offer will not cause your company to recant, and in fact, a simple “I need to think it over” can even result in an increased offer.
  4. Ask the Right Questions
    Appearing thoughtful and confident are essential in securing a position with a comfortable salary, and much of that perception comes down to asking the right questions. They will prove that you’re thinking wisely and taking your position seriously. Helpful lists, like this one from Monster.com, can be good to consult.
  5. Don’t Limit It to Cash
    It’s an often overlooked fact that there is so much more to the issue of compensation than mere monetary considerations. Anyone about to enter into a negotiation with her new employer should think carefully about a whole range of issues beyond the dollar value, such as vacation time, paid sick leave, benefits, 401(k), etc. There are so many that Forbes even suggests drawing up a list, and even if you’re not able to come to your ideal dollar amount, your employer may be more flexible when it comes to negotiating other non-monetary things, like really awesome benefits.

In the end, most employers are willing—and even expecting—to negotiate a salary higher than their initial offer. All that you really have to do is know how to ask.

Filed Under: Build a Career, Find a Job, Work Tagged With: negotiating salary, new job, wages

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Check out "Learn the Basics of Unemployment Benefi Check out "Learn the Basics of Unemployment Benefits," courtesy of Women Deserve Better Expert and legal aid attorney Susan Schoppa.
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A woman out of work recently sent us the following A woman out of work recently sent us the following email. We wanted to share her thoughts with you:
The most common feelings I experience as an unemployed job seeker: 
1. Rejection/Sorrow. Something is wrong with me… because it cannot be that I don't have more than the required training or education or experience... so it must be me.
2. Anxiety from inadequacy of effort. Something would come along if I just tried harder (more than daily searches, weekly job clubs, outreaches on LinkedIn, etc.).
3. Aloneness. Other people with fewer skills, less education and experience… are getting jobs. They won't understand how alone I am in this. Other people must have a lot of resources to not have to work for this long, and I am barely making it and can't afford things now. I am alone in this.
4. Hopelessness. Scores of applications and letters to employers have gone unanswered for weeks and now months. What's the use?
5. Blaming myself and/or self-doubt. Why didn't I see the writing on the wall and find something while I still had a job? I guess I really am as stupid as these employers think I am.
6. Confusion. I am now out of my routine, so things don't fall into place like they once did. Am I getting dementia? Is this normal?
7. Anger. If my employer thought I was so great to give me a very good review several years in a row, why haven't they told me of other available jobs after this one ended? Shame on them!
8. Embarrassment. People may think I lost my job because I was a marginal or lazy employee. They don't know how hard I worked, and that the termination was due to issues not of my doing. They may see me as someone who deserved this.
9. Fear. What if I can't find a job in time before we lose our place to live?
10. Happiness. It can be a good thing to start over sometimes.
Have you ever felt like this woman? Please know that there is help. Check out our latest article on Women Deserve Better, "Find Help When You Can’t Find a Job":
https://www.womendeservebetter.com/find-help-when-

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Are you struggling to pay your rent or mortgage? A Are you struggling to pay your rent or mortgage? Are you worried about losing your home? Here is some information about what could happen if you can't pay all of your rent or mortgage, courtesy of Women Deserve Better Expert and legal aid attorney Susan Schoppa.

www.womendeservebetter.com/how-to-find-legal-help-for-evictions-and-foreclosures 

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