Prior to salary negotiating, it is very important to know exactly what your market value is. If you do not know exactly what your market value is, then it is like being blindfolded and not knowing what salary to ask when you ask for a raise or try to negotiate the best salary in your next job.
If you do not do your research, your employer will decide your pay increase for you and it may be very dissapointing. Millions of people regularly negotiate salary, but very few get the maximum pay increase that they could.
Research ahead of time is critical before approaching your boss for a raise, or before putting your foot forward in salary negotiations at job offer time. It is like a card game. Do not reveal your cards too soon. In this case, your cards are personal secrets like how much you made in your last job, or how much money you'd like in the new job, or how much of an increase you'd like.
Before going into a salary negotiation, know what you are worth in compensation terms!
Whether you are looking for new employment or you are asking for a pay raise, do your research first. There are great Internet resources available, like SalaryExpert.com or Monster.com. These sites have continual access to all the salary information that is available.
One challenge is understanding the reliability of the source of the information. If a resume website is reporting salary ranges as reported by their list of job seekers, it may not be as precise as if the salaries are reported by the human resources department of the firms that are seeking to recruit personnel.
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.
The best source of information is a trusted friend who works in HR. You may find out that the company pays well, or you may find out that they are cheap. Any way you can find accurate information will be helpful.
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.
In order to determine where you lie in the salary range, you need to figure out your percentile. This is the measure to which you believe in yourself and your abilities, combined with your tenure, experience and proven status on the job. If you feel you are honestly a high performance employee, give yourself a higher rating. If you know you have less experience or you are new to a job, then rate a little lower. Be honest in your self assessment.
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.
Wishing you success in learning how to negotiate a salary like a pro! - 15431
If you do not do your research, your employer will decide your pay increase for you and it may be very dissapointing. Millions of people regularly negotiate salary, but very few get the maximum pay increase that they could.
Research ahead of time is critical before approaching your boss for a raise, or before putting your foot forward in salary negotiations at job offer time. It is like a card game. Do not reveal your cards too soon. In this case, your cards are personal secrets like how much you made in your last job, or how much money you'd like in the new job, or how much of an increase you'd like.
Before going into a salary negotiation, know what you are worth in compensation terms!
Whether you are looking for new employment or you are asking for a pay raise, do your research first. There are great Internet resources available, like SalaryExpert.com or Monster.com. These sites have continual access to all the salary information that is available.
One challenge is understanding the reliability of the source of the information. If a resume website is reporting salary ranges as reported by their list of job seekers, it may not be as precise as if the salaries are reported by the human resources department of the firms that are seeking to recruit personnel.
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.
The best source of information is a trusted friend who works in HR. You may find out that the company pays well, or you may find out that they are cheap. Any way you can find accurate information will be helpful.
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.
In order to determine where you lie in the salary range, you need to figure out your percentile. This is the measure to which you believe in yourself and your abilities, combined with your tenure, experience and proven status on the job. If you feel you are honestly a high performance employee, give yourself a higher rating. If you know you have less experience or you are new to a job, then rate a little lower. Be honest in your self assessment.
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.
Wishing you success in learning how to negotiate a salary like a pro! - 15431
About the Author:
Trevor Davide Grant is a IT 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 how to negotiate a salary in the most effective way. Learn great tacticson the topic of salary negotiating at www.HowToNegotiateASalary.com.
