Salary Negotiation Tips and Techniques

Salary negotiation is something that recruiters and hiring managers are a lot more proficient than the people they hire. In the interest of leveling the playing field, here are insider tips for you to sharpen your salary negotiation skills.

First, you need to do some research. Visit their website - read it, get to know all you can about their industry - past and present (resources are listed further down in this article). Even if your role is a supporting type, every employer wants staff who are interested in making a difference and increase their bottomline. Find areas that you're passionate about, remember these just before your interview to fuel your passion for getting this role. This isn't easy to do when you have many interviews to attend, so be selective about the roles you want to take seriously enough to research. It helps to stick to one industry, especially if you're already familiar with the industry. As always, write your questions down and ask your interviewer or friends who have the inside track.

You should talk to several people who are doing similar work in an area with similar living costs. Get to know people in your target organisation, or better yet - in your target department. Inside information can be the gold dust you need to strike gold. Knowing the right people, winning their trust and asking the right questions can be the key you need to gain the upper hand. This takes time, so start asking your friends who they know.

While much is written about salary negotiations, I would recommend reviewing the following sites.
Vault - this site offers insider salary information on 1,000's of companies
PayScale - real-time salary reports based on your job title, location, education, skills and experience
JobStar - salary trends by industry
CNN Money - has a cost of living calculator you can use to if you are considering relocating

As you map out your strategy consider these salary and non-salary components:
Compensation: signing bonus, performance bonus, profit-sharing, deferred compensation, severance package, stock options.

Relocation Expenses: house-hunting, temporary living allowance, closing costs, travel expenses, spouse job hunting/re-employment expenses

Benefits: vacation days (number, amount paid, timing), personal days, sick days, insurance (medical, dental, vision, life, disability), automobile (or other transportation) allowance, professional training/conference attendance, continuing education (tuition reimbursement), professional memberships, club (country or athletic) memberships, product discounts, clothing allowance, short-term loans

Job-Specific: frequency of performance reviews, job title/role/duties, location/office, telecommuting, work hours and flexibility, starting date, performance standards/goals

Once you know what you should be paid the negotiations begin.

Seen the forms that ask you for your last positions' salary or contract rate? Leave it blank. If they ask for your salary expectation, tell them that you're 'open' or are 'negotiable'. Why? Once you state a salary, this rate will form the ceiling beneath which the negotiation game will be played. Similarly, if you give a salary range, you can guess which end of your range you'll be anchored to.

Let the interviewer be the first person to mention salary. He/she will know the best time in the process to initiate salary discussions and you will know if the time is right when it is mentioned.

The interviewer may try to persuade you to state your salary range early on. Try to avoid this if possible by asking what salary range they are offering instead, or say you will consider any reasonable offer. If you have a fairly good idea of what salary ranges are applicable to your situation, and are pressed into a corner to be specific, go for the top end of the salary range. You can always negotiate down.

Express your passion and interest. Let them know that you are interested. Be sincere about your expression. The danger in purely focusing in on your salary negotiating is that they may not know just how keen you are to join their company. So tell them what you like about their organisation, and let them know that the reason you are negotiating is that you are interested in joining their team. This will increase their interest in you, and may cause them to stop looking for others for the position - thereby increasing your negotiating power.

You don't want to commit yourself or turn down other positions without first knowing exactly what is being offered. So don't make a decision before it's in writing. Remember that just because it's in writing, doesn't mean it's carved in stone. An offer in writing is a starting point for negotiation. Compare their written offer with your meeting notes.

What happens if negotiations break down? What to do if you cannot compromise on the compensation?

Let the interviewers know that although you are disappointed, you are still interested in working for the organisation. Be sure to thank them for their time and interest.
Reemphasize the fact that if future openings occur, you would be interested. Find out if there are, or might be, other openings they could suggest or other persons you could contact. Many times the person selected ends up turning the job down or does not work out.

Keep the communication line open, positive, and professional. This keeps your name in their mind for the next opening or future opportunities. Ask if you could contact them every three or four months to find out about future job openings.

Stay positive. Congratulate yourself. You did get the interview, which means the employer was interested in you. Learn from the experience.
Ask for feedback from the interviewer on what you could improve or do differently.

Please comment on any tips that helped you in your quest to negotiate your salary.