Salary Negotiation Can Easily Be Mastered

I wrote this article about salary negotiation to help you when the subject comes up. Negotiating skills can help you manage lots of different kinds of life situations, both at work and in your personal relationships, so it pays to gain as much understanding as you can.

After you have received the job offer you might feel that the package needs improving in order for you to accept the position.

So what could you do to improve the situation?

Wherever possible, don't try to negotiate immediately after an offer. Make sure you ask for the offer to be put in writing and then try to delay any salary negotiation for the longest possible time.

What is important first of all to your salary negotiation is to know what, realistically, is the level of salary for your career choice. If you don't know the relevant career salary, use these links to help you:

• Payscale.com for US career salary information.
• Salary calculator for UK career salaries information.

Get The Job Offer In Writing

When you've got the job offer in writing you can respond by acknowledging receipt of the offer and making it clear that you will confirm your acceptance within (say) 7 days. This could be longer if necessary but better to let them know if you are going on holiday for instance.

Now you have gained yourself some time, use it constructively to investigate the average salary of people in similar positions.

You could even contact other companies in your area if they are advertising similar vacancies. Use the internet - a search will quickly throw up various websites and salary calculators you can use.

Break down the full package you have been offered and make sure you have clearly identified which areas of the package you would like to see improved.

Refrain from making strong demands, but contact the employer and say that whilst you would really like to accept the job offer, you were expecting the [basic salary or holiday paid days or car benefit or insurance] to be a little better and if it could be improved you will give your immediate acceptance and agree a start date.

If you are having to relocate you could mention this in your salary negotiation and ask for some assistance with the costs.

You should never show an employer that you need the money as this could make you look desperate and decrease your chances of successful salary negotiation.

If the starting salary turns out not to be negotiable you could try asking for an early review "when you've proved yourself" after perhaps 3 months. Always remember that you don't have to accept anything - you can walk away, but if you do accept you may have the opportunity to improve things later.

Peter Fisher is Managing Director of Career Consulting Limited and has coached thousands of people to Career Success.http://www.your-career-change.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Fisher

First Things First...

Before you go into the discussion about your salary, it is important to know what salary you want, what you need to live on, and what you will be prepared to accept. Spend some time working out a realistic budget for you and your family's needs and factor into your calculations the money you'll need in the future.

You should also decide what types of benefits are important to you and what they are worth in money terms. The compensation package on the table might include: relocation expenses, pension and insurance plans, company car or car allowance, holidays, stock options, profit-sharing, training opportunities, and so on. Evaluate these beforehand, then you can concentrate on bargaining using your negotiation strategies and techniques we have outlined.

It is also important to know your market value and you can test that by interviewing regularly or at least by keeping an eye on the situations vacant columns.

Read more about Negotiation Strategies to get yourself a better job offer once you have completed the round of interviews. If you already have a job offer which you think the offer could be better, read on to find out about our proven top 10 negotiation tactics that will help you to get yourself a better salary and benefits package.

Now go to Pay Raise Negotiation to get yourself a better salary increase when the time for a pay review comes round. It is the only way to end the frustration of feeling underpaid and the anger of knowing you should be making more. There is a problem though, the nervousness — considering you don't want to get fired, but you know you need to ask for a raise. Do you know how much you should ask for? When is the best time to ask? What type of letter should you write?

Return to the interview help section or go back to Your Career Change home page.

You are here: Salary Negotiation Strategies.

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