Win at Negotiations With These Simple Tricks

Negotiations are often associated with strategies, and this comparison seems to be justified at first sight. However, it would mean that a negotiation is a great talent consisting of gamesmanship and other various skills rather than of hard work and investigation abilities. Even though the business world involves some gaming elements, they’re usually related only to transactions and achievements.

Smart strategies may not be always that smart

The last period has been driven by the idea that a thriving negotiation cannot be achieved without gamesmanship, but this belief is not always true, especially nowadays, when business people have to deal with a weakened economy. Supposing that a negotiation will end with excellent results only by applying proper regulations and strategies is wrong, since most strategies can be useful with a certain deal and completely useless with others.

Never take things personally

A business person is usually gifted with negotiation skills, and this means that you should never feel offended by your counterparts’ statements. Some of them use smooth techniques that are not very hard to swallow, while others turn to more aggressive and intimidating ones.  Regardless of what you are dealing with, try to remember that business individuals should never be very sensitive during business negotiations. After all, business is business.

Everything is negotiable

Even though deals may be difficult to negotiate every now and then, they’re never impossible. As a result, you are advised to think of every situation as a challenge, and try to use your smartest skills. Start by communicating with other participants, express your demands, agree with what they say, be tolerant, and last but not least, never back down! Good negotiators can close a deal even without having the advantage.

Do your homework

Don’t start negotiating without making sure that you’ve learned everything you could about your counterparts. You cannot understand their needs without becoming familiar with their points of view. As a result, you should try to learn as many details as you can about the other party’s business so that you can understand their perspective.

Be patient

Patience is one of the most important qualities that a negotiator should have. Those who think only about getting their job done will never win, because a negotiator should at least pretend to be sympathizing with their associates, as well as listen carefully to what they have to say. Express your demands but make sure that you don’t cross the line. If you are aware of how important patience is, you will definitely identify when your counterpart loses focus, and you will take advantage of the situation.

Aim higher and never settle for less

Good negotiators should never agree to close a deal that offers them less than they deserve. As a result, you should always aim high, without coming up with outrageous offers. If you are reasonable throughout the negotiation, you will definitely achieve in closing the deal you have dreamed of.

Assess your position

Every business negotiation features a party whose position is stronger. In case you want to have an advantage from the beginning of the negotiation, you are advised to surprise your counterpart by speaking your mind first. Describe your terms and make sure that you don’t let yourself intimidated, regardless of what happens.

Get ready to compromise

When nothing else works, compromise is the last choice. There are situations in which the two parties cannot reach an agreement unless one of them decides to compromise. Negotiations are not about who gets better advantages, but about coming up with a win-win solution that can benefit both parties.

Become a good listener

A good negotiator knows that being a good listener is very important nowadays. You don’t have to care about the personal opinions of your opponent, because you will have to support them anyway. Always act as if you were interested and ask as many questions as possible, in order to convince him of your good intentions. This way, your counterpart will feel encouraged to accept the offer that you’ve made, even if you’ve exaggerated.

Keep things professional

Business negotiations should always end politely, regardless of what happens. Therefore, try not to turn your negotiations into scandals. Many people tend to impose authority by raising their voice, but this strategy is unacceptable. If your counterpart uses it, try to inform them in a very polite manner that your deal is off the table.

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Win at Negotiations With These Simple Tricks

6 Variables That Determine Your Ability to Negotiate Salary

According to the American Psychological Association, nearly a third of American workers believe they are underpaid and suffer heightened amounts of stress due to what they perceive to be an inadequate salary. As more jobs become available and the hiring economy slowly improves, this provides many U.S. workers with the ability to look elsewhere for gainful employment and further negotiate their salary.

However, when seeking a new position, employees are often unaware of how much they are worth and run into trouble when deciding if they should negotiate a job offer, and if so, how aggressively? While each situation is different, there are some key questions you can ask yourself to more accurately determine whether the initial figure is indicative of what you’re worth on the open job market.

Considering the following 6 salary negotiation factors should give you an educated guess about the best course of action in your situation:

1) What is your current compensation structure?

Running a recruiting firm, when I see that an employer is offering a new job applicant the same or only slightly higher (less than 10%) of a salary than they are currently making, it typically leaves room for successful negotiation. In the majority of circumstances, you can be successful negotiating a compensation package that is up to 15% higher than what you are currently pulling in.

2) Have you held more than 3 jobs in the past 2 years?

If you have held numerous jobs in the past few years, employers will view you as less of a long-term investment and thus will give you less wiggle room when attempting to ask for additional compensation. Luckily, this can be prevented if you have sound reasoning for departing those past positions and you broach the topic earlier in the interview process, as opposed to waiting until you receive the offer.

3) Has the job been open for more than 2 months?

The more desperate a company is to get a job search over with, the more flexible they are going to be when approached for more money. Our executive recruiters have noticed a significant change in flexibility around the 2-month mark, as by this time an employer has spent numerous hours trying to find the right applicant and has most likely endured a lot of disappointments during the recruitment process.

4) Have you had experience in the industry?

Roughly 80% of the time when employers come to our recruitment firm, they have a hiring preference that the applicant have experience in their industry. Though experience and expertise don’t always go together, employers will still chase those with exact or parallel backgrounds. In most instances, all other variables being equal, the job seeker with the matching background will come out of the negotiation process with 5% to 10% more than a non-experienced individual whom our recruiters present.

5) How well off are you financially?

Our recruiters have seen that stress has a highly negative effect on one’s ability to influence a hiring manager, sales headhunter or HR representative. When negotiating salary, confidence pays.

6) How much are similar positions offering?

This is a complex situation, as it’s always intelligent to know what similar jobs are paying prior to asking for a number. However, telling the HR representative or recruitment professional that you arrived at this number because their competitor is compensating that amount can have the opposite of the desired effect.

If you negotiate salary based upon the feeling that you deserve more money, you are much less likely to succeed in your endeavors. Prior to approaching the topic of compensation next time, base your actions and requested figures on facts rather than feelings.

via 6 Variables That Determine Your Ability to Negotiate Salary.

6 Variables That Determine Your Ability to Negotiate Salary

What To Know Before Negotiating Your Job Compensation Package

It seems like there’s hardly a story line the media in the U.S. like better than a degree-holding 20-something living at home while working full-time in the local coffee shop. All of these boomerang kids, the reports seem to say, will most definitely not be alright.

But what about all the recent grads who were lucky enough to secure a full-time position or likely will soon? There’s no shortage of professionals and how-to-succeed books encouraging employees to negotiate for a better starting salary or benefits, but in this employer’s market shouldn’t a 22-year-old just be happy he or she has a serious job offer?

Recent college graduates take note: according to Rose Ernst and Tara Wyborny, the National Delivery Director and Recruiting Leader, respectively, of G10 Associates Program, a post-grad program which helps recent grads gain valuable career skills, there’s always room for negotiation – as long as you’re smart about what you’re negotiating for and how you go about it.

First things first, make sure you have the job. Jumping into negotiating your benefits during the preliminary interview indicates to the hiring manager that you’re not concerned with the right things – namely, how you can help the company.

“When you’re in your first interview with a company, it’s not the right time to ask about the health care they provide or the 401k,” said Ernst. “It’s presumptuous.”

Instead, wait until you you’re in your final interview or have been offered the job – or at least have a sense that you’re in the running — to ask for a benefits summary.

That way, you can compare it with other jobs before accepting anything, without seeming entitled. And comparison is key – there are many benefits that employers are not required to give but very well may beyond just your base salary that you’ll want to take into consideration.

When it comes to health care and starting salary, large companies typically have set plans and starting rates that are usually non-negotiable (smaller companies have more wiggle-room).

But vacation time, tuition reimbursement, additional free training, parking subsidies, mass transit subsidies, phone subsidies and home office expenses are all things that can be negotiated for, as long as you’re “in a position of power” in the negotiations (i.e., if you have a few other offers on the table you can use to leverage yourself, or particularly valuable skills or experiences).

“If you’re being offered $50,000 at a company without a 401k match contribution and $40,000 at a company with an employer match, that makes a difference,” Ernst added.

