Wait this is not a survey…
Serious important question:
How do you decide a figure to say when going into salary negotiations?
Is there a formula?
This is my first “real” job (others just being part time work or internships), as in I would hope to make this my career and until now I’ve only made wages and not a salary so I have no idea what to say.
Please help.
Have them say a number first; you’ll have to move like a fish to accomplish this.
Got to vault.com or wetfeet.com and check salary surveys.
Find out when you would be eligible (realistically, not technically) for a raise; the longer the review, the more important your starting salary is.
Best of luck.
Thanks daniel801.
To continue on this theme, there’s a language issue. I speak the language here well but not so good that I can sublty negotiate with it.
Is there a good way to get them to give me a number first? Some phrase I can put together and practice ahead of time?
Research the salary of the position with other companies
Figure out your budget
Get a ballpark figure for yourself and when in the interview simply ask “What salary range are you looking for” This will in turn give you a ballpark figure what the position will pay.
Research the salary of the position with other companies
Figure out your budget
Get a ballpark figure for yourself and when in the interview simply ask “What salary range are you looking for” This will in turn give you a ballpark figure what the position will pay.
Good Luck
People always say to get them to say a number first. If you can, this is great.
I, however, have only succeeded in doing this once (and the figure was way,way,way lower than acceptable so that pretty much ended the interview)
It isn’t for lack of trying. I have tried darn hard to get them to do this.
I have had better luck finding several sources of salary data and coming up with an appropriate figure. If the figure was (to pick a figure at random) $50,000 then when asked I would say $51,000 to $60,000. The idea that it puts your salary within reason but probably ‘stretches’ them a bit.
Knowledge is power. To go in without knowledge is do go in as a sheep.
Oh, important note:
If you follow my above post and they are close but cannot give you $51,000 and offered $47,000 then don’t stop. Even if $47,000 is just hunky-dory with you, there are other things to negotiate. One time, I negotiated an extra week of vacation.
Many times, they will do this. They know they are below your minimum but will sweeten the deal with something like more vacation or something.
This probably won’t happen for entry level jobs but your second or third the options start opening up.
Salaries are determined purely by market forces. It’s supply and demand.
The only factual basis for negotiation, or at least for initial negotiation, is to find out what other people are getting who do roughly the same job and have roughly the same level of experience as you. Whatever this average figure or salary range turns out to be, it’s unrealistic for you to expect them to pay you much more, or for them to expect to pay you much less.
Once you have established what this average salary range is, it’s down to haggling and negotiation. If you want more, ask for more. They will ask why you are entitled to more. Have your reasons ready.
The only golden rule I can offer is this: never accept the first offer. See it as a starting point, not a final verdict.