In advance of salary negotiation, it is imperative for you to know exactly what your salary value is. If you do not know how much you are worth before negotiating salary, then you will find it very difficult to ask for a salary that matches what the job market will pay.
Without doing your legwork, your employer will probably suggest an increase that you find disappointing. While people around the world negotiate salary every day, not many of them are able to get the most out of salary negotiation!
Doing extensive research before you approach your boss for a pay increase or before you discuss salary negotiation at job offer time, is an imperative. It is like a game of chess. You cannot reveal to your opponent what your next move will be. Likewise, you do not want to reveal your salary history if you can avoid it, and don't discuss salary too early.
Know how much compensation you can command before you ever discuss salary negotiation with an employer.
If you are looking for a new job or are trying to ask for a raise, do salary research on the Internet first. There are great sites like SalaryExpert.com or Payscale.com who calculate all the salary information that is available.
It is important for you to know the the accuracy of the source of the salary market information. If a website is reporting pay scales as reported by their list of members, it may not be as current as if the salaries are reported by the HR departments of the companies in that job market.
Another method, if you are a little intrepid, is to do a bit of discreet research. If you know people who work for the firm, and are not fearful of asking direct questions, you may well find find out what other staff are earning in the same job for that business.
Better yet, if you can ask a valued human resources friend, you may find out not only about the company you work for, but you may also find out about other companies in your market. Whatever information you can find out, will be useful, as long as the source is someone you can believe.
One source of information that is invaluable are research reports published by the salary research consultants. These consultants survey HR departments nationwide, or in specific regions, and get very specific salary data for hundreds and hundreds of job titles in each region. The current version of these reports are very valuable to job seekers, but they are hard to find. If you do find one, you are very luck because current data is worth its weight in gold!
Next, salaries ranges are often reported based on percentages. A business systems analyst salary range may be from $50,000-$90,000 for a given region, but the reporting will be based on 0-25%, 25-50%, 50-75% and 75-100%.
You know how well you perform at your job. Do a self evaluation, and figure where you feel you fit in the percentile of performance for that career level. If you are in a lower percentile, it may be that you're new to the job role. If you are in a higher percentage, you're a super-star with plenty of experience, and you know you add a lot of contribution.
If you don't genuinely know, you might ask for some honest feedback from a trusted co-worker, or from a friend in a similar position elsewhere.
It is critical for you to know the value of the skills you bring, and be able to measure them in quantitative terms. That is financially describably terms. Hard cash numbers resonate with employers. If you can say, I saved the company $150,000 last quarter due to the efficiencies I implemented, you are on a great platform to justify your salary negotiation.
To your salary negotiation success.
Without doing your legwork, your employer will probably suggest an increase that you find disappointing. While people around the world negotiate salary every day, not many of them are able to get the most out of salary negotiation!
Doing extensive research before you approach your boss for a pay increase or before you discuss salary negotiation at job offer time, is an imperative. It is like a game of chess. You cannot reveal to your opponent what your next move will be. Likewise, you do not want to reveal your salary history if you can avoid it, and don't discuss salary too early.
Know how much compensation you can command before you ever discuss salary negotiation with an employer.
If you are looking for a new job or are trying to ask for a raise, do salary research on the Internet first. There are great sites like SalaryExpert.com or Payscale.com who calculate all the salary information that is available.
It is important for you to know the the accuracy of the source of the salary market information. If a website is reporting pay scales as reported by their list of members, it may not be as current as if the salaries are reported by the HR departments of the companies in that job market.
Another method, if you are a little intrepid, is to do a bit of discreet research. If you know people who work for the firm, and are not fearful of asking direct questions, you may well find find out what other staff are earning in the same job for that business.
Better yet, if you can ask a valued human resources friend, you may find out not only about the company you work for, but you may also find out about other companies in your market. Whatever information you can find out, will be useful, as long as the source is someone you can believe.
One source of information that is invaluable are research reports published by the salary research consultants. These consultants survey HR departments nationwide, or in specific regions, and get very specific salary data for hundreds and hundreds of job titles in each region. The current version of these reports are very valuable to job seekers, but they are hard to find. If you do find one, you are very luck because current data is worth its weight in gold!
Next, salaries ranges are often reported based on percentages. A business systems analyst salary range may be from $50,000-$90,000 for a given region, but the reporting will be based on 0-25%, 25-50%, 50-75% and 75-100%.
You know how well you perform at your job. Do a self evaluation, and figure where you feel you fit in the percentile of performance for that career level. If you are in a lower percentile, it may be that you're new to the job role. If you are in a higher percentage, you're a super-star with plenty of experience, and you know you add a lot of contribution.
If you don't genuinely know, you might ask for some honest feedback from a trusted co-worker, or from a friend in a similar position elsewhere.
It is critical for you to know the value of the skills you bring, and be able to measure them in quantitative terms. That is financially describably terms. Hard cash numbers resonate with employers. If you can say, I saved the company $150,000 last quarter due to the efficiencies I implemented, you are on a great platform to justify your salary negotiation.
To your salary negotiation success.
About the Author:
Trevor Davide Grant is a project manager in the IT field and has extensive experience in salary negotiation. Trevor has worked for large telecom, power utililties, software development consulting, and a prominent social network. He has learned how to negotiate a salary in the most powerfulway. Learn great tips on the topic of salary negotiating at www.HowToNegotiateASalary.com.
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