Just as when beginning your initial job search process, educating yourself on the ins-and-outs of various 401k and health care policies before you see the benefits summary for your prospective company is recommended.

While the hiring manager will usually go over the benefits package with you, don’t be afraid to ask them to do so if they don’t.

“Get to know how these plans are structured, what these different things are, so you’re not completely wide-eyed when someone’s going over it,” Ernst suggested. “Honestly, it can add up.”

And when you are at the negotiating stage in the hiring process, don’t make demands that don’t fit into the company’s culture. Instead, have a collaborative conversation.

“I’ve experienced it first hand, I wouldn’t say it’s common but you definitely want to be careful how you phrase requests to change your compensation or benefits,” Wyborny said. “They’re really excited to get you in the door too, but they expect you to assimilate to their work culture.”

Ernst also suggested that those entering the job market educate themselves on their paychecks and understand the up-front expenses of the job search.

Moving to a new city, the wait period before the first paycheck arrives and a new work wardrobe are all things that need to be taken into consideration when starting a job. Additionally, medical deductions typically don’t kick in until the second month of employment, according to Ernst, which catches many new hires off guard.

Talking to someone who started in a similar career in the same city is a great way to educate yourself on upfront expenses.

And if you think you deserve a higher salary, Wyborny said to make sure you know how to leverage yourself – knowing comparable salaries (“not from Glassdoor, somewhere reputable”) will ensure that you come in with the background knowledge that the hiring manager will respect.

“Don’t come in and say ‘I have a ton of student loan debt so I need you to pay me more,’” added Wyborny. “We understand there are financial pressures, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to pay you more.”

Ultimately, Ernst said it’s up to each individual to know what’s important to them, what they can expect from an employer and how much they value themselves.

“You won’t get everything you want, but you won’t get anything you don’t ask for,” she said.

via What To Know Before Negotiating Your Job Compensation Package.

What To Know Before Negotiating Your Job Compensation Package

Are the people you work with more important than the pay?

A study out today by the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) has found that relationships with colleagues, self-worth and the nature of the job itself outweigh the pay.

Eighty per cent of the 2000 people polled said they would turn down a salary increase, if it meant working with people they disliked or an environment they loathed.

Three-quarters of respondents said they would struggle to accept a job that gave them more money if they knew it would be a lot more stressful.

This stress can come from any number of sources. An excessive commute, a dysfunctional workplace, a sociopathic boss, doing the work of two or more people … yep, we all know a typical career is likely to experience at least one of these situations along the way.

The study’s results showed that when it comes to work happiness, money is not the key driver for most of us.

With apologies to Meatloaf I can sum it up: “I would do anything for work… but I won’t do that!”

So, do you think it’s important that your job enhances you both professionally and personally? Do you need to feel valued to keep showing up every day, or does earning a big salary cushion you from the pain?

A former boss of mine observed: “Employees work hard enough not to be fired, and bosses pay just enough so that they won’t quit.”

Is this the balance we should be striving for?

via Are the people you work with more important than the pay? | LinkedIn.

Are the people you work with more important than the pay?

How to Get Paid What You’re Worth

Guest Blog: Whitney Johnson

I’m not paid what I’m worth.” Who hasn’t said this at least once? I certainly have.

But if we subscribe to classical economics, which says that the price paid for any given service is the price at which the quantity supplied equals the quantity demanded, aren’t we paid precisely what we’re worth? And if we still believe we’re trading at a discount to our intrinsic value, is it possible to change the market’s mind?

In speaking with a colleague of mine about our respective strengths, he identified as one of my strong points an ability to connect the dots between people and ideas, where others see no possible connection. Developmental psychologist Howard Gardner would describe this as searchlight intelligence, an intelligence that readily discerns connections across spheres and sees opportunities to cross-pollinate. My colleague then surprised me by wondering aloud, “I don’t understand why you don’t value what is such an apparent strength.”

A tendency to obfuscate our strengths should not be surprising. If we’ve really applied ourselves to achieving competency, we are justifiably proud.

I do value my ability to think across silos, I countered, but it’s true that I value my skill of building a financial model more, because it was so painstaking to acquire.

A tendency to obfuscate our strengths should not be surprising. If we’ve really applied ourselves to achieving competency, we are justifiably proud. Yet we often overlook our best skills — our innate talents — simply because we perform them without even thinking. As publisher Malcolm Forbes put it, “Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”

When we proffer to the marketplace a disruptive skill set, focusing on our distinctive innate talents rather than ‘me-too’ skills, we are more likely to achieve success and increase what we earn.

As we look to close the gap between what we’re paid and what we’re worth, there is a lesson to be learned from the stock market. In my experience, the stocks that trade at fair value or even a premium to their peers are those that know what kind of stock they are, and then deliver, whether “disruptive innovation — emerging growth,” “sustaining innovation — best-of-breed,” or “being-disrupted — but dividend-paying.”

Not surprisingly, the stocks that lead with their unique or disruptive capabilities command the highest absolute multiples. The market historically rewards “disruptive innovation — emerging growth” stocks with multiples of 30x or more. The market pays top dollar, applying a premium multiple to disruptive innovations, because the odds for disruptors are much better — 6x greater in terms of success, 20x greater in terms of revenue opportunity, as Clayton M. Christensen wrote in The Innovator’s Dilemma.

Translating this to our careers, when we proffer to the marketplace a disruptive skill set, focusing on our distinctive innate talents rather than ‘me-too’ skills, we are more likely to achieve success and increase what we earn. Erin Newkirk, the founder of Red Stamp, has leveraged her love of sending notes and cards into a distinctive strength by employing mobile technology to make it easy for people to be thoughtful not just in their head, but on the go: on the soccer field, on the train, in the cab, on a business trip. In my own case, I may not get paid top dollar if I’m hired to sequester myself every day, constructing financial models: I build models well, but not remarkably so. But if I lead with my unique skill set of searchlight intelligence, following with “can build a model/value a company,” the calculus changes dramatically.

We all want to get paid what we believe we are worth, which may be even more than what we currently estimate. The trick then is to lead with unique or disruptive skills, offering the hard-won skills as a kicker.

We all want to get paid what we believe we are worth, which may be even more than what we currently estimate. The trick then is to lead with unique or disruptive skills, offering the hard-won skills as a kicker. When you know exactly what your value proposition is, rather than perpetually trading at a discount, you’ll command the premium you deserve.

via How to Get Paid What You’re Worth | Switch and Shift.

How to Get Paid What You’re Worth

There is no gender gap in tech salaries

Silicon Valley has long suffered the reputation of being unwelcoming to women, from brogrammer attitudes to sexist apps to gender inclusivity, but whatever problems women may have with the tech industry, wage discrimination isn’t necessarily one of them. New research shows that there is no statistically significant difference in earnings between male and female engineers who have the same credentials and make the same choices regarding their career.

A recent study by the American Association of University Women titled “Graduating to a Pay Gap: The Earnings of Women and Men One Year after College Graduation“ (pdf) examined data on approximately 15,000 graduates to estimate the effect of gender on wages. Their sample was restricted to those under 35 years old receiving a first bachelor’s degree, in order to avoid confounding factors which affect labor market outcomes. Regression analysis was used to estimate wage differences, after controlling for the following choices and characteristics: graduates’ occupation, economic sector, hours worked, employment status (having multiple jobs as opposed to one full-time job), months unemployed since graduation, grade point average, undergraduate major, kind of institution attended, age, geographical region, and marital status.

“Our analysis shows that occupations like nursing; engineering; and math, computer, and physical science occupations are the best-paying jobs for women one year out of college,” the authors Christianne Corbett and Catherine Hill report. “These tend to be occupations that are well paying throughout a career as well.”

According to the study, there are seven professions with pay equity (see below). When controlled for all factors other than gender, the earnings difference between men and women is about 6.6%, something most people don’t know. The casual observer often has an exaggerated view of the gender wage gap since occupational choices aren’t reflected in the statistics that are cited when the topic of wage equality is discussed in the media.

