This is How to Negotiate Your Salary

How do you negotiate salary with a current or prospective employer? It’s a difficult conversation to have—and one many employees would rather avoid having altogether. But wouldn’t you prefer negotiating your offer or current salary and getting paid what you deserve than settling for less than your worth?

Most people negotiate salary at some point in their careers—often many times. Here’s how to start.

Preparing Yourself to Negotiate

• Do your homework.

Make a list of your achievements, accomplishments, and areas in which you’ve gone above and beyond. If you have your job description available, consult it to remember what you’re doing that you weren’t expected to do initially.

Keep a list of praise colleagues and manager give you. It can help you express your value to your manager or prospective manager.

You might collate all these achievements into a list to bring to your meeting. This not only helps you remember everything you want to mention but also demonstrates that you mean business—and that you’re confident enough to know that you deserve this.

• Choose the right time.

If you’re negotiating a new job offer, the timing is obvious: you’ll discuss it when the employer makes the offer. But if you’re asking for a raise from your current employer, you’ll want to choose the timing wisely.

If you’re negotiating with your manager, take into account factors such as when you last got a raise, recent accomplishments, and your boss’s workload and mood. You don’t want to ask when she’s particularly busy or grumpy; that won’t help negotiations one bit. Instead, wait for a moment when she’s not super busy or stressed—all the better if it coincides with your particularly great performance on a project.

• Rev yourself up. 

Build your own confidence before you head into salary negotiations. Practice saying what you need to say and consider rehearsing in front of a friend or trusted colleague. Make a list of reasons why you deserve this and say them aloud to yourself; if you don’t believe it yourself, then you’ll never convince someone else.

Remember: you’re asking for a raise because you know you’re worth it!

• Come up with your target salary and know where to set the bar.

In most cases, mentioning a salary range rather than a specific number results in a higher salary. Do note that you’ve done extensive research and know that this is the range for people with similar experience and qualifications. If you mention a specific figure, you could be missing out on greater compensation since you might ask for a figure that’s too low.

You should also consider the minimum for which you’d settle. Don’t mention that number to the hiring manager or your boss, of course, but do keep it in the back of your mind. If what the employer is offering is just too low, it may not be worth it. 

SOURCE:fairygodboss.com