In this guide, we will share some tips that you can use to negotiate your salary before or after accepting a job offer or promotion.
Typically, it's best to negotiate a salary after you receive a job offer. That is when you have the most leverage as a candidate. This way, you already know that you were the organization’s top pick for the role and that they would be scared to lose you as a potential employee. If you attempt to negotiate before being offered the position, it could come across as solely being interested in the position for the money, and it would give the hiring team reason to dismiss you from the process early on while they still have other options.
However, switching companies is not the only time that you can negotiate your salary. If you are offered a promotion or a raise at your current job, it might also be a good idea to ask for more money. Studies show that employees who leave their current roles for a new opportunity can see a 10 to 20% pay increase, or in extreme cases, even up to 70%. So be sure to negotiate with your current employer before blindly accepting the opportunity to take on more work for less pay than is fair.
To properly negotiate your salary, you need to familiarize yourself with how others in your industry and at your level of seniority are being compensated. One of the best ways to do this is by reviewing up-to-date salary audits on websites such as Payscale, Glassdoor and Linkedin.
Another great way to determine what salary you should be asking for is by staying abreast of current market trends. In recent years, the Great Resignation and the inflationary economy have had an outsized impact on the job market, putting more control in the hands of job seekers. Informed applicants are able to leverage market insights to negotiate their job offers and as a result, organizations must fight to stay competitive.
It's hard to make a compelling case for why you deserve more money if you don't seem confident in yourself. Remember, if you’ve made it this far in the process, the organization already wants to hire you — you just have to remind them of why. So when negotiating your salary, be sure to reiterate all that you bring to the table that makes you worthy of higher pay. Whether you are a C-level executive or an individual contributor, we all offer a unique perspective, accomplishments and set of skills gathered from our past experiences.
In addition, it's a good idea to inform the hiring team of why your lifestyle might necessitate a certain salary. For example, if you have children or your current job pays more than what they offer, a lower salary would make your life far less comfortable.
When it comes to negotiating, sometimes a little healthy competition helps to seal the deal. It is important to not put all of your faith into one job offer — not only because it can fall through, but because you can leverage your other offers to get higher pay. When giving a counteroffer, be sure to let the employers know that you have received more competitive offers and if they want you badly enough, they will be willing to raise their price. This will also allow you to negotiate multiple deals at once.
Successfully doing this might mean slowing down your interview process with one company, while moving it along with another so that you can have multiple offers coming in at the same time.
In contrast to the above, even though you may have a lot of options, you should never make a potential employer feel like they are your last choice. If you intend to negotiate for a better package, be sure to convey that you are serious about wanting to work there and remind them of your reasons. Additionally, when using your other offers as leverage, make it clear that this is the position you really want but if the compensation package doesn't meet your requirements, you will (reluctantly) have to accept an offer somewhere else.
In the case of most job offers, the base salary is just one part of the package and it is equally as important to examine the company’s perks and benefits. Here are a few other forms of compensation or attractive assets that an organization can include that might make it a winning deal overall:
Although it is important to know your worth, money isn't always everything. Sometimes, it is better to focus on the value that an organization can offer as a whole and recognize that investing in your future can be worth more than a paycheck.
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