How to Effectively Negotiate Your Salary
After an interview, if the potential employer is interested in moving forward with you, they will most likely ask about your expected salary. The first thing you must do before attempting to successfully negotiate your salary is conduct research before you even attend an interview. Review sites such as Salary.com, Glassdoor.com, and PayScale.com to get a good idea of what the industry standards are regarding your pay scale. For example, if you are targeting IT Director roles, Salary.com shows a median salary range of $181,810 as of 2021.
If you have colleagues in similar roles, discuss their salaries with them if they are willing to do so. Set a goal for the figures you are willing to take and prepare yourself for lower offers. It’s a good idea to have a bottom dollar in mind just in case.
Don’t Get Personal
Keep the salary negotiation professional, not personal. Meaning, don’t make it about your life problems such as how much you need each week, month, or year to stay afloat. Don’t make it about your personal reasons such as your spouse losing their job or a high mortgage payment. Focus on your worth, your value to the company, and how your skill set will contribute to making them more money in the future.
Often times, we like to get caught up in the emotional ties to our personal lives and how much money we need to earn to keep that lifestyle afloat. While this is an important factor in your salary, keep it to yourself. It’s never a good idea to make the interviewer feel obligated to give you more out of guilt and could be a huge turn off for them. Expressing your personal finance issues tends to show desperation and a sense of inflation of your numbers for the wrong reasons. The employer wants to know what you can do for them to increase their bottom line, and that’s how they put value on you as a candidate.
Don’t Be All About the Money
Your personal life is just as important as your career, so don’t make it all about the money alone. Having the flexibility to take vacation time, enjoy days off, and not be a total work horse is very important to not only your mental health, but your job performance as well. Try to find balance and request perks that might make your daily grind less stressful. Health benefits are also something to think about.
