Negotiating for a Better Salary and Benefits

Career Help Center

Make More Money by Negotiating Your Salary and Benefits

• Know What You're Worth
  
  You feel that your company has taken advantage of you and you deserve more compensation for your hard work. Well, only you know what you've done to deserve a raise. Make the management aware of all that you do.
  
  Compile a list of accomplishments and statistics of everything that you have implemented or improved during your time with the company. Don't sit on the sidelines it's time for you to get noticed at work. In addition to writing what you believe to be your best accomplishments, keep a file of documents that prove your worth. Thank you letters, surveys, and recommendation letters should be stored in a file so that you have tangible proof to show to your manager.
• Step Up and Make an Offer
  
  Don't sit around and wait for your boss to undercut your thinking with a less than desirable offer. Take matters into your own hands and be prepared to suggest multiple, reasonable options. If you don't ask for what you want, then how can you expect to get it?
  
  Before you enter the meeting, devise a negotiation strategy with questions and objections, you think you may encounter. Come up with scenarios that have the answers to those questions and objections, so you don't have to do it on the fly. Get prepared you will be more at ease and appear to be more professional.
  
  State your qualifications, use them as the basis to persuade your employer that you can take on your new ideas or responsibilities. For example, if you have come up with a new idea or managed a new project, you may then suggest an adjusted salary.
  
  Don't beg your employer to give you a salary increase with your personal sob story. Acquire your raise through bargaining based on your underappreciated work. Your employer doesn't care that you need a new car or are having a baby. The employer should base your increase on the additional value you are bringing to the company. We all need more money on which to live. Unfortunately, this is not a basis for getting paid a higher salary.
  
  Appear confident, but not arrogant. Creating an environment in which you appear privileged doesn't leave a good impression either. It would be best if you continued to work with these people. You don't want to make them dislike you because you appear arrogant, giving the impression that you have an attitude of superiority.
  
  You may get the money you are looking for, but you could damage the working relationships you have with your coworkers. Be grateful for the time that your manager has set aside to listen to what you have to say.
• Mistakes To Avoid
  
  
  • Not Handling Constructive Criticism: Remember that you are discussing your job performance with your boss. They may not feel that you have demonstrated your abilities as well as you think. Don't get offended by the conversation. Work through it with rebuttals and counterproposals.
  • Not Getting It On Paper: Do not jump to the conclusion that because you spoke with someone about a raise that you are absolutely getting it. Until you see the agreed upon increase in writing or your paycheck, don't feel secure about any supposed raise or adjustment. Talk is cheap!
  • Not Negotiating Enough: If your boss comes at you with an offer quickly, you may be nervous and inclined to accept whatever they are putting out there. Please don't accept the proposal in a rush. It's a good practice not to make decisions under pressure. Give yourself time to think about it and if you are pleased with it, then accept.
  • Not Researching the Market: Arrive at your meeting prepared with information about salaries for your same job position from other companies in the surrounding area. Coming armed with facts makes it more difficult for an employer to protest your proposed rate. Your employer may elect to take a salary survey. This survey will tell the employer what the rate of pay is for people in your position.

There may be times in your career when you feel that you deserve more from your job. This is why negotiation is such a powerful tool of business. Administering your art of rhetoric and persuasion, you can rally for an increase in the benefits that you reap from your profession. Hence, we wrote these tips for negotiating to get a better salary and benefits. The tips are presented to show you ways you can better your career by avoiding some simple tactical mistakes. For more help on other topics related to your career visit our Career Help Center.