Salary Negotiation Techniques

The best technique to arranging the deal is to determine whether you want the job before an offer is provided. This permits you to whether the job suits your needs. Unless you’re motivated solely by money, it’s unlikely a few extra dollars will turn a undesirable job into a superb one.

The phrase “bottom line” refers to the amount of compensation you feel is completely mandatory to accept the job offer. If, for example, you really want $76,000 but would think about $75,000 or settle for $74,000, then you haven’t developed your bottom line. The bottom line is one dollar more than the figure you would positively walk away from. Setting a bottom line clarifies your sense of worth, and helps avoid an unforeseen negotiating session.

I advocate against “negotiating” an offer in the well-known sense, where the company makes a proposal, you counter it, they counter your counter, and so on. While this type of back-and-forth format may be typical for negotiating a residential real estate deal, job offers should be taken care of in a more hassle-free approach.

Here’s how: Determine your bottom line in advance, and wait for the . If the company offers you more than your bottom line, great. If they offer you less, then you have the opportunity of turning the offer down or disclosing your bottom line as a condition of approval. At that point, they can boost the ante or walk away. And once the bottom line is known, you can avoid the haggling that quite often causes irritation, dissatisfaction, or hurt feelings.

By determining your own acceptance conditions in advance, you’ll never be accused of negotiating in bad faith or of being indecisive. Whether you’re representing yourself or working with a recruiter, learning to distinguish between financial fact and fantasy will facilitate the job changing procedure.
If you feel the need to justify your salary request, you can itemize any loss of income that may result from a differential in benefits, geographic location, automobile expenditures, and so forth.

Often, there are considerations aside from money that need to be fulfilled before an offer can be accepted. Aspects such as the new position title, review periods, work schedule, vacation allotment, and promotion opportunities are essential, and should be looked at meticulously.

You can use the this method to quantify each consideration or “point” you need to satisfy as a condition for approval. Once you and the company compromise on each aspect, you won’t need to go back later to negotiate “one more thing.” Knowing your bottom line puts you in a better situation to get what you want, since you’ve developed a set of quantifiable circumstances required for approval.