A colleague of mine asked me if it was normal or even possible to renegotiate the salary of your current job. He discovered by doing some research on the job market that he was quite underpaid in his field. He was wondering if it was easier to quit his job, and come back to the same company with a higher salary after working elsewhere for a while.
Certainly, anyone can negotiate a pay increase at any time in their career. I often recommend people start considering how they would approach their employers for their pay increase.
Of course, if you just accepted a job offer, it is not a good time to ask for more money, but once you have some time and accomplishments behind you, you should look to salary negotiation. If you just accepted the offer, you did so fair and square. That is why it is important to know your value before accepting any job offer.
Salary is not the only means of increasing your compensation package. You can also consider things like extra vacation, time off in lieu of overtime worked, and stock options as extra ways to add value to your compensation, and make it more easy for the employer to accept.
Prior to asking for a pay increase you should do make sure to take a number of steps.
1) Research and have confidence in your value in the job market. Make sure you have multiple sources for this information. Many salary sites are based on anonymous reports by unqualified individuals. Surveys conducted by market research firms are far more reliable when they go to the HR sources in the region.
2) Your value-add is a very powerful salary negotiation tool. You should be aware of all the ways you add value to the business and prepare to communicate it effectively to the boss.
3) Get yourself ready to discuss this with your employer. You may need to educate them that you are below the salary range. Either way, you will let them know that you know what the market is.
4) Each person ultimately falls within a certain percentage on the salary scale. Are you a peak performer with lots of years in the industry? You'll need to agree with your employer where you fit within the performance range. Can you command the top salary within your range?
Salary negotiation is a complex art that requires both skills, knowledge and good timing. One thing is for sure, you won't get ahead as fast as you can unless you be proactive about negotiating your salary!
My preference would be to negotiate salary in a job that I was happy with rather than go through the effort of finding a new job in hopes of a higher salary.
One tactic that can give you an upper hand is to first get yourself another job offer. With that as your back up measure, you will have more leverage in negotiating salary. - 15431
Certainly, anyone can negotiate a pay increase at any time in their career. I often recommend people start considering how they would approach their employers for their pay increase.
Of course, if you just accepted a job offer, it is not a good time to ask for more money, but once you have some time and accomplishments behind you, you should look to salary negotiation. If you just accepted the offer, you did so fair and square. That is why it is important to know your value before accepting any job offer.
Salary is not the only means of increasing your compensation package. You can also consider things like extra vacation, time off in lieu of overtime worked, and stock options as extra ways to add value to your compensation, and make it more easy for the employer to accept.
Prior to asking for a pay increase you should do make sure to take a number of steps.
1) Research and have confidence in your value in the job market. Make sure you have multiple sources for this information. Many salary sites are based on anonymous reports by unqualified individuals. Surveys conducted by market research firms are far more reliable when they go to the HR sources in the region.
2) Your value-add is a very powerful salary negotiation tool. You should be aware of all the ways you add value to the business and prepare to communicate it effectively to the boss.
3) Get yourself ready to discuss this with your employer. You may need to educate them that you are below the salary range. Either way, you will let them know that you know what the market is.
4) Each person ultimately falls within a certain percentage on the salary scale. Are you a peak performer with lots of years in the industry? You'll need to agree with your employer where you fit within the performance range. Can you command the top salary within your range?
Salary negotiation is a complex art that requires both skills, knowledge and good timing. One thing is for sure, you won't get ahead as fast as you can unless you be proactive about negotiating your salary!
My preference would be to negotiate salary in a job that I was happy with rather than go through the effort of finding a new job in hopes of a higher salary.
One tactic that can give you an upper hand is to first get yourself another job offer. With that as your back up measure, you will have more leverage in negotiating salary. - 15431
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, power utililties, software consulting, and a prevalent web 2.0 site. He has learned salary negotiating in the most effective way. Learn great tacticson the topic of negotiating salary at www.HowToNegotiateASalary.com.
