Salary and Benefits Negotiation Tips
Negotiating Salary and Benefits
Ask for what you want. If you don’t take the chance to ask for what you want (think reasonably), then your employer will definitely try to get you at the cheapest price possible.
Stand your ground. You never want to immediately accept the first figure that a potential employer offers. Ask if there is a signing bonus or anything that may improve your pay. If this is the job for you and the salary doesn’t seem high enough, ask for a performance review after the first six months to get that raise at a later date. Then you can prove your abilities to your employer to show you deserve a raise.
Get it in WRITING! When you get an offer from an employer make sure they disclose what the salary and benefits are and make sure they give it to you in writing. If the employer refuses to disclose this information in writing, then you are taking a risk by accepting the offer without seeing it on paper.
Make yourself stand out. In order to get a raise or the higher paying entry-level job, you will have to point out reasons to your employer on why you stand out from the rest and deserve the raise. If you are in your current entry-level job go and ask your boss for opportunities that will help you advance to the position that you are striving for.
Highlight additional experience. The more experience one has generally the higher pay and benefits one should expect. Any certificates, professional training, committees, or anything that your employers would see as a benefit to their business is a plus and will help with determining salary.
Don’t just negotiate how much you get paid. Employers may be stuck on the salary that they have to offer you, but other things such as benefits or vacation time have some wiggle. If they can’t pay you more maybe they can give you better benefits or more vacation days to compensate the salary they must give you.