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Job
Seeker Resources
Need some professional
advice? Here are 20 fact-filled articles to help you compete in today's
fierce employment market:
Resumes
Ten Keys to a Dynamite Resume
Resume Design Tips and Template
A
Stronger Resume To Increase Your Odds
Choosing
a Resume Format: Summary vs. Chronological
Beefing
Up an Anemic Resume
The
Dangers of Resume Overkill
Interviewing
The
Secret to Interview Success
Don't
Talk Yourself Out of a Job
How
to Answer Interview Questions
What
to Ask the Interviewer
Four
Classic
Interview
Questions—and
How to Prepare for Them
Discussing
the Subject of Money
Career
Decisions
How
to Evaluate a Job Offer
What
Does the New Job Really Pay?
Salary
Negotiation Techniques
Intelligent
Job-Changing
Strategy
Career
Strategy: It Pays to Diversify
Transition
The
Proper Way to Resign
How
to Leave a Job Gracefully
Resignation
or Retaliation?
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Salary
Negotiation Techniques
By Bill Radin
The
best approach to putting the deal together is to decide whether you want the job
before an offer is extended. This allows you to clarify whether the job suits
your needs. Unless you’re motivated solely by money, it’s doubtful a few
extra dollars will turn a bad job into a good one.
The
term “bottom line” refers to the amount of compensation you feel is
absolutely necessary to accept the job offer. If, for example, you really want
$76,000 but would think about $75,000 or settle for $74,000, then you haven’t
established your bottom line. The bottom line is one dollar more than the figure
you would positively walk away from. Setting a bottom line clarifies your sense
of worth, and helps avoid an unpredictable bargaining session.
I recommend against “negotiating” an offer in the classic sense, where the
company makes a proposal, you counter it, they counter your counter, and so on.
While this type of back-and-forth format may be customary for negotiating a
residential real estate deal, job offers should be handled in a more
straightforward manner.
Here’s
how: Determine your bottom line in advance, and wait for the offer. If the
company offers you more than your bottom line, great. If they offer you less,
then you have the option of turning the offer down or revealing to them your
bottom line as a condition of acceptance. At that point, they can raise the ante
or walk away.
And once the bottom line is known, you can avoid the haggling that so often
causes aggravation, disappointment, or hurt feelings.
By
determining your own acceptance conditions in advance, you’ll never be accused
of negotiating in bad faith or of being indecisive. Whether you’re
representing yourself or working with a recruiter, learning to differentiate
between financial fact and fantasy will facilitate the job changing process.
If you feel the need to
justify your salary request, you can itemize any loss of income that may result from
a differential in benefits, geographic location, car expenses, and so forth.
Often,
there are considerations aside from money that need to be satisfied before an
offer can be accepted. Factors such as the new position title, review periods,
work schedule, vacation allotment, and promotion opportunities are important,
and should be looked at carefully.
You
can use the this approach to quantify each consideration or
“point” you need to satisfy as a condition for acceptance. Once you and the
company settle on each point, you won’t need to go back later to negotiate
“one more thing.” Knowing
your bottom line puts you in a better position to get what you want, since
you’ve established a set of quantifiable conditions needed for
acceptance.
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