 

Since men and women tend to choose different professions, occupational segregation explains some of the difference in the gender pay gap since men are more likely to choose higher-paying fields. This results in women being disproportionately represented in lower-paying jobs. So men may enjoy an earnings advantage, but it doesn’t mean that women are being paid less for the same job.

The most common explanation for lower wages in female-dominated fields is occupational crowding. Women may be crowded into some occupations, either due to a preference against, or a barrier to, entering a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) field. As more women enter a particular field, the pool of candidates becomes larger. Employers are able to pay lower wages and still attract employees who meet the job qualifications. Over time, we see wages decline in fields that have many applicants and an increase in wages in fields that have few applicants.

There is a negative correlation between the share of women in an occupation and the occupation’s average wage, but it is almost always impossible to draw any causal conclusion from a simple statistical correlation. We can take nursing as an example of an occupation that is highly paid even though most of the workers are female.

I asked University of Chicago Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics Dr. Richard Thaler if he thought social pressures influenced women in choosing lower-paying, predominantly female occupations. “Historically, that was certainly true,” said Thaler, the co-author of the 2008 best-seller Nudge, which discusses the frameworks and biases that shape decision-making, “but my impression is that it is no longer the primary factor. I think that young women are certainly encouraged to take up traditional male fields much more now than in the past.”

And he’s definitely right, particularly at the best universities in the United States. The 2013 entering class of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which offers only a Bachelor of Science as an undergraduate degree, is 45% female, compared to 5% in 1966. Last spring, there were more women than men in the Introductory to Computer Science course at the University of California at Berkeley, which TechCrunch describes as a “feeder school to Silicon Valley’s top companies.”

In his 2014 State of the Union Address, President Obama said it was “wrong” and “an embarrassment” that women are paid 77 cents for every dollar a man makes, implying that the pay disparity is due to sexism and gender wage discrimination. His careful construction elides the fact that the 77% statistic does not refer to “equal work.” That number is a Census Bureau comparison of the annual wages of all workers, regardless of occupation.

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics show that when measured hourly, not annually, the pay gap between men and women is 14% not 23%. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis prefers working with hourly wages, arguing “an incomplete picture” is cast with weekly earnings because women work fewer hours than men, “which would make a gap in weekly earnings between the two groups substantial even if their hourly wages are the same.” The BLS does have earnings data segregated by occupation and gender, but this is only a comparison of the same type of job. It doesn’t compare wages for equal work in the exact same job, a distinction which is made even clearer when we are gently reminded, “It is important to note that the comparisons of earnings in this report are on a broad level and do not control for many factors that can be significant in explaining earnings differences.”

College majors also play a large role in predicting future wages. Yet even when men and women choose the same major, graduate from similar types of colleges and receive similar grades, women still earn less than men but female engineering graduates earn 88% of what male engineering graduates earn ($48,493 for women compared to $55,142 for men). So, what we are seeing is that there are some women who get engineering degrees but then don’t become engineers. I studied computer science in high school and math in college but I’m neither a computer scientist nor a mathematician. Instead, I decided to make life choices that were more personally and spiritually rewarding: I was a rainforest conservationist in Brazil and a teacher in India.

One reason that explains why there is a pay gap when measured by college major but not when measured by profession is that some female engineers abandon their careers months after starting. This would explain why overall annual incomes measured one year after graduation would be lower for these women. If employers are risk averse, wages offered will be lower where productivity is less easily predicted (and where lower productivity is already revealed). The issue in this case is not gender differences in productivity but, rather, how employers predict what kind of worker they’re hiring based on his or her previous employment history.

Also, some women don’t go into the careers their college degree prepares them for because they have less attachment to the labor market. Men and women who have intermittent labor force participation have lower earning paths for several reasons: their current skills depreciate, they don’t receive on-the-job training, and they don’t build up seniority.

Another possible explanation for the lower earnings of highly educated women is that some women may not feel college is about building skills, but see it instead as an opportunity to demonstrate their value through signaling. Signaling in labor markets allows for employees to reliably communicate unobservable qualities to prospective employers in order differentiate themselves and gain a higher wage. The theory is that education can distinguish between a higher quality candidate and a lower quality one since the costs of education (time, money, effort) will be lower for the former.

Corbett and Hill don’t have data on women who work 30 to 40 hours per week (only 40 or more) but the BLS weekly earnings report showed that women who work 30 to 39 hours per week make 111% of what men make (see table 4). It’s possible that women who are more educated are able to work fewer hours because they have higher-earning partners.

The magnitude and interpretation of the relationship between gender and wages remain in dispute. After adjusting for all the known factors, Corbett and Hill’s model showed an “unexplained” 6.6% difference in wages between men and women who are full-time workers. Conflicting data from the BLS shows that some women who work full-time have a wage premium, and earn 11% more than men. The tech industry is unique in its history of being “equal pay for equal work”: A longitudinal study of female engineers in the 1980s showed a wage penalty of “essentially zero” for younger cohorts and today, the two highest paying professions with wage equality are in technology (computer scientist and engineer).

Despite strong evidence suggesting gender pay equality, there is still a general perception that women earn less than men do, and this perception is just one more factor discouraging women from entering the tech space.

via There is no gender gap in tech salaries – Quartz.

There is no gender gap in tech salaries

4 Combat-Tested Attorney Tactics For Negotiating Salary

You submitted a great resume that got you an interview, and now you’re preparing yourself for all sorts of “weird” HR and recruiter questions. But are you preparing the right way for negotiating your future salary?

Many candidates are quite well prepared for the HR classics. For example,“What are your three key strengths and weaknesses” or “Where do you see yourself in five years?” But what about the big salary question? How are you making sure you don’t settle for $60,000 annually if the company had been willing to pay you $70,000 annually?

If you look at this question over a period of 10 years, we are looking at $100,000 of potentially lost income. So, salary negotiation is certainly a point you don’t want to neglect in your career planning and development. Now, who is better at negotiating deals than anyone else? No, not the guys from the Pawn Stars show (I think those guys could actually make more money if they were better negotiators). The right answer is: attorneys!

Combat-Tested Attorney Tactics For Negotiating Salary

So, what special tactics do attorneys apply? Here are some tried and tested attorney tactics for negotiating salary:

1. The Right Timing

Good attorneys know that one crucial aspect of successful negotiation is the right timing. But what does that mean for the interview situation? The right timing is right after the employer is done with all their interview questions, and you have showed interest in the company by raising your own questions. At this time, most candidates have a pretty good feeling if they would like to receive an offer from this employer or not. However, don’t bring up the topic prematurely. You want the employer “to want you” before you start talking money.

2. Don’t Get Tied To A Particular Number

Attorneys like to stay flexible during a negotiation process. This gives them the necessary leverage, which allows them to bargain, plead and withdraw from certain points. But how do you do this in the interview room? First of all, do not bring up a specific, fixed amount up by saying “I need to make 75,000 annually.” If the employer budget only permits $70,000 annually they might actually let you walk away. If you have other options that might be fine, but if this is your only interview on the horizon you might not want this to happen.

Try something like this: I would like to make between $68,000 and $78,000 annually, depending on the precise employment conditions. This way, the potential employer could throw other perks into the hat, for example, a company car or they might consent to home office every Friday (which might save you a huge amount of stress and commuting costs).

3. Always Return The Ball Into Their Half Of The Court

It can sometimes be a bit of a dance regarding who will say a particular number first. Court rooms sometimes turn really quite for a while after a judge suggests a settlement and wants to hear a number from either party. No one in the courtroom is keen on saying the first number – not even the judge. But what do you do? Either, state a broad range as discussed above, or return the ball back into the half of the employer by saying something like “I am really interested in a fair and enticing salary considering the added value I can bring to your team. Would you mind sharing your thoughts on this with me?”

4. Outlook

These points provide only a fraction of successful salary negotiation tactics, and every negotiation can turn into a different direction. The most important point is: be prepared to negotiate like a pro!

via 4 Combat-Tested Attorney Tactics For Negotiating Salary | CAREEREALISM.

4 Combat-Tested Attorney Tactics For Negotiating Salary

How to Answer Salary Questions in Your Interview

Guest Blog: Aimee Bateman

One question that often makes people feel uncomfortable at interview is ‘what salary are you looking for?’…or something along those lines.

