We recently conducted a LinkedIn poll asking whether you felt comfortable in negotiating your salary, and 49% said they did not.
The thought of negotiating your salary can be daunting and it is often difficult to know where to begin. To help bring confidence to such negotiations, here are our top tips for negotiating your salary.
1. Calculate Your Value
Before considering your negotiations, it is important to revisit your job description and calculate the value you add to your role. Looking back at your job description can offer clarity on additional tasks and responsibilities you now hold since joining the company in your current role. Considering how these additional responsibilities (and your attention to them) have benefitted the business may form the basis of your salary review.
2. Research The Market
To get a current and realistic view when defining your new salary goal, conducting market research is essential. Researching the salary range of similar roles, in the same location, and with a similar amount of experience as yourself, will provide up to date and factual evidence to inform your case. Knowing the market average helps define a competitive salary and bring current market trends to your employers attention.
3. Prepare Your Reasons
Once you’ve defined your salary range and value, you need to create a plan of action for your reasoning and research. Giving examples and factual evidence to back up your claims is crucial to successfully navigating your salary negotiations. Highlight your strengths as well as your research in order to show your employer how you match the criteria and evidence you are setting out.
4. Be Confident, Be Patient, Be Flexible
Once all the pre-planning is complete, you are ready to head into your meeting. Remember to be confident, patient and flexible.
After all the hard work is done, you should feel confident and reassured in your request. If you’re still feeling a little uncertain, practice your pitch by yourself or with a friend, rehearsing your content and responses to various different outcomes.
In some cases, your employer may not be able to give you an answer straight away. Be patient. Allow your employer time to consider your request and prepare an appropriate response.
Being flexible in the result of your salary negotiations means collaborating with your employer in their solutions or compromises. If an employer cannot directly raise your salary, they may offer alternative benefits or packages that may be as beneficial as a rise in salary. Consider whether these alternatives are a suitable compromise if your requested salary is not possible.
5. Don’t Be Afraid To Walk Away
If your employer is unable to offer you a higher salary, or their alternative benefits are not enough for you, do not be afraid to walk away if the negotiations don’t meet your needs or qualifications. Before walking away, ensure you have exhausted all avenues of negotiations and make an informed decision based on your research and personal circumstances.
Whether negotiations were successful or not, be sure to thank your employer for their time.
