Do your homework. The key to successful salary negotiation is knowledge, so don’t
let the advantage fall to the employer by not doing your homework in discovering such
things as the salary range of the job in that particular company, salary ranges in your
industry, typical benefits, and other key information. If you don’t have any experience
with salary negotiation, take a crash course with
Quintessential Careers: Salary and
Job Offer Negotiation Tutorial.
Salaries: knowing how much money you are going to receive in your paycheck is
important -- and you should make sure you take into account such factors as base
salary, overtime pay, cost-of-living allowances (and differences), salary review periods.
Benefits: there is almost an unlimited number of potential benefits packages offered
by employers. Some employers just offer them, some pay all of the costs, some pay part
of the costs. Benefits include such things as vacation days, sick days, personal days,
paid company holidays, pension plans, stock ownership plans, health insurance,
dental/eye insurance, life insurance, and more.
Know when to expect it. A cardinal sin of job-hunting is when the
job-seeker raises the salary issue before the employer is ready to make an offer.
On the other hand, an employer could make an offer on the first interview, so you
need to be able to read the clues and be prepared.
Know how to negotiate. Information is power. In order to be more
successful with salary negotiation, you need to have as much -- or more --
information as the employer. There are plenty of places on the Web where you
can find information. We suggest you check out
Quintessential Careers:
Salary Negotiation.
