Here's how to conduct a successful salary negotiation
Want to take the next step in your career and seem to be on track to score that sought-after job? Then there almost always follows the bump that job applicants regularly face: the salary negotiation. How much do I dare to ask? How sharply can I negotiate? It often goes wrong and employer and applicant do not see eye to eye. A pity and often unnecessary.
Tips from our consultants
For starters, be aware that you and your prospective employer have the same goal in mind. You want to move forward together. However, the interests at this stage of your relationship are different. You are committed to getting the best possible salary and the employer wants to buy at an advantageous price. This has nothing to do with you personally, but with entrepreneurship.
Preparation is everything
Thorough preparation is necessary for successful negotiation. It is also especially important to be prepared early in the process, because the question can come up at any time. You only get one chance to say what you think you are worth. How do you prepare?
- Start researching (online) for information about the salary that fits the position you aspire to. Does the organization have a (public) collective bargaining agreement or salary schedule?
- Determine for yourself a range within which you want to negotiate and base it on facts, not emotion.
- Write down the arguments underlying your salary demand: why are you worth it, what will you mean to the organization? Again, do so as factually as possible.
- Also consider what rebuttals the employer might come up with and formulate a response to them. Do you find that difficult? Discuss it with someone who can help you, such as the recruiter involved or someone with HR expertise. Practice never hurts.
- Map out fringe benefits and decide for which perks you are willing to make a concession on the amount of your salary. In doing so, also consider what intangibles would enrich your life, such as more freedom or less travel time to work.
– Stef Rasenberg
Don't avoid the question about salary indication
Maybe you’re afraid it won’t come across as sympathetic or you want to put your head in the sand for possible disappointment if you start talking about salary (too) early. Understandable, but put those doubts overboard and don’t shy away from asking about salary indication in the first interview. Prepare yourself anyway for the fact that the employer may ask about this. Is it not asked? Then bring it up at the end of the interview. Not too soon, because you have another priority first: showing your personality and suitability. If that is your approach and your interviewer has a good impression of you, the question about salary towards the end of the interview will not come out of the blue. It then feels like proof of your thorough preparation. If your interviewer asks you to give an indication: then that’s fine.
Submit your pay stub when requested
A dilemma faced by job applicants: whether or not to turn in your paycheck when asked. It is often advised against, because it violates your privacy or puts the new employer at an advantage in negotiations. After all: if he knows what you earn now, he won’t have to pay you more. That is often not the reason the employer asks for it at all. He wants transparency. And if you can make a good case for why you should earn more than in your current job, then your current salary is a starting point for making agreements that everyone is enthusiastic about. Of course, you can also expect that transparency the other way around.
Therefore, feel free to hand in your paycheck. Go back to good preparation, especially if you have a higher salary in mind. Therefore, take the opportunity to provide an explanation (so do not blindly send it by e-mail).
This is how you explain:
- Talk about sharing your paycheck because you want to be transparent and expect the employer to be so toward you.
- Explain clearly why you think you should be allowed to earn more in a new role than in your current position.
- Also use this moment to highlight precisely the knowledge and experience you have gained over the past few years and translate it into benefits for your new employer.
Look beyond salary
You may soon find out that your dream salary in this position is not within reach. Needless to say, that’s a disappointment. Plus, it’s obviously essential that the salary match your standard of living. But: is your enthusiasm for the position itself not undiminished? If so, don’t just look at the gross salary, see what it means net. Then you’ll know what it means for your disposable income. Also examine what other scope there is. Think about: pension accrual (your payslip will show exactly what the employer contributes to this), training and development budget, number of days off, possibility to work from home and flexible hours, expense allowances, laptop, car and company phone. Literally put on paper or in Excel what conditions you have now and which ones you might get, then you will see much more than just an amount. Do the same with the pros and cons of your existing and possibly new job. When you have everything in order: is salary still a dealbreaker or deal-maker?
Look to the future
If it turns out that your target salary is not feasible now, examine what it would take to get it in the future. For example, are there long-term opportunities for advancement? Does a bonus structure suit your position and the assignment you are given within the organization? Or can you draw up a development plan together? You can also ask directly what it would take to get the salary. In that case you have a clear framework to invest in yourself and you can keep it on the agenda as soon as you actually start working for the company, for example during the assessment and performance interviews. In any case, it is very important to have that conversation about your development and your assignment in the organization on an ongoing basis, so that you are not disappointed and you and your employer stay on track together.
Tips to better negotiate your salary:
- Don’t get carried away by emotions about money, but keep thinking about why you got so excited about this position in the first place.
- Ask the employer for substantive arguments as to why a particular salary fits the job.
- Never sign a contract on the spot if it has just been presented to you. Always take it home to go over it quietly.
- When giving a salary indication, make sure your bottom line is not the true bottom. By doing so, you can cut yourself in half if, for example, you can’t make a step forward in fringe benefits.
- When negotiating, give an amount that you yourself have researched well in advance and can therefore argue for.
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Self-confidence, empathy, realism and, above all, good preparation about your salary and fringe benefits: that’s all you need to come out of salary negotiations satisfied and fulfilled. Good luck!
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