How do you negotiate a starting salary?

Zefan said:
In these situations I get my meat out and slap it down forcefully on the desk with a hearty thud. I proceed to do absolutely nothing until they respond.

Foolproof way of acquiring not only a killer starting salary, but all of the ladies - all of them.
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Which meat do you recommend? I can get some rather tasty Rib-eye steaks, but cant help thinking a pork tenderloin would be more impressive visually.
 
There nothing wrong with asking for a higher starting salary as your employer if they are sensible want you to be happy and not looking for a better paid job in 3 months time. However you need to have in your head a clear idea what you will do if they don't meet your offer. IF you ask for an extra £3000 and they say no, only offer extra £1000, offer £2000 etc. Also when you ask you will need to explain why your worth the extra money. So due to my skills and experience in X & Y you feel that £XXXXXX is a more appropriate salary.
 
You really need to know your market value, research as much as possible natioanl and regional salaries and accurately estimate your experience and skill level. Stating slightly higher figures than average is a sign to the employer that you have confidence in your ability and value to the company, plus sets a higher starting point for negotions.

It is rare for a company to somehow withdraw an offer because your requested salary was too high unless you are unwilling to negotiate to reasonable salaries.

Anyway nice companies to work for will usually pay more than the regional average and be happy with paying employers what they are happy with. The difference between x thousand and 1.2*x is to that high. You have to realise that your total cost to the company is far higher than the salary alone, typically 3-5x your annual salary is your annual company cost when all extras and fixed charges are included. Increasing the saLary by 10-20% doesn't change their running cost much. The excepts are for complete entry level unskilled.


Saying that my last salary negotions was non existent, I did as much research as I could and found the top figure, add 15% to start negotions and was offer 20% more on top of what I asked, I had then no space to negotiate and I thought the salary more than fair and plenty to live by so I simply agreed.


You also have some power to negotiate salaries after 6-12 months reviews. In many jobs the ramp up periods means for the first years or so you are o where near fully productive, there is a training or learning period, the first months you might be barely functional. Hence once this period is over and you can demonstrate your added value you can negotiate a raise. You have some power because if you quit because they don't meet your demands then the. Company looses out on their investment in taking you on.
 
There are two ways to a better salary - on the way in and on the way out. It's very hard to negotiate when you are already an employee, so you either negotiate the salary you want when you start, or you hand your notice in and see if they want to keep you.

It might mean you don't get the job in the first instance and it they might call your bluff in the second - if they do - leave. In order to successfully do this you have to have a job to go to (preferably with a rival) and you have to be prepared to actually go if they do call your bluff.

Also, as posted above by D.P. - research and understand.
 
I always try and find out the salary band before, and aim towards the top end if I know I have the skills for the job. If I feel the job is a little bit more of a learning curve I aim towards to the middle. If I was new to the industry and / or a graduate or early in my career - I'd let my personality and skills I do have, guide the starting salary. I'd probably ask that upon a successful probation would a salary review be possible?
 
Guile said:
When I made a job application I was asked what my salary expectations were. The answer I gave seems to be too low for what the job is and I found out they were offering the same job 6 months ago and the lower end of salary stated was 2k above what I said and the higher end of the range was 8k above what I said my salary expectation was.

There is a real possibility that I might get this job offer. How do I counter an offer with a salary based on the figure I gave without sounding rude and getting told to do one. I just want a fair salary for what the role is.
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i just mentioned that the other company had better pension and medical etc (they dont have to know any different) so bumped it up via that. 33% pay rise is well worth moving jobs for! :)

make sure you ask about benefits first so you can BS if needs be. if they really want you they will pay it or at least start high and bargain down.

i was lucky as i got head hunter for my current job.
 
soundood said:
you need to do it like a BOSS !!!!

walk in, smash the secretery's pastie, go into the boardroom and head up to the CE and stick your middle finger up at him, say "smell your wife"

spin round on your heals like Micheal Jackson, and tell them you want 100K starts !!
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:) hehe. "smell your wife" - classic

or recreate the scene from fight club and smash yourself about a bit!
 
Geffen said:
There nothing wrong with asking for a higher starting salary as your employer if they are sensible want you to be happy and not looking for a better paid job in 3 months time. However you need to have in your head a clear idea what you will do if they don't meet your offer. IF you ask for an extra £3000 and they say no, only offer extra £1000, offer £2000 etc. Also when you ask you will need to explain why your worth the extra money. So due to my skills and experience in X & Y you feel that £XXXXXX is a more appropriate salary.
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good point. always worth adding additional value with stuff. is there anything else you can add to your role that they will perceive as worth the extra?

for example i write apps for a construction company but i also design, can do CAD, H&S stuff and have a construction background. so not only can i do all the technical stuff needed i actually understand what they are talking about and can offer other services. being able to do all our design work saves them a fortune on outsourcing it and its a nice change doing the odd logo or brochure. plus, i control the corporate identity meaning i decide how all our stuff looks

this is also useful when recession hits and you are too valuable to lose. kept me my job when we had to downsize a few years ago.
 
All depends on how strong your current position is.. if you are in a role and happy then you can be more forceful in your negotiation.. the mistake people make is looking to change job or move only when they have to..

Much better to look every six months or so apply for some interesting roles and see what happens..

For my last two moves I have got 40%+ increases in salary both times because I didn't really need to move and therefore could play hard to get!

You just need to make sure that you are confident that you can deliver in the new role or you will look like a muppet if you have over-priced yourself.
 
Pneumonic said:
All depends on how strong your current position is.. if you are in a role and happy then you can be more forceful in your negotiation.. the mistake people make is looking to change job or move only when they have to..

Much better to look every six months or so apply for some interesting roles and see what happens..

For my last two moves I have got 40%+ increases in salary both times because I didn't really need to move and therefore could play hard to get!

You just need to make sure that you are confident that you can deliver in the new role or you will look like a muppet if you have over-priced yourself.
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always easier when they need you more than you need them :) much better bargaining power.
 
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