How to Negotiate Salary

Asking for a raise or discussing salary with a potential employer should pose an opportunity to speak seriously with your supervisor, discuss your performance and compensation. To improve your chances of getting what you want there are things you can do. Most employers wrestle with how to attract and keep good people without having to pay more than the company can afford. As an employee or prospective employee, your objective is to establish your value to the company as a way of justifying the compensation package you are seeking. The art of negotiating is the ability to create incremental value.

Want a raise or higher starting salary? Consider these tips on how to negotiate salary with your boss or with a prospective employer.

Establish the Salary Parameters

To prepare to discuss salary the first step is to find out what is available. The most important step in learning how to negotiate salary is to discover where the information is that will help you establish what is reasonable to ask for in your upcoming negotiation. You will want to find out the salary range for your position or job description and if there are additional company perks available. Typically the personnel or human resource department will have this information and it should be available to you upon request.

Negotiation Salary without Conflict

Disagreement creates conflict. You do not want to create conflict between you and your boss or potential boss by making the salary discussion uncomfortable or threatening. A salary negotiation should not become a fight. Understanding the needs of the company and what you have to offer and sharing this at the beginning will help to establish that you are a team player only seeking to reap a fair return on your contribution. The goal is to have your boss acknowledge your contribution and value to the company before you get down to the dollars and cents.

Be Creative

Throwing a curve in a negotiation is usually a viable tactic to get the attention of the other person. In a salary negotiation such a curve could be bringing your self-evaluation to the meeting and discussing your strengths and weaknesses openly. The purpose of this is to highlight those qualities that warrant a salary increase based on the skills you have developed, the contributions you have made, and the value you have to the company. By discussing the self-evaluation you are providing your boss or the person hiring you the ammunition they may need to champion your cause to their boss.

Create Value

In order to warrant consideration for an exceptional or extraordinary raise you need to establish why you should be valued above your peers. One way to do this is to clearly establish that you are looking for a future with the company. That you are a devote team player and are willing to invest years of your career life with the company if they are willing to invest in you. The strength you have is that once they have trained you, you are a valuable asset that will cost time and money to replace.

Look Beyond Dollars and Cents

Salary is important but it is only one portion of a compensation package. Other benefits may be more valuable to you than a simple pay increase. Many of these perks are not taxed further enhancing their value to you. Upgrades in medical coverage, dental coverage, 401k matching contributions, stock options, a company car, laptop or notebook, tuition assistance, day care assistance and company cellular phones may add tangible value to you. These perks may allow the company to add to your compensation without exceeding their mandated pay range for the position you hold.

Your job will consume at least 30% of your waking hours. You need to like the job and feel adequately compensated for doing it. If you dread going to work maybe you should consider looking for something different rather than seeking a raise but not improving your quality of life. Too many people spend to many years trapped in a dead end or unsatisfying job rather than take the initiative to see if there is something else they could be doing. It may be that there is just such an opportunity within the company where you are working. Look around. Life is way too short to be miserable 30% of each day. Before considering how to negotiate salary, consider if perhaps it is the job you should be renegotiating.

Excerpt: Over worked and underpaid? Tired of working for peanuts? Learn how to negotiate salary with your boss or with a prospective employer.