6 Tips To Negotiate Your Salary With Confidence

Many businesses are attempting to reappoint existing employees or perhaps add new ones as the economy continues to improve. While it may be fantastic news for those of us looking for jobs, it can also be stressful—especially if you’re a younger worker without much experience in job interviews.

When it comes to applying for a new job, discussing pay might be the most stressful part of the process. Opening a new chapter in one’s work while believing they are being underpaid is the last thing anyone wants to do. This also applies to anyone looking for a raise who already has a job.

The question becomes: How do you go about negotiating your next salary with confidence?

Kyle Elliott, a Silicon Valley career counsellor who has helped clients gain positions at large organisations like Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and numerous Fortune 100 and 500 companies, argues that “building confidence requires time and practise.” “Remember that you have power in the pay negotiation process, even if you are less confident having been out of work or desperately need a job to provide for your family. To succeed, businesses need staff. You add value to the business and should be fairly compensated for what you will do for it.”

Although younger workers have shown that they can be more assertive in compensation negotiations versus older workers, it never hurts to hone your approach. Here are six suggestions and strategies to keep in mind the next time you need to discuss wages.

1. Do your research

Find out what the market average pay is for your position, it’s one of the simplest methods to approach your next salary negotiation with confidence. You can obtain an idea of the market rate for someone with your experience, knowledge, and skill-set on employment sites like Indeed.com and Payscale.com. Geographical considerations are also important because a job in a large city may pay more than one in a more rural setting due to the expense of living there.

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However, as more businesses adopt remote-first and remote-friendly cultures, remuneration that is based on geography is also shifting. Elliott claims that while some businesses use geographic pay differentials, others base compensation decisions on where the company’s headquarters are.

To obtain even more detailed information, you can delve further. According to Elliott, salary-related discussions are becoming far less taboo, which makes it easier to approach other workers at the organisation. According to Elliott, it pays to inquire about the organisation ’s policies on future raises and cost-of-living adjustments. “Don’t be hesitant to reach out to people at your target employer on LinkedIn to discover more about their company’s salary structure,” advises Elliott.

2. Establish a budget minimum

You can approach your wage discussion as a conversation rather than a negotiation after you have an idea of what you believe your position should pay. According to Elliott, you can do this by finding out what the employers intend to pay you for your position. “When interviewing, I encourage my jobseeker clients to ask the wage range the employer has budgeted for the position,” he says. Asking the recruiter, “What has your organisation budgeted for this role?” can be a straightforward way to do this.

3. Don’t negotiate against yourself

Avoiding the disclosure of your salary history during pay negotiations is a common mistake. Elliott asserts that during pay negotiations, “Your former salary is rarely insignificant.” Making an effort to negotiate a preliminary pay request you might have made earlier in your interview process is another error. Last but not least, avoid negotiating your start date, work from home alternatives, or other working conditions concurrently with your compensation. Before attempting to negotiate your salary, Elliott advises “securing your position and the terms of your employment.” You don’t want ancillary issues like your start date to make your salary request ineffective.

4. Think beyond the salary

Keep in mind that compensation goes beyond base pay. Ask if a sign-on bonus, relocation bonus, or other one-time bonuses, as well as relocation and health expenses, can be included to make up the gap between your desired income and the offer, advises Elliott, if the employer is unable to pay your preferred base salary.

5. Relish the silence

Consider using quiet as a strategy in your subsequent negotiations. Research from MIT’s Sloan School of Management shows that when both parties of a negotiation pause their talking for just a few seconds, they can reach mutually advantageous results. While many people try to fill awkward silences by speaking up, this is not always the best strategy. Silence, according to the researchers, helped the participants “transition from default, zero-sum thinking to a more reflective, deliberative attitude, which in turn is likely to lead to the realisation of golden possibilities to increase the pie,” according to their study of a sample of 254 students.

6. Walk away with confidence

Not having the guts to ask for a raise in the first place is the worst case scenario in pay negotiations. Despite working with more than 1,000 job seekers, Elliott claims that no one has ever had an offer revoked because they demanded a greater compensation. “You have nothing to lose by asking for a higher salary.” He also recalls the instance of a client who, after helping the employer learn what the market was paying for comparable positions, obtained a greater offer.

It’s also important to note that companies frequently make offers while anticipating a counteroffer from candidates. Don’t be reluctant to ask for a salary that is commensurate with your market value, advises Elliott.

You still need to know when to fold them, as the late, great Kenny Rogers once sang. To put it another way, you must understand when to leave. Elliott advises entering salary talks with a firm number in mind and being ready to walk away if the employer is unable to fulfil it.

Remember that if you want to succeed, you must ultimately feel involved and at ease within your role. And if you don’t feel like you’re getting paid what you’re worth, that’s when the unrest begins to surface.