I personally feel ok talking about money and I think it’s fine to state your expectations clearly and confidently.

Most people shy away from talking money

However, I’ve been in this game long enough to know that the majority of job seekers don’t like to discuss this at interview. They don’t want to be the first person to mention a figure. If it’s too low, they may miss out financially. If it’s too high, they could miss out on a job offer.

If a recruitment consultant asks you this, then I would advise you be as open as possible. They will give you advice on the market rate for your skills and will often do the negotiating for you when you get offered a role. They need to know where your expectations are, so not to waste your time with lower paid jobs in the future.

How to deflect the salary question

If the employer in the interview asks you this and you really don’t want to answer it just yet, then here are a few ways you can deflect the questions.

‘I’m quite open and slightly flexible on salary as the opportunity to add value and to be valued is important to me. I’d appreciate knowing how you value this position and what your budget is for this role?’

The way you say this is very important. Say it with a smile on your face and raise your voice at the end of the sentence, so it seems like a question.

Or just bat it straight back…

‘I’d rather not commit to that quite yet. I’m really open to your thoughts on this as I’m sure you will be consistent with the market?’

Then pause. Just stop talking. By silencing yourself quite abruptly, you are forcing the other person to talk and it shows you are in control.

Again, you must do this in a very ‘upbeat’ way. We don’t want you to become defensive as this can sometimes come across as aggressive… not a good look!

Smile and nod while you ask it. By nodding you are assuming the answer you want is coming back to you and increasing the chance of the other person giving you what you want. Practice it in other conversations and you will see what I mean and how well it works.

Practice makes perfect

I’m not talking about ‘jedi mind tricks’, but there are lots of NLP books that talk about your body language during negotiations. I would check them out if you are unsure.

At some point you are going to need to discuss salary (unless there is a recruiter involved) and I would recommend practicing these answers.

Say them out loud in the mirror, while you are washing the dishes or driving. The more comfortable you are when you get asked this, the less likely you are to be conditioned by the interviewer.

via How to Answer Salary Questions in Your Interview.

How to Answer Salary Questions in Your Interview

How To Prepare for Your Salary Negotiation [6 Clever Ideas]

Guest Blog: Colleen Harding

You can never underestimate the importance of having a plan. By that I mean doing some simple salary calculations so you go into an interview with a range in mind. Negotiating salary during the interview process can be very overwhelming. You don’t want to sound greedy or too high on yourself; but on the flip side of that coin, you don’t want to be too meek to ask for what you’re worth. Many interviewees also don’t like the idea of starting off on the wrong foot with a potential new employer, and the thought of confrontation leads them to accept whatever offer the company gives.

Sure, negotiating a salary can be uncomfortable, however, if you take less than you think you’re worth, you’ll be unfulfilled financially won’t stick with your new job for the long-term. I once made this mistake myself, when I took a job in Denver for a really low salary. Instead of negotiating for what I thought I was worth, I stuck it out until I had to seek the advice of a personal injury attorney because I was so miserable. I could have avoided bad blood between myself and my employer by having a salary range in mind and demanding to be paid what my skills were worth.

Go into any job interview with a salary calculation in mind and follow these 8 steps to negotiate the salary that you deserve:

1. Have a number in mind

Going into any interview setting, you must know that the interviewer will ask you what your salary expectations are. So be prepared with a salary range before entering the interview room. Do this by researching the average salary of similar positions in your area. Don’t forget to figure in your education and qualifications as well. Also, keep in mind that if you ask for a higher salary, you will almost always get a bit more money than what the employer originally offered if they think you have the experience and skills to back it up.

2. Let the employer bring up the topic of salary

Eventually the interview will lead into discussions on salary. However, my negotiation tactic is to let the interviewer provide a range before you offer up an expected amount. This way, you’re working within the employers presumed budget and not firing so far out of the ballpark that they aren’t interested in you anymore.

3. Always negotiate within a range

This way you have a high and low end for the employer to work with. Don’t under value yourself, but providing a range shows that you are willing to compromise and negotiate from there.

4. Support your expected salary with an explanation

Explain to the interviewer that you came to the salary calculation based on the skills and value you will bring to the company in this position. For example, talk about your education, skills, expertise, accomplishments in the profession, and your years on the job.

5. Bonuses and holidays are also up for negotiation

If the money you’re offered is on the low end, but you see a lot of promise in the company, don’t be afraid to do a little more negotiating as far as holidays and benefits. Many newer companies offer lower salaries, but are willing to top it off with additional holidays or bonuses until they can afford to pay employees more money. Remember, bonuses and holidays can add another 40 percent to a basic salary and you can still negotiate as far as lieu days, reduced hours, and the option to work from home.

6. Remain amicable

Negotiating doesn’t give you a right to be defensive and abrupt. Remember, you are still making an impression on a potential new employer so remaining firm with the salary that want, but displaying some flexibility will show the interviewer that you are a team player.

via How To Prepare for Your Salary Negotiation [6 Clever Ideas].

How To Prepare for Your Salary Negotiation [6 Clever Ideas]

Survey: Nearly Half of Workers Don’t Negotiate Job Offers

A new CareerBuilder survey finds that even though 45 percent of employers are willing — and expect — to negotiate salaries for initial job offers, almost half of workers accept the first offer given to them.

The nationwide survey — conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder from May 14 to June 5 among a representative sample of nearly 3,000 full-time, private sector U.S. workers and more than 2,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals — explored how both sides of the table approach salary negotiations and looked at compensation trends for the upcoming year.

Who is most likely to negotiate?

Age: The survey found that a new hire’s willingness to negotiate the first job offer usually comes with more experience. Fifty-five percent of workers aged 35 or older typically negotiate the first offer, which is significantly higher than workers age 18-34 (45 percent).

Gender: Men (54 percent) are more likely than women (49 percent) to negotiate first offers.

Industry: Professional and business services workers (56 percent) are the most likely to negotiate salary, followed by information technology (55 percent), leisure and hospitality (55 percent) and sales workers (54 percent).

What do employers offer if unable to meet salary demands?

If unable to meet the job candidate’s salary requirements, a majority of employers are willing to provide alternative benefits.

Employers said they would offer the following:

• Flexible schedule: 33 percent.

• More vacation time: 19 percent.

• Telecommute at least once per week: 15 percent.

• Pay for mobile device: 14 percent.

• Thirty-eight percent said they would not be able to provide anything.

When do employers talk about salary?

While 11 percent of employers include wage or salary information in their job listings, nearly one-in-four (24 percent) said they don’t reveal what the position pays until they extend the job offer. Nearly half (48 percent) will discuss salary during initial conversations or during the first job interview.

How are employers basing pay?

About one-third of employers keep track of what competitors pay comparable employees via job postings (33 percent) or market average reports (34 percent), but many (35 percent) don’t factor in external compensation at all.

Current Employees

For current employees, 51 percent of employers expect salary increases of less than 5 percent in the next year while 16 percent expect increases of 5 percent or more. The survey also asked employers about expected average compensation increases for current workers and new hires.

Twenty-three percent of all employers expect no changes; nine percent are unsure.

Of those employers expecting an increase in salary, a majority (55 percent) said the increase is a standard cost of living adjustment.

Other reasons include:

• Rewarding employee tenure — 28 percent.

• Combatting voluntary employee turnover — 21 percent.

• Smaller staffs are handling heavier workloads — 19 percent.

• Competitors are offering more money — 18 percent.

• Customer demand has increased — 16 percent.

New Hires

More than half (54 percent) of hiring managers and HR professionals reported that they are willing to negotiate salaries on initial job offers in the next year. For offers given to new hires, 34 percent of employers say the average change in compensation is expected to grow less than 5 percent in the next year, and 16 percent expect increases of 5 percent or more. Thirty-four percent anticipate no change, three percent expect decreases, and 14 percent are unsure.

Thirty-nine percent of employers expecting increases for new hires say the hikes are to entice skilled applicants to apply, and 25 percent say increases are coming because job offers were turned down due to low compensation.

