It’s fascinating to me how many people don’t negotiate salaries. It’s quite possibly one of the easiest things you can do early on in your career to make significantly more long term. Too many graduates these days are simply thankfulâ they got a job offer. What they’re missing is that almost all employers offer a large percentage lower than what they can actually pay you. They do this on purpose in hopes you don’t put pressure on them to ask for more money. Treat it as a challenge, not as some dirty trick. Earning more money is a good thing!
Lay it all out on the table
There is nothing wrong with being completely honest with an employer after you have received a salary offer. At this point, you have already sold the company on your skills and future contribution to their bottom line. It’s fair game to ask for more and give your reasons why. For example, if you are moving to California from a state with a low standard of living, you can ask for more to cover your additional rent and gas expenses. If you are confident in your skillsets and past work history, you can negotiate a higher salary by claiming that you are worth more than they offered. I think most don’t do this because they are scared the employer might take away the offer after being negotiated with. Reality check, it’s a positive from an employer’s standpoint that you’re negotiating. Negotiating is a skill that benefits you in the business world. They see this and see dollar signs later down your career path. Don’t be shy!
Don’t settle for less
Think of your initial salary offer as an investment that will pay you dividends later on in your career. Here, this of it this way. Typical yearly pay raises are only a couple percentage points. In times of recession (like right now) this could even be as low as 1%… If you take the standard salary offer, you are missing out on dividends down the road. You will want to slap yourself silly if you forego this potential for a pay raise up front. This is all the more important if you plan on being with the company for years to come.
Do your research!
One of the greatest mistakes is not doing research on typical salary numbers within your industry. If you know the average salary right out of college, you can better negotiate with a potential employer. Go to slaray.com or glassdoor.com and do a little research. If you still can’t find information on average salaries within your industry, feel free to ask your recruiter to put you in touch with recent graduates so you can ask them about their salary offers. Also, this is a good time to ask these graduates what worked and what didn’t during their negotiations for their hiring process.
Remember, a job is not simply a paycheck. You need to treat your career as a challenge and a day by day learning opportunity. I’ll tell you what, I’ve learned so much about myself just from my first couple years in the work force. It’s exciting and fulfilling as long as you choose a career path you truly excel at. Go out and show confidence during your salary negotiations. What can go wrong?!
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