Tips To Negotiate Your Salary

It is a well-accepted fact that one is worth only what they think they are worth. Whether it is in the personal world or professional, a person who does not value themself will never get the respect and status they deserve. Now rating one or one's work on a financial scale is no child's place. As stated earlier, underrating oneself is detrimental to one's growth both professionally and otherwise.

Now once a person has gauged their professional worth in terms of skill set and experience, the next important thing is to convey the same to one's employer or prospective employer. This act has to be executed with a lot of tact and skill. You do not want to come off as someone who is too needy.

At the same time you would not want to portray yourself as someone who has a lot of ego and a narcissistic nature. Thus, you need to know how to strike a balance between the two and still get what you want. The trick to this lies in negotiating your salary properly. This article explores some options that will enable you to do so.

• Talk To The Recruiters

Sometimes there might be a job that you are not interested to pursue (there may be a number of reasons for the same like the fact that this is not in a city of your choice). However, even in such cases, make sure that you talk to the recruiters. Discuss the job responsibilities, the experience that they are looking for and the pay that they are ready to offer. This type of research will give you a correct assessment of the range of pay that you can expect.

• Aim For The Moon

Once you have gauged your market value by the aforementioned process you will be left with a range that defines your market value. When you walk into an interview, make sure that you do not make the mistake of asking for a salary that is somewhere in the middle of this range. Always ask for that at the higher side. That way even in the worst case scenario you will end up getting a compensatory package that is somewhere is the middle of the range that you had in mind.

• Be Ready To Walk Away

As cruel as it sounds, life is not easy and you will not always get what you want. In such a case be ready to walk away instead of settling. A major plus point of this act is that often people who threaten to walk away are given the salary they want.

However, be very sure before you go for this because your employer or prospective employer will call you back and give you what you want when you threaten to walk away, if and only if they are positive about the fact that you are or will be an asset to the company.

• Step In The Other Person's Shoes

This point holds true in the context of any negotiation. While discussing a raise in salary, think about the possible questions or doubts that can arise in the other person's mind. Then come up with possible explanations for the same. Remember if you can address your employer's concerns before they bring them up, half your battle is won and chances are that you will end up getting the salary that you have always wanted.

• Do Not Mention Personal Needs

We understand that everyone works in order to meet their personal needs. However, it is professional to keep personal and professional lives separate and not bring in reference of your personal demands while negotiating your salary.

For example, increase in your dad's medication or your daughter's school fees is no reason your employer should pay you more. Doing so will only make you appear needy and lessen your chances of getting that increase in salary.

• Time It Well

If your company is in a quarterly loss and if you are asking for a hike, chances are that you will not get it. Hence, it is very important for you to survey the market and the position of the company in the market before you ask for that hike. Otherwise your employer will out rightly reject your proposal. This not only makes your efforts futile but also lessens the chances of you getting a hike in your salary the next time you ask for the same.

• Listen To The Other Person

It is natural human tendency to take the other person more seriously when we see that they are listening to us. Thus, when you go to your manager (or a prospective manager) to negotiate your salary, make sure that you do not do all the talking in the room. If they find you actively listening to them in the meeting, chances are that they will want to listen to your point of view as well. That way you upscale your chances of getting an upper hand in the negotiation and bagging the salary of your choice.

• Keep Negotiating

Perhaps the most important tip in the process of negotiating your salary is to keep doing it. By saying so we do not mean that you should walk to your boss's cabin every alternate day and ask for a hike. However, if your boss rejects the idea of giving you a hike in the first five minutes of the salary negotiation meeting it does not mean that you should give up.

Instead you should be calm and patient and put forward your opinions and proposals to them. If you are able to do so in an effective manner, chances are that by the end of the interview you will walk out with a higher salary.