For both new hires and current employees, information technology hiring managers were nearly twice as likely as the national average to provide salary increases of 5 percent or more. Sales hiring managers were also significantly more likely than other professions to see increases of 5 percent or more.

via Survey: Nearly Half of Workers Don’t Negotiate Job Offers – Diversity Executive.

Survey: Nearly Half of Workers Don’t Negotiate Job Offers

How Low Can You Go in Your Salary Negotiations?

Two conversations I’ve had with job seekers recently helped me to consider another aspect of salary negotiations.

I’ve written on the topic before in:

Always Ask For More… Right?

There you will find a great deal of practical advice on how to land where you’d like to land.

However, what do you do when an offer comes in extremely low compared to expectations? What options do you have?

Here are some observations and points to consider…

What was communicated in the interview process?

When an offer comes in particularly low, it’s not unusual to see a correlation to part of the discussion that took place earlier in the process. One job seeker, when asked what he was looking for in regards to compensation, told them what he earned in his last full-time job 5 years ago and before he earned his bachelors degree. They made an offer just slightly above that amount and he felt “low-balled”, without realizing that he gave them the basis for it. They thought they were offering him more than he quoted, and he felt they were taking advantage of him.

Setting expectations properly is critical.

Often, job seekers give low numbers out of fear that they will be dropped from consideration if the salary they need is too high. That may be, however, if you give them a number that you can’t accept, it wastes both their time and yours. Giving a legitimate range that is workable for you will dramatically improve the chances of gaining an acceptable offer.

Know your numbers!

In order to give an acceptable range, it’s important to know in advance what an acceptable range would be. That seems basic. However, it’s interesting to me how often people don’t do the math until they get an offer, and then realize they can’t pay their bills on a salary they gave in their range.

Fully understand what you need as a minimum, taking into account employee benefits, quality of life, and other factors. Know what you would really like to aim for, taking into account competitive compensation in the marketplace and comparable experience to others in the organization. Then give a range that’s more educated and acceptable for you.

What’s going on?

At times, even if the right things were communicated in the process, an employer may make a very low offer. There are multiple reasons that may happen…

The position you are pursuing is below your experience level and can’t pay what you hope

Internal equity issues with current employees prevent them from offering what you would like

The salary grades the organization has established are not competitive or out of date, and the hiring managers hands are tied

They are simply trying to hire someone as cheaply as they possibly can

The last point is an outlying exception rather than the rule in these cases, however, they occasionally do exist. Generally, companies want people to come in feeling they’ve been treated fairly and feel good about the new role. “Low-balling” a new hire rarely accomplishes that.

Appeal to their sense of fairness.

When an offer is very low, rather than taking on an aggressive negotiating stance, better results more often come from an open-handed appeal.

Thank them for their offer… let them know you are definitely interested in the position and the prospect of coming on board… express disappointment that the offer is quite a bit lower than was expected… give them a range you are hoping for… and ask if there is any additional information they may need from you that would help them raise the offer to a level that would work for both of you.

There may be some explanation necessary on your part to help them understand the basis of your request. It should never be about your personal financial situation, rather it should involve career and/or business considerations. It may be…

The compensation is too far less than you’ve earned in the past

The compensation doesn’t take into account new education or skills that you’ve acquired

You have a higher competing offer (Don’t bluff on this! If they decline to offer more, it becomes very awkward to then still accept)

The common salary ranges in the marketplace for the same kind of role is quite a bit higher

…or other considerations as well

Often, with a reasoned and non-threatening negotiation, an employer will reconsider and make a more suitable offer.

Then what?

At times, however, they may still not move. Then you have a decision to make… are you prepared to walk away? If they have not come up to a level you can accept, you can certainly let them know flatly that you cannot accept an offer below your minimum amount, but still hope an agreement can be reached.

If they then come up… terrific! If not, you know this wasn’t the right position for you and you can continue your job search with other organizations. Decline politely, and let them know that if things should change, you would like to hear from them again (they may change their minds later if they can’t find an acceptable substitute).

Nothing works every time, and at times you may have to be willing to walk away. However, following these guidelines your chances of a workable agreement improve dramatically!

via How Low Can You Go in Your Salary Negotiations? | Career Rocketeer – Career Search and Personal Branding Blog.

How Low Can You Go in Your Salary Negotiations?

Apple, Google, Facebook don"t pay the highest engineer salary

For software engineers, life must seem like it keeps getting better. Not only are salaries on the rise as companies compete for talent, but there are also lively job markets in cities across the US.

While big-name companies, like Google, Apple, and Facebook, tout their engineers as the best and the brightest, these tech giants aren’t necessarily paying the most (although they’re up there).

A new survey by Glassdoor, released Thursday, lists the top 25 companies that have paid their engineers the highest salaries over the last year. And the unlikely winner is Juniper Networks. Paying $159,990 for its software engineers’ average base salary, Juniper is way ahead of other companies on the list.

Coming in No. 2 is LinkedIn, which pays its software engineers $136,427, and No. 3 is Yahoo paying $130,312. Google and Twitter make up No. 4 and No. 5 on the list, respectively, paying $127,143 and $124,863. Apple is No. 6, and Facebook is No. 9.

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While people may balk that some of the heavy hitters aren’t reaching the top of the list, it’s important to note that all of the companies in the top 25 pay above the national annual average, which is $92,790.

These 2013 salaries are quite a bit higher than the numbers released by Glassdoor last year. In 2012, Google earned the top spot, paying its engineers $128,336 (which is actually $1,193 more than this year). Coming in second was Facebook paying $123,626.

Third and fourth place went to Apple and eBay last year. While they dropped in the rankings, both companies are paying more this year than last year — Apple is paying $10,217 more, and eBay is paying $5,911 more. Zynga, which was No. 5 last year, didn’t even make the top 25 list this year.

In this year’s survey, Glassdoor also took a look at the average software engineer salary in major cities across the US. Not surprisingly, the San Francisco Bay Area ranks No. 1 with the average base pay at $111,885. A couple of other cities, like Seattle and San Diego, also have above average salaries.

Glassdoor’s survey is based on companies that had at least 50 software engineer salary reports filed over the last 12 months. In all, more than 33,000 salary reports were turned into Glassdoor this year.

via Apple, Google, Facebook don’t pay the highest engineer salary | Internet & Media – CNET News.

Apple, Google, Facebook don"t pay the highest engineer salary

Silicon Valley Companies Fight For Talent, Pay Extravagant Salaries

Among Twitter Inc’s highest-paid executives, Christopher Fry’s name stands out.

The senior vice president of engineering raked in $10.3 million last year, just behind Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo’s $11.5 million, according to Twitter’s IPO documents. That is more than the paychecks of executives such as Chief Technology Officer Adam Messinger, Chief Financial Officer Mike Gupta and Chief Operating Officer Ali Rowghani.

Welcome to Silicon Valley, where a shortage of top engineering talent amid an explosion of venture capital-backed start-ups is inflating paychecks.

“The number of A-players in Silicon Valley hasn’t grown,” said Iain Grant, a recruiter at Riviera Partners, which specializes in placing engineers at venture-capital backed start-ups. “But the demand for them has gone through the roof.”

Stories abound about the lengths to which employers will go to attract engineering talent – in addition to the free cafeterias, laundry services and shuttle buses that the Googles and Facebooks of the world are already famous for.

One start-up offered a coveted engineer a year’s lease on a Tesla sedan, which costs in the neighborhood of $1,000 a month, said venture capitalist Venky Ganesan. He declined to identify the company, which his firm has invested in.

At Hotel Tonight, which offers a mobile app for last-minute hotel bookings, CEO Sam Shank described staging the office to appear extra lively for a prospective hire. He roped in two employees for a game of ping-pong and positioned another group right by the bar.

It worked: the recruit signed on and built a key piece of the company’s software.

In Fry’s case, his compensation came mostly in the form of stock awards, valued last year at $10.1 million, according to Twitter’s IPO documents registered with securities regulators. He drew a salary of $145,513 and a bonus of $100,000.

