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Negotiating
Terms
by ResumeEdge.com
The Net's Premier Resume Writing and Editing Service.
When
the job offer is on the table, the time has come to negotiate a
compensation package. The company is emotionally invested in
you, believing that you will benefit their team. To vindicate
their investment of time and resources in their employee search,
securing you as an employee becomes their goal. All this means
that the employer is willing to spend more on you than she would
have been at the end of the first interview.
The
prospect of negotiating the terms of employment surges through
some like adrenaline and others like an imminent fainting spell.
If you do not tend to get the results you want from
negotiations, or the mere prospect of discussing money makes you
squirm, consider these guidelines for more effective
negotiation.
Know
what you are worth. You can almost guarantee that the person
negotiating the terms of employment on behalf of the company
knows your value. When you begin negotiations, you should also
know how much your work is worth. Using internet resources, do
research on the salary and compensation ranges for comparable
jobs in the area. Be sure to use sources that account for
differences in cost of living between cities. Glean information
during interviews and from your network of sources that
indicates the relative value of the position in the company. Are
you applying to be a CFO or an entry-level accountant?
Set
a clear goal. Studies on negotiation consistently show that
people who set clear and aggressive goals achieve more favorable
settlements than those who aim low or do not set goals at all.
If you want a salary of eighty grand and a total package worth
100 grand, shoot for it by throwing out an anchor worth more
than 100 grand.
Set
a walk-away price. You know your own financial goals,
responsibilities and liabilities. If you cannot take anything
under seventy grand and still make sense of accepting the
position, do not pretend that you can. Your walk-away price
depends not only on your financial needs, but also on the
attractiveness of your alternatives to accepting the offered
position. If you are currently making sixty grand and there are
no other offers finding you, settling at sixty-eight grand might
not be a bad idea. If, on the other hand, you have been offered
a position for seventy-five grand and a generous benefit
package, sixty-eight grand seems less reasonable.
Use
fairness as your standard. The idea of fairness strikes a
cord in most everybody, even though people have differing
perceptions of what that means. Obtaining a compensation package
that both you and the employer consider fair is particularly
important since you are entering into an ongoing relationship.
If you discover four months into the job that you are making
twenty percent less than your counterparts, your enthusiasm for
your new job can sour. If your employer feels like you bullied
him into a costlier package than the company authorized him to
offer, he could easily become resentful toward you.
You
must be able to make a case for why your self-serving version of
fairness is appropriate. Are you worth more than most people
because you have more experience or because you have a track
record of attracting big clients? Perhaps the rationale for your
standard of fairness has little to do with you personally, and
everything to do with asking for the median market value of your
work. Maybe you are asking for a salary that is commensurate
with others performing the same role in the company. Remember:
if your negotiating counterpart makes concessions, she needs to
be able to justify her concessions to her boss. Reciprocally, it
is helpful for you to identify what your employer considers
fair.
Identify
all your interests. Both you and your employer probably have
concerns or aspirations that are not strictly monetary. You
might want CFP training without having to pay for it. The
employer can satisfy this interest in more than one way: by
building a cushion into the salary that would cover schooling
costs or paying for the schooling on your behalf. You might also
want one flex day per week or the ability to work from home a
few times a month. You may value being able to leave by five
o'clock consistently to pick up your children, rapid promotions,
a gym membership or full health care.
Before
you walk in to the negotiation, prioritize your various
interests and identify places where you are willing to trade one
thing of value for something else. Is the salary more important
than stock options? Is a gym membership more important than a
review and likely promotion in six months?
When
you negotiate the terms of the deal, discover what your
employer's various interests and reveal your own insofar as this
would benefit you. Maybe the employer cannot go above sixty-five
grand and still maintain equity of salary within the company.
Find out whether the negotiator has full decision-making
capability, or if he is representing someone else who makes the
compensation decisions. Your employer may be able to offset a
concession on your part by paying for your education, offering
stock incentives, or giving you a signing bonus. Be creative.
Compete
and Cooperate. If your counter-part is using hard-ball
tactics like being forceful, brisk or patently stubborn, you
will do better not to lie on the ground and wait for him to
stomp on your back. If you encounter someone who wants to play
hard-ball, respond strategically. Do not allow the person to
bait you. Remember your goals and why your requests are fair.
Withhold information that might weaken your position. On the
other hand, if your counterpart makes a concession, it is
important that you also appear cooperative. You might need to
make a concession as well. Negotiating is not about winning, so
much as it is a dance towards a certain goal. Each person makes
moves with reference to the moves of the other person. When both
people dance together, it becomes less likely that either person
will suffer bruised toes or damaged egos.
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