On Wednesday, February 24th, STAC’s Office of Career Development held a Salary Negotiation Workshop, led by Maureen Mulhern and Fran Reinstein. Throughout the program, many helpful and useful tips and suggestions about how to negotiate salary were discussed. The following are 5 very essential tips to successfully negotiating a salary:
- When to Negotiate
Avoid discussing salary before an offer; you want to ensure that you have the position before initiating a negotiation. If asked about salary requirements in a preliminary interview, it’s best to not get into details. You can suggest a broad salary range or propose discussing it in more details in the future. When it is time to negotiate, after an offer has been put on the table, be respectful and honest. It is beneficial to start the conversation with “Is there any room to discuss salary?” vs. “Can we negotiate?”
2. Do Research; Be Credible
Before accepting an offer, do some research. Don’t be afraid to ask for a few days to consider the offer. Take this time to use websites like Glassdoor.com, PayScale.com and Salary.com to research similar companies and find out about salary ranges for specific job positions.
3. Determine Your Value
In order to decide if you want to negotiate your offered salary, you should first establish your worth. When it comes to work, a person’s value is determined by skills and past experience. If you are going to ask for a higher salary be prepared to explain why you deserve more money. It’s good to know what skills the company looks for in its employees so you can explain how you exemplify these skills to help make the company more successful. Past experience will also play a pivotal role in determining one’s worth. Proving that you can handle a wide array of responsibilities will support your request for additional pay.
4. Be Confident; Don’t Worry
Most candidates worry that if they start a discussion about salary negotiation an employer will retract the salary. However, according to NerdWallet, almost 75% of employers are willing to negotiate and almost 90% will not retract an offer if an entry level candidate negotiates. Most employers will perceive a candidate who wants to negotiate as confident, not foolish. Bottom line: DON’T worry, if an employer made you an offer, they WANT you.
5. What Else to Negotiate In Addition to Salary
On top of salary, there are many other items that are negotiable, like vacation time and PTO (Paid Time Off), shares in the company, sign-on bonus, hours and remote work. It is important to be informed about the current benefits of a company before requesting better benefits. The best way to initiate this discussion is to ask about the company’s flexibility when it comes to additional benefits.
Salary negotiation can be a nerve-wracking experience, but with proper research and preparation, you will benefit greatly.
-Kerrianne Nolan
STAC Career Development 