Some might call that underpaid. Facebook Inc’s VP of engineering, Mike Schroepfer, took in $24.4 million in stock awards the year before the social network’s 2012 initial public offering. He also drew a salary of $270,833 and a bonus of $140,344. But Facebook that year posted revenue of $3.71 billion, 10 times more than Twitter’s $317 million.

Grant said more than three-quarters of candidates who took VP of engineering roles at his client companies over the last two years drew total cash compensation in excess of $250,000. Many also received equity grants totaling 1 to 2 percent of the company, the recruiter added.

LORE OF 10X

The hot demand for engineers is driven in part by a growing number of start-ups, venture capitalists say. Some 242 Bay Area companies received early-stage funding – known as a seed round – in the first half of this year, according to consultancy CB Insights. That is more than the number for all of 2010.

Another factor is the increasing complexity of technology. Many in Silicon Valley like to discuss the lore of the “10x” engineer, who is a person so talented that he or she does the work of 10 merely competent engineers.

“Having 10x engineers at the top is the only way to recruit other 10x engineers,” said Aileen Lee, founder of Cowboy Ventures, an early-stage venture fund.

Former colleagues said Fry, who joined Twitter earlier this year, fits the bill. The messaging service poached him from software giant Salesforce.com Inc, where Fry had worked in various positions since 2005, rising from engineering manager in the Web Services team to senior VP of development.

Perhaps most attractive to Twitter is the fact that Fry joined Salesforce when it was also a 6-year-old company with big ambitions of taking on the software establishment. At that time, Salesforce’s product development needed help, Fry has said in previous interviews. He whipped them into shape, helping build the company into one of the hottest enterprise-software providers in the industry today.

Twitter has had its share of technical problems, such as the notorious “fail whale” that regularly appeared on screens during outages. That made Fry’s experience all the more valuable.

“All it takes is a couple of bad incidents where Twitter is down, or there’s a security breach. That could be the end of the company,” said Chuck Ganapathi, an entrepreneur who previously worked with Fry at Salesforce, where he was senior vice president for products.

“You need somebody of this caliber to run it.”

Neither Twitter nor Fry responded to requests for comment.

PERSONAL DRUM STUDIO

Today, even entry-level engineers can draw lucrative salaries in the Valley. Google Inc offered $150,000 in annual wages plus $250,000 in restricted stock options to snag a recent PhD graduate who had been considering a job at Apple Inc, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The average software engineer commands a salary of $100,049 in Silicon Valley, according to Dice, a technology-recruitment service. That is down from $113,488 last year, due to an increase in hiring of less experienced engineers, said a Dice spokeswoman.

By comparison, the average salary for all professions in San Francisco’s Bay Area is $66,070, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other jobs in the area can command higher wages – physicians make $133,530, a lawyer about $174,440 and a civil engineer makes $107,440 – but the tech industry often offers restricted stock or options on top of salaries.

Even for plain-vanilla engineers, competition is intense, said Dice CEO Mike Durney, leading companies to go to great lengths to attract and hold onto the right people.

Accommodation-search service ApartmentList rents a drum studio on an ongoing basis to help retain a key engineer, said CEO John Kobs.

In one of the better-known examples, Google famously allowed engineers to devote 20 percent of their time on personal projects. It is worth it, many recruiters and industry executives say.

Many of the most talented engineers bring more than programming chops, promoting the sort of career diversity prized in Silicon Valley.

Take Fry, who earned a PhD in cognitive science from the University of California at San Diego in 1998. He is a surfer, a sailor and a snowboarder, according to his personal website.

In a fitting twist for Twitter, known for its blue bird mascot, Fry also has avian expertise. His postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley, focused on the auditory cortex of zebra finches.

via Silicon Valley Companies Fight For Talent, Pay Extravagant Salaries.

Silicon Valley Companies Fight For Talent, Pay Extravagant Salaries

Twitter Pays Engineer $10 Million

You’re probably used to hearing about the ridiculous salaries athletes receive, but what about how much engineers make? Christopher Fry, Twitter’s senior vice president of engineering made over $10 million last year, right behind the company’s Chief Executive who made $11.5 million. The high salary denotes a significant shortage of top-quality engineering talent in Silicon Valley.

It’s the place where venture-capital start-ups are many while talented people to make those start-ups successful are few. Stories of ridiculous job offers and benefits abound regularly in Silicon Valley as companies compete for talent to become the next major internet sensation.

Twitter Money

It doesn’t just stop at the offers either. Companies have even admitted to livening up their offices with ping-pong tables and bars to entice prospective talent into working for them.

Most of Fry’s earnings came in the form of stock awards, which add up to $10.1 million in addition to his $140,000+ salary. Although the Twitter VP still doesn’t hold a candle to Facebook’s VP of Engineering, Mike Schroepfer, who took home $24.4 million in stock awards in addition to a salary of $270,000 in 2012.

Moral of the story, if you’re a computer engineer with some talent, get your ass over to Silicon Valley pronto. This should also be a nice nudge in a profitable direction for young college students trying to decide on a career path.

via Twitter Pays Engineer $10 Million.

Twitter Pays Engineer $10 Million

How to Bring Up SALARY on a Job Interview

I wrote this story about how to deal with lowball salary offers, and as usual when I write about sticky human topics, my inbox got slammed. People love to share their job search horror stories and I don’t blame them, because a job search is nothing if not a daily accumulation of epic ups and downs, a soap opera that surpasses anything on TV.

At times on a job search, you feel like you’re slogging through mud up to your knees. Every inch of ground you gain represents a heroic effort. When the wind shifts and things start to go your way job-search-wise, your heart is light. You laugh at your friends’ bad jokes, you’re so happy. Life is grand, so why not spread the good stuff around?

A job search is Mood Swing Central. That’s hard on your body. It’s exhausting. It makes sense that when you have an opportunity on the line, you’d be hesitant to say or do anything that might feel forward or pushy. You don’t want to knock yourself out of the running by being overly demanding.

What job-seekers don’t realize is that things work in just the opposite way. The more you stand for yourself in the job search process, the more employers will respect and value you. I’m referring, of course, to employers with spark and mojo themselves – the only kind of employers who deserve you. Fearful managers prefer to hire docile, sheeplike employees. Life is too short, as you know, to work among people like that. If you do, you might become one.

After that lowball-salary-offer story, a few people wrote to me to say “In some cases, you can’t bring up salary during the interview process. There was nothing I could do. I had to wait and see what kind of offer I got. In the end, the offer sucked monetarily and I was devastated.”

I feel so sorry for a person in that situation. I can imagine how crushing it would be to see your hopes for an awesome new job melt suddenly into a disappointing, confidence-bruising waste of time.

At the same time I have to gently call bullshit on the assertion that we are ever prevented from talking about salary on a job interview. It is suspicious to me that the awful, conventional wisdom “Don’t mention salary – let the employer bring it up first. Whoever speaks first, loses” fits so nicely with many job-seekers’ natural aversion to broaching sticky topics like money.

That advice is repeated everywhere, and it couldn’t be more mistaken. In a job search, you have to price yourself like a house. You have to let employers know what it will take you get you on board. If you wait for the job offer to finally learn what an organization is planning to pay you, you’re in the world’s worst negotiating position.

After all, it was your obligation to show (not tell) these folks what you’re worth, during the interview process. If you’ve been through two or three interviews with a gang of people and they subsequently decide collectively — maybe delusionally as well, but that’s a different topic — that you are worth $X, then in their eyes you are worth $X, and you’ve already missed your prime opportunity to show them differently.

If someone is going to scoff, bristle or get apoplectic hearing your perfectly reasonable salary expectation, you want them to do it early. Let them fall down on the floor convulsing when you name the figure. Good! They need to do that. You are just an outlet for their fearful reactions. Blessings to them on their path. You couldn’t care less what they think, right?

You are not here to please people. If you’ve researched your salary (I will tell you how in a second) and know your number is realistic, it is good for you to get a range of reactions to your number. Don’t be swayed by those. There will always be disconnected-from-reality people who will try to convince you that you should work for peanuts and be grateful for the offer. Ignore them.

