By: Maureen E. Harrop

You have now prepared for the interview, learned how to conduct yourself in an interview, and written a powerful resume. The final stage is negotiating a reasonable salary.

Negotiation is an art. It takes practice. The more you practice and engage in it, the better you become. The more you study the topic, the more prepared and comfortable you will be.

For purposes of this article, we will address negotiating the salaried exempt positions, not hourly wage non-exempt positions due to the fact that traditionally, it is less likely there will be flexibility with non-exempt wages.

Let’s begin with a few basic guidelines:
• Negotiating a salary is a standard business practice.
• Timing is important. The time to begin negotiations is once the job is offered, not before.
• Don’t jump the gun. Let them go first. Once the offer is made, begin the dialogue. Don’t accept the job until you have worked out the details. Request additional meetings, if necessary. This is an important decision.
• Ask whether the person making the offer is the decision-maker. If not, ask how that process will be handled and whether it would be appropriate for you to meet with that person.
• Have your facts and figures ready. Research the market, and if possible, the company’s salary policies; and be prepared make a factual, job-related request. An applicant I once interviewed stated, “Look, I just bought a new house and my wife just had a baby, so I deserve more money than what you’ve offered.” Not a good strategy.
• Be patient. You may be turned down on the first try, but you can be persistent without being aggressive.
• State what you feel is reasonable, and remain quiet. Let them talk. There is no harm in using silence as a tactic. Remember, budgets may not be flexible.
• Be clear. Articulate your needs, wants, and desires as objectively as possible.
• Don’t forget about stock options, bonuses, performance review cycles, etc. Sometimes you can negotiate for a 90-day performance review that would include a salary increase.
• Be humble, enthusiastic and grateful. If you receive your desired salary, thank them.
• Send a handwritten thank you note.

Everything is Negotiable

Maryanne L. Wegerbauer addresses this in her book, “Job Offer! A How-To Negotiation Guide.” She describes a concept called “relative power,” which relates to elements such as the national and the company’s economic situation, the national/state unemployment rate, the market demand for the position, the company’s urgency to fill the position, your technical expertise, competition for the job, etc.

Negotiate a win-win. Strong-arm tactics never work. “In a negotiation, you’re both designing the terms of a transaction so that each of you will receive the maximum benefit from the final agreement,” advises Ms. Wegerbauer.

Once you have a handle on such factors, you are more prepared to negotiate from a stronger position.

For your continued education, the following is a list of additional resources:

WEB SITES:

http://www.negotiations.com/articles/geeks-earning-more/

http://infohost.nmt.edu/~shipman/org/noel.html

http://www.us-source.com/ya-biz/negotiation-skills/Job+Offer+Negotiation/negotiation+skills.html

BOOKS:

“You Can Negotiate Anything”
Herb Cohen

“Secrets of Power Salary Negotiating: Inside Secrets from a Master Negotiator”
Roger Dawson

“Win-Win Career Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want from Your Employer”
Peter J. Goodman and Roger Fisher

Maureen Harrop is President of Claridis, Inc., a training and consulting company, specializing in the Latino/Hispanic workforce. Claridis has produced Telly Award-winning videos in Spanish, utilizing Latino actors. These films are unique because they are not dubbed or subtitled. They were designed for use by training and human resource professionals for their bilingual and Spanish-speaking employees. English versions are also available. Maureen has a Master’s Degree in Education and has been in the human resource/training field for 27 years. Customer service training is an additional area of expertise for Maureen.

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