How to do Salary Negotiation in 2021 – Get what you deserve!

Salary negotiation, is very important. You got to put on a glowing display of your skills, experience, and use every tactic in the book to hook the employer in.

And this is why nobody cares what you deserve. If you know how to ask, what to ask, and your market value, you can do salary negotiation for a  hike like a pro. Plus there’s another reason for hustling to negotiate your wage.

Employers expect a top candidate for salary negotiation. A person who knows his worth doesn’t hesitate in asking it. In contrast, if you don’t negotiate, you’re already an average performer to them. And that makes a bad impression before you join the company. So, you get the picture.

Recommended Reading : How Does Switching Jobs Brings More Benefits Than Harm To Your Career

However, in reality asking for more money is always like walking a thin line. Even more so with an employer. So, to help you walk on that thin ice, here are a few tips that make sure you get the salary raise you deserve.

How to do Salary Negotiation?

Know your worth

The first step to asking the pay you want is to know your actual price tag. And that means finding out what the market pays for your skills and experience in your particular industry.

So, before you begin salary negotiation, dive into the research mode and scan everything you can find. There are many resources to help you with it, starting with Google, of course.

In fact, I found Payscale and Glassdoor salary calculators to be especially helpful when researching my market worth. Give these tools a whirl and you’ll know your market value in under 5 minutes.

Research the company

Now that you know your worth, it’s time to figure out what the company pays for roles similar to yours. It’ll come in handy especially in deciding how high to go and when to stop a salary negotiation. Every position has a salary ceiling.

You need every detail about a company to take an informed stance.

To gain this information, the most obvious thing is to ask the former employees. You can easily connect with the company’s ex-employees on Linkedin and ask them about the salary, bonus structure, timeline for promotions and so on.

If that’s not possible, connect with folks in the same industry who hold similar positions. You can also take advice from your college seniors if you’re a fresher. Obviously, these guys entered the industry before you and have a pretty good idea about the market salary.

Consider Benefits

One of the most common mistakes freshers make is not asking beyond the basic salary. That is, the cash you take home. But if you really want to have an upper hand during salary negotiations, look for some extra wiggle room.

The first step is to get familiar with the components of your salary. Stock options, performance bonus, incentives etc. are some of the flexible elements that can save your negotiation when all else fails. These are the compromising grounds when the employer doesn’t budge on basic salary.

For example, let’s take Google. With the kind of benefits Google provides, it’s pretty hard to say no even if you don’t get your desired ask.

Final Step: The Ask

This is the part where you bring out the big guns. Alright, let’s walk through a few final steps of the salary negotiation.

• Let them start the salary talk – If possible, never mention the salary before the employer. You may try to ward them off with responses like, “I’m sure there’s a favourable number for both of us, but I’m more interested in finding a role that fits my skills and experience.”
• Drop a salary range – If you can’t see a way out without telling them your salary, give them a salary range. Favourably, drop the salary range based on the market value you found in your research (in the first step). And if you were due any raises, promotions, bonuses in your previous role, factor them in the calculation as well.
• Take time to evaluate, but not too much – Be considerate of the employer’s time. Take time to weigh your options and reply quickly.
• Use other offers as bargaining chips – Most employers come up with a counter offer once they see their competitor’s offer. But if you don’t have other offers, try to find leeway in other benefits. Discuss stretching your vacations, work from home, stock options and so on. These are generally negotiable when the salary is not.
• Shift the focus from salary to responsibilities and expectations from the role. Even though you’re not comfortable with the salary, discuss the duties and responsibilities to be fulfilled in the next 30-90 days.

In fact, if you really want to impress the hiring manager, prepare a plan of action for 30-90 days before going into the interview. This is, of course, if you can easily decode the needs of the role and the company.

No hiring manager can reject a proactive employee just because he asked a few thousand extra bucks. The hiring manager knows this level of motivation is hard to find.

Conclusion

Generally, you can ask for 20-30% hike in your wages during a salary negotiation. Another great thing is if you’re in an industry with talent-shortage, you can negotiate for even a greater amount.

That’ll be all folks. Just one last thing in parting – remember to say no when your gut tells you to. There’s no point in being a fool about the money. You’ve done all you could and if the company doesn’t see your value, it’s time to consider other options.

Note: Want to flex your salary negotiation skills? You’ve found the right place! Drop in here to find awesome companies looking for talented people just like you.