The Reactionometer™ at the bottom of this page is a tool for job-seekers. If people don’t get you, they don’t deserve you. The last thing you want to do is spend valuable mojotrons trying to make people like you better or find you more valuable dollars-and-cents-wise. When you get that reaction, move on, brush it off, and go get a gelato.

There is not going to be a time over the course of your relationship with an employer where they value you more than they do at the point just before they make a job offer. If they don’t value you at that moment, things can only get worse over time.

So bring up the salary issue. Here’s how.

Know Your Value

You have to know what you’re worth on the talent marketplace. Salary, Payscale and Glassdoor are three good resources. If you know a local search consultant or two, ping them for a range based on your experience, too. Be ready to supply a number for a full-time salaried gig and a consulting assignment, both. Know what various benefits cost and are worth to you, in case you get into negotiation and need to start talking about the moving parts of your offer.

Not on the First Date

I’m old-school enough to believe that in the white-collar world, you don’t bring up salary on the first interview. You young kids out here today, zooming around on your skateboards past Granny’s knees all the time, you gotta do things your own way and Granny understands that. I’m just sayin. Granny got opera glasses for her ninth birthday and was overjoyed. Different world today. I still recommend that you get home from your first interview and wait to hear the employer say “We’d like to come back in” before you broach the salary topic.

Synch Up

When they call you or write to you to invite you back for Interview Number Two, it’s your move. “Is this a good time, and are you the right person to have a salary-synch-up conversation with?” you will ask. The person on the other end of the line will probably say “What were you earning over at Acme Explosives?” You’ll say “I’m focusing on roles in the $60K range, so that’s a good starting point. Is this role in that range? If so, it makes sense for me to come back for a second interview.”

Clarify

If you follow this approach, you won’t go on any second interviews unless you and the company HR person or your hiring manager have heard one another say “We are in the same ballpark compensation-wise. It makes sense for us to keep talking.”

Nonetheless, have another conversation with your hiring manager (the guy with the all-important business pain) before you take any other steps to move the process forward. Don’t send your job references over, don’t talk about start dates, and don’t sit down with the company shrink for a psych eval before you and your hiring manager get to the brassiest of brass tacks and lay out what it would take compensation-wise to get you on board.

No Games

There is no need for a job offer negotiation to be a cat-and-mouse game. It doesn’t benefit anyone to go through those machinations, but some people get off on it. If the dickering becomes extreme, that is a sign to hit the Greybound bus station and get out of town. Like I said before, these guys will never love you more than they do right now.

Who Trusts Who?

Sometimes you’ll get hiring managers or HR people saying to you “I’m sorry, we have to do this salary verification and I really apologize, but I have to have your W-2s for the last three years. Sorry.”

Don’t fall for that garbage. Who is supposed to trust whom, in a selection process? You have no idea whether your boss will still be employed tomorrow. The guy could be fired before you show up for your first day of work. One time I worked with a man who ended up in prison. You have no idea what’s going to happen with this organization. The employer isn’t showing you its financial statements. Tell them your financial information is private, your accountant would have a cow if you shared it, and if they aren’t comfortable based on your conversations extending an offer, you totally understand.

Our Role Models

Here’s a trivia question for you: Which group of working people has always gotten a job this way (stepping outside the lines in their approach to hiring managers, their correspondence and their resumes)? Executives have. When’s the last time a C-level officer flung a resume into a corporate Black Hole? The answer is never.

What I am encouraging you guys to do is find your voice, feel your feet under you and job-hunt the way executives have done forever. It’s a matter of mojo. When you know what you bring and don’t feel you have to grovel to get a job, your altitude is higher. You see the pluses and minuses of each situation and see how to navigate. You don’t approach a job search as an exercise in pleasing other people, but in learning what you need and want in your life and going after it. I want that for you, because you deserve it.

As a matter of fact, let’s go whole hog and promote you – there! It’s done. I just flicked my wand at you, between the last sentence and this one. Congratulations! You are now CEO of your own career. Wow, your rise to the top was tumultuous, wasn’t it? But here you are. You’re driving the bus. Where are you going to take it?

via How to Bring Up SALARY on a Job Interview | LinkedIn.

How to Bring Up SALARY on a Job Interview

An IT Tech’s Blueprint For Hiring Talent Like Him

How does a team of technical co-founders recruit a top notch designer?

Maybe they realized it; maybe not. But whoever posted that question to Quora asked what every recruiter on the planet has wondered at one time or another: How can I recruit the best candidate for my job?

It’s a simple question, yet one to which there is neither a simple answer nor even consensus about just what combination of characteristics, background, skills, experience, personal traits, and so on make someone “the best candidate” or even a “top notch” candidate.

Yet right there on Quora, amidst the predictable suggestions about searching GitHub and hitting the networking circuits, is a blueprint for building a recruiting program to attract not only a coder-designer. but an entire team of tech talent.

Some of designer Colm Tuite’s advice is specific to corporate recruiting programs, but for search professionals, he offers insight into the heart and soul of a tech. How much of what he — and others like him — value in an employer can be found at the company whose job order you’re filling?

Writes Tuite:

It’s very important to me that my goals are aligned with the goals of the company I work for. Salaries and perks like fancy office chairs and travel expenses change from year to year and can be worked out over time but if our goals are not aligned, then it may never work out.

Don’t say what everyone else says, he counsels. Don’t be imitative. Be honest. Be clear and specific.

In the end, different people have different goals and interests. No single offer will entice everyone. So just try to accurately portray who you are and what your mission is. Stay away from all the cliches and sweeping promises. Be honest, speak in a human tone. Use concise text, lots of images and short videos to explain who you are, who you are looking for and why you want them.

His complete response to the question is here. It is well worth reading.

http://www.quora.com/Startups/How-does-a-team-of-technical-co-founders-recruit-a-top-notch-designer#ans2819805

via An IT Tech’s Blueprint For Hiring Talent Like Him – ERE.net.

An IT Tech’s Blueprint For Hiring Talent Like Him

Why Employers Don"t Want to Hire Overqualified Candidates

When you’re applying for jobs, being told that you’re being dismissed because you’re “overqualified” for a job you know you could do well is incredibly frustrating. After all, having higher qualifications than what a job requires should be a good thing, shouldn’t it? To job seekers, being told they’re overqualified can feel like being told by a date that they’re too funny or good-looking – and leaves them wondering why it’s a deal-breaker.

So why is being overqualified so often seen as a bad thing? It’s understandable to be rejected if you’re not qualified enough, but what’s the concern about the overqualified?

When hiring managers label job candidates overqualified, here’s what they are thinking.

1. We can’t pay you enough. Employers will often assume that if you have more experience or education than the job requires, your salary expectations are probably higher than the role pays too.

2. You don’t really understand what the job is. Hiring managers will worry that in your quest to get hired somewhere, you’re being overly optimistic about what the work will be like – for instance, that you think you’ll be doing high-level office administration when what they need is someone to run the front desk. Or that the ad might say data entry, but you assume that surely you’ll be able to quickly prove yourself and take on more interesting work – when they really just need someone who will do data entry and be happy with it. Related to that…

3. If you take this job, you’ll be bored. Hiring managers often think that someone who used to do higher-level or more interesting work can’t possibly be happy with less challenging responsibilities, and they assume that you’ll quickly get bored, then frustrated and then want to leave.

4. You won’t be happy working for a manager with less experience than you. If you have significantly more experience than the hiring manager, she may worry that you won’t be happy or comfortable taking direction from her, and that you’ll think you know better. What’s more, if the hiring manager isn’t entirely secure in her skills, she might worry that you do know better and that you’ll be judging her decisions – which can lead to her passing on your candidacy altogether.

5. You’ll leave as soon as something better comes around. Because hiring managers often can’t understand why someone would want a lower position than what his or her background might qualify him or her for, they often assume that you’re only interested in the job because you’re feeling desperate. They figure you’ll take it for the paycheck, but that you’ll leave as soon as something more suited to your background comes along.

