In advance of salary negotiation, it is imperative for you to know exactly what your salary value is. If you do not know how much you are worth before negotiating salary, then you will find it very difficult to ask for a salary that matches what the job market will pay.
You may end up letting the employer decide what your pay increase should be, and it may be disappointing to you. Millions of people negotiate for a higher salary, but not so many get the maximum increase in compensation that they could.
Doing extensive research before you approach your boss for a pay increase or before you discuss salary negotiation at job offer time, is an imperative. It is like a game of chess. You cannot reveal to your opponent what your next move will be. Likewise, you do not want to reveal your salary history if you can avoid it, and don't discuss salary too early.
Know how much compensation you can command before you ever discuss salary negotiation with an employer.
If you are looking for a new job or are trying to ask for a raise, do salary research on the Internet first. There are great sites like SalaryExpert.com or Payscale.com who calculate all the salary information that is available.
Make sure you scrutinize the quality of information from each site, so you feel you have reliable information. If a web site reports salary scales based on information provided by subscribers it may not be as accurate as if the salary data is reported by the hiring department of the companies in that field.
Another method, if you are a little intrepid, is to do a bit of discreet research. If you know people who work for the firm, and are not fearful of asking direct questions, you may well find find out what other staff are earning in the same job for that business.
If you know an HR person, even better. Often times, the word will be on the street, company ABC pays well, or company EFG are fairly stingy when it comes to compensation. This information may also help.
Salary comparison is done on frequent basis by human resources personal within companies and between companies as well. There are even research reports published by large research firms and human resource organizations that share information openly about their hiring practice in their regions. If you are able to gain access to one of these reports, you have the diamond mine of information you need.
Many salary sites report salaries in the form of a large range. If the range is $45,000-$69,000, the site will often report that data in 25% intervals. The bell curve is sometimes found within the 0-100% range, and it is important for you to clearly assess where you fit in the range, and make sure you are not below the bottom or too far above the top.
You know how well you perform at your job. Do a self evaluation, and figure where you feel you fit in the percentile of performance for that career level. If you are in a lower percentile, it may be that you're new to the job role. If you are in a higher percentage, you're a super-star with plenty of experience, and you know you add a lot of contribution.
I have found it to be very useful to point blank ask friends at work where they feel I should be on the salary scale. They know themselves and measure themselves against you. You should do this with someone you have a very good raport with. You will get great direct feedback.
It is critical for you to know the value of the skills you bring, and be able to measure them in quantitative terms. That is financially describably terms. Hard cash numbers resonate with employers. If you can say, I saved the company $150,000 last quarter due to the efficiencies I implemented, you are on a great platform to justify your salary negotiation.
To your salary negotiation success. - 16003
You may end up letting the employer decide what your pay increase should be, and it may be disappointing to you. Millions of people negotiate for a higher salary, but not so many get the maximum increase in compensation that they could.
Doing extensive research before you approach your boss for a pay increase or before you discuss salary negotiation at job offer time, is an imperative. It is like a game of chess. You cannot reveal to your opponent what your next move will be. Likewise, you do not want to reveal your salary history if you can avoid it, and don't discuss salary too early.
Know how much compensation you can command before you ever discuss salary negotiation with an employer.
If you are looking for a new job or are trying to ask for a raise, do salary research on the Internet first. There are great sites like SalaryExpert.com or Payscale.com who calculate all the salary information that is available.
Make sure you scrutinize the quality of information from each site, so you feel you have reliable information. If a web site reports salary scales based on information provided by subscribers it may not be as accurate as if the salary data is reported by the hiring department of the companies in that field.
Another method, if you are a little intrepid, is to do a bit of discreet research. If you know people who work for the firm, and are not fearful of asking direct questions, you may well find find out what other staff are earning in the same job for that business.
If you know an HR person, even better. Often times, the word will be on the street, company ABC pays well, or company EFG are fairly stingy when it comes to compensation. This information may also help.
Salary comparison is done on frequent basis by human resources personal within companies and between companies as well. There are even research reports published by large research firms and human resource organizations that share information openly about their hiring practice in their regions. If you are able to gain access to one of these reports, you have the diamond mine of information you need.
Many salary sites report salaries in the form of a large range. If the range is $45,000-$69,000, the site will often report that data in 25% intervals. The bell curve is sometimes found within the 0-100% range, and it is important for you to clearly assess where you fit in the range, and make sure you are not below the bottom or too far above the top.
You know how well you perform at your job. Do a self evaluation, and figure where you feel you fit in the percentile of performance for that career level. If you are in a lower percentile, it may be that you're new to the job role. If you are in a higher percentage, you're a super-star with plenty of experience, and you know you add a lot of contribution.
I have found it to be very useful to point blank ask friends at work where they feel I should be on the salary scale. They know themselves and measure themselves against you. You should do this with someone you have a very good raport with. You will get great direct feedback.
It is critical for you to know the value of the skills you bring, and be able to measure them in quantitative terms. That is financially describably terms. Hard cash numbers resonate with employers. If you can say, I saved the company $150,000 last quarter due to the efficiencies I implemented, you are on a great platform to justify your salary negotiation.
To your salary negotiation success. - 16003
About the Author:
Trevor Davide Grant is a project manager in the IT field and has extensive experience in salary negotiation. Trevor has worked for large telecom, electric utilities, software development consulting, and a prominent social network. He has learned salary negotiating in the most powerfulway. Learn great tips on the topic of negotiating salary at www.HowToNegotiateASalary.com.