So what do you do if you’re hearing that you’re overqualified for jobs you actually want? The best thing you can do is to understand the concerns above and address them head-on. You can do that by explaining why you’re genuinely interested in the position. For instance, you might explain that while your kids are in school, you want a job with stable hours that doesn’t require the level of responsibility you’ve had in the past – or whatever is really true for you. (And that’s key – it needs to ring true for you; don’t make something up.)

If you know hiring managers are likely to worry about your salary expectations, you can also say explicitly that you’re clear about the lower pay that comes with the position, and that it’s fine with you.

Ideally, you’d address this in the cover letter, to avoid having your application discarded before you’ve even had an interview. But once you get to the interview stage, be prepared to discuss it again, and probably in more detail.

Overall, the idea is to understand what worries managers about overqualified candidates and address their concerns head-on, proactively and genuinely.

via Why Employers Don’t Want to Hire Overqualified Candidates – On Careers (usnews.com).

Why Employers Don"t Want to Hire Overqualified Candidates

IT pros leave money on the table, job site finds

When a job offer arrives, a majority of tech pros accept it without asking for more pay, according to Dice.com. If candidates were to negotiate higher salaries, they could expect a bump in the neighborhood of 5%, the IT careers specialist estimates.

A majority of hiring managers and recruiters surveyed by Dice.com said that more than half of tech pros accept the first offer without negotiating starting salaries or hourly rates. The national average salary for tech pros is currently $85,619, which means not haggling can cost a person $4,300, on average, per year. When you factor in bonuses and performance pay, which are typically based on a percentage of salaries, the tally is even higher.

Fear is likely the reason IT pros don’t take the opportunity to ask for more money, according to Tom Silver, senior vice president at Dice.com.

“When fear creeps into a negotiation or stops it all together, it’s good to remember negotiation is simply a discussion aimed at reaching an agreement. And, both sides want an agreement,” Silver points out.

“Straight-talk meetings are a standard in tech departments, there’s no reason tech professionals can’t do that with job offers. The company has tapped the talent, but the employer is not tapped out – ask for more.”

The odds of getting more money are in the job candidates’ favor. Dice.com asked 838 hiring managers and how frequently a company will raise an offer when a candidate doesn’t accept the initial salary or hourly rate that’s offered. Six percent said very frequently; 27% said frequently; and 49% said occasionally. The remainder said rarely (11%), very rarely (6%) or never (1%).

As of last month, Dice.com counts 83,610 available tech jobs. The top 10 metro areas for tech hiring, based on the number of job postings, are: New York (8,511 jobs), D.C./Baltimore (7,073), Silicon Valley (5,240), Chicago (3,784), Los Angeles (3,301), Boston (3,190), Atlanta (3,120), Dallas (3,030), Philadelphia (2,495), and Seattle (2,386).

Despite reservations about the overall economy, the IT jobs market remains healthy and IT executives are generally optimistic about hiring.

In a survey by Robert Half Technology, 14% of CIOs said they planned to expand their IT departments in the second quarter of 2013. In addition, 70% said it’s challenging to find skilled professionals today. The skill sets in greatest demand are network administration, cited by 51% of CIOs, and database management, also cited by 51% of CIOs.

via IT pros leave money on the table, job site finds – Network World.

IT pros leave money on the table, job site finds

8 Tricks to Negotiating a Higher Starting Salary

Many of you will find it difficult to raise and discuss the subject of money during interviews or contract discussions with a potential new employer. This is understandable, as money is an uncomfortable subject.

But this hesitancy to broach the subject of money with an employer is both self-limiting and nonsensical. Why? Because research from a CareerBuilder survey has revealed that a staggering 51 percent of employers plan to leave some negotiating room when extending initial offers to new employees, with a further 21 percent being prepared to offer two or more offers to the same candidate.

In short, most employers are expecting you to try and negotiate your starting salary and may have shot low in anticipation of this, meaning that if you don’t negotiate, they may get you at a knock down price. That would be a disaster for you. Therefore, you have a duty to yourself to try and negotiate the best possible starting salary, (but this must be done professionally and effectively) To help, I have set out 8 tips to help you do just that.

1. Believe in yourself

Many of you will be instilled with a strong sense of self-belief, but, naturally, some of us may not be confident of our financial worth to an employer. If you doubt your own worth, you will be starting from a weak negotiating position, psychologically.

Therefore, take stock of all your years of experience and itemize your skills, knowledge and achievements and truly understand that you are entitled to be paid a wage that is in line with this.

2.Understand the need to fight for it within the rules of negotiation

This second trick is another psychological point. While you may deserve to be paid in line with your experience, employers will have their own agenda and are not likely to hand you the salary you desire on a plate. If you do not act, you will not maximize your starting salary. You will need to make it happen, you’ll need to fight for it—fairly, of course—and within the rules of the game.

3. Know your market value

When negotiating a starting salary with your employer you must have a realistic understanding of your market value based on your skills and the demand for your skills. Why? If you shoot too high and insist on fighting for a salary that is way above your realistic market value, you are likely to antagonize the person you are negotiating with, causing them to dig their heels in even further.

Therefore, ensure that you do a comprehensive market assessment of your worth using the salary checkers from Monster, CareerBuilder and/or Payscale. I’d recommend checking all three of them for greater reliability.

4. Know how strong your hand is

Try and establish what the current demand levels are for your skills. If your industry, profession or locality is suffering skills shortages, the demand for your skills may be high.

High demand means potentially higher salaries. You can assess how much demand there is for your skills  by reading press articles and networking with colleagues. You can also find out demand levels by reviewing jobs boards. If there are many vacancies for your skills, with few applicants, this can indicate high demand. Also, if the job has been advertised for a while this can indicate that they are struggling to fill it, which could be as a result of high demand.

5. Be prepared to walk way

I accept this may not always be possible, as you may simply need the money. So, the best way to handle this is to give yourself other options. Try and interview for several jobs at the same time and progress as many of these to offer stage as possible. Tactfully inform your interviewer that while their business is your preferred option you have other good options available. This means that the employer knows that they cannot take you, or your acceptance of their offer for granted. This means they are likely to be more negotiable or start with a higher offer.

6. Don’t show your hand first

Yes, it’s poker rules. Let the employer make the offer first. Imagine if you are thinking $35K and the employer is thinking $40K, the simple act of going first may cost you $5K. If you are pressed to to give a desired salary, just indicate a broad range and say it will be negotiable subject to the full details and terms of the role being made available.

Also, when applying for the job, don’t mention your salary expectations in the resume, as you may quickly price yourself out of the market.

7. Negotiating and how to push the employer’s buttons

If the salary offer that you receive is lower than expected, then you will need to negotiate and explain that you believe that your skills and experience are valued at a higher rate than this. How do you do this? Well, the CareerBuilder survey highlighted four approaches to negotiation that employers were receptive to. These were:

Highlight specific accomplishments and results you achieved (48 percent)

Know the range of salary you want and have justification for the increase (39 percent)

Show an understanding of what is important to the company (37 percent)

Come prepared with your history of performance reviews (26 percent)

So, if you want to push the employer’s button and influence them around to your way of thinking in terms of salary be ready to negotiate using these four methods. The information that you have gathered in steps 1 to 6 of this article will help you with the negotiating in step 7.

8. Try a more indirect negotiation based around perks and benefits

If the employer can’t offer you the salary you want then you can try other tactics to get the money you want. For example, the CareerBuilder survey showed that employers who could not provide a hike in starting salary were often prepared to offer other perks instead, which you may find valuable. These were things like: more flexible work hours, bonuses, training, vacation time, more casual dress codes, academic reimbursement and title changes.

Of course, you can’t make an employer give you a higher starting wage; they can pay you what they like within state and federal laws. However, if you can engage in an effective negotiation process, good employers will at least listen to your case, but you have to accept that you may not get the starting salary that you desire.

If you fail to get your desired salary offer, and you have no alternatives, take a deep breath and review the situation calmly. Many employees ignore the value of the non-monetary benefits. You could find that, when all is considered,  working with the new employer, (even at a lower wage than desired), may on balance be a positive when all the factors are taken into account.

 

via 8 Tricks to Negotiating a Higher Starting Salary.

8 Tricks to Negotiating a Higher Starting Salary