Your 6 Winning Tips to Negotiate Salary (With Secret FAQ)

Most people think they deserve to have a better salary, and that could be true; however, not knowing how to negotiate salary, maybe a reason why you are not getting a good rate salary.

As many professionals think that salary negotiation, or even negotiation in general, is the next skill you should learn to actually give yourself a chance to get a good salary, work in good conditions, and have the opportunity to develop.

In this blog, we aim to walk you through the how-to negotiate salary concept, why you should do it and when, effective steps to follow, and the hidden FAQ you should know.

What is Salary Negotiation?

Salary negotiation is the financial part of your work agreement where you discuss and negotiate salary to reach your targeted payment rate.

This negotiation process could be done after receiving a new job offer, or while discussing your job promotion proposal with your manager or HR.

On the other hand, when negotiating salary many details should be included not only the monthly payment rate, but also the salary raise, commission, wage remuneration, health insurance, annual review, and bounces; moreover, you could negotiate a yearly paid vacation as part of your salary negotiation process.

Why It Is Important to Negotiate Salary?

Whether we are talking about a job offer or a promotion salary negotiation, you should know that this process is more than essential for many reasons; furthermore, this process will and can impact your work and satisfaction.

So, negotiating salary is an important action to do, learn why:

• To get the best salary you can get, and understand all the financial-related details about your job offer, position, and future development opportunities.
• Have a clear job description from a financial perspective.
• Know how much your company is willing to invest in you, and is interested in your work and skills.
• Salary negotiation will give you a wider look into your future within the company, and whether this will be a phrase job, or the company you are willing to invest your time and experiences in it.

So, simply it is your right to negotiate salary; thus, give yourself and your life quality the best chance you could.

When to Negotiate Salary:

Let us be clear, timing is a big factor in any success whether we are talking about life in general or just business life wise; thus, when planning to negotiate salary you need to choose the right time:

· After Getting the Job Offer:

Now, after getting through the job interview and receiving the job offer, you can easily discuss the offer’s details, including the financial details, as you know what the company is offering and if you have a close perspective or you are miles apart.

Moreover, you can see the actual number written on paper, and build your negotiation strategy to get the best out of the available offer.

· After Job Promotion:

After working hard in a company for a while, it is predicted to receive a promotion, which should include a new position, responsibilities, advantages, and salary offer.

Keep in mind that, you should negotiate salary before accepting your new promotion to be clear with your employer about the new details on all levels.

· New Responsibilities:

If your leader or manager asks you to handle new or more responsibilities within the same job title you have, this means more time to do these tasks; thus, it is normal to negotiate salary based on the new responsibilities.

However, before accepting these responsibilities you should ask if they come with an increase in the salary rate or not, to know where you are standing.

When NOT to negotiate Salary:

There are few times that negotiating a salary will make your situation weaker and will get you nowhere; however, we should divide these times based on three points:

On the first hand, if we are talking about a job promotion salary negotiation: 

· If Your Company is Losing Customers:

You should never consider salary negotiating if your company have lost a big client, or many clients, as it is already considered a hard time for your corporate.

Thus, you should play as a part of the team and respect the company circumstances, which actually will add up to your value within your company.

· Financial Problems:

Many businesses could go through financial problems due to bad investments, loans, falling stock value, or any bad financial move.

Thus, negotiating salary at this time would be like saying that you do not care about anything and just want more money.

On the other hand, if we are talking about a job offer salary negotiation:

· Do Not Negotiate Just to Negotiate:

If you received a good offer with a good salary number compared to your experiences, skills, and salary range in the industry, then you should not negotiate salary just for the act of negotiating.

· A Bad Offer:

For example, if you have 10 years of experience and you received an offer with a salary rate for 1-2 years of experience level, then you should not negotiate your salary, and just do the act of refusing the financial details.

As negotiating with people who do not know your actual worth will be a waste of your time and efforts.

And now, if we are talking about a new responsibility salary negotiation:

· A Temporary Responsibility:

When your manager asks you to take on some extra responsibilities for a short period after your colleague takes some days off or quits, it would make you look a lot better and interested in the company’s sake if you did not ask for salary raise while doing it.

However, it is reasonable for you to expect an overtime payment for these working hours.

· Exchange of Responsibilities:

These new responsibilities may be just an exchange of your current responsibilities due to a new project, or the quality work you are doing; thus your manager may assign you new ones with more value; however, you are doing the same amount of work.

Thus, you should not negotiate salary just because of the new names of your tasks as long as you have the same working hours and loads.

6 Tips to Win Your Salary Negotiation:

After knowing the what, why, and when it is time to know the how with these great tips that will open the door for you to have a successful salary negotiation process:

1. Show Your Unique Value:

Value is everything in the business world, although it changed a little bit these days as having a strong LinkedIn profile now will add up to your value.

On the other hand, you should build a powerful relationship among your industry to be known and effective, also showing, indirectly for sure, your company that you have other options will give your value a great boost.

2. Know Your Impact:

Simply, you should know your work impact and what you have achieved to give yourself the upper hand in this negotiation, this is important if you are negotiating a job promotion as you need to know what benefits and revenues you are bringing in.

On the other hand, in a job offer you should highlight what you have done for other companies you worked for and what improvement you achieved.

3. Prepare Your Conversation:

Salary negotiation should not be random whether you are working remotely or from the office, you should put a list of the points you are going to discuss in this negotiation; moreover, what are the points that you will not give up on, and what others you could go easy on.

4. Be Realistic:

When negotiating salary, you must ask for a realistic number based on your current indicators, from skills, experience level, and the company size itself, as this will help you ask for a reasonable number that will be approved by your employer.

5. Ask for Meeting:

As we said this must not be random, whether you decide to send a negotiate salary email, ask for a call, or have a live meeting, the salary negotiation should be scheduled with all the above prepared.

However, this does not mean that you should not take the opportunity when luck opens its doors for you, if you got a spontaneous chance in a meeting with your managers or employers, as this could happen and be your great break.

6. Do Not Be Afraid:

We all wish to have a better income, even Elon Musk; thus, to do so you need to get out of your comfort zone and take action.

This includes negotiating your salary with a stable hand; moreover, while believing in your capabilities to succeed in other places if the negotiation did not reach the results you wish for.

The Big FAQs:

You sure have questions about the salary negotiation process, and others do too; thus, we present to you these popular questions with answers from our professionals:

· Should I Negotiate Salary After Offer?

In most cases, yes you should negotiate salary after receiving a written offer, as now you got through the interview and highlighted your value, the revenue you brought or could to the company, and you know that the recruiters are interested in you, so you should negotiate easily.

Thus, set a meeting or send a negotiate salary email, then say that you are interested in the offer, tell your opinion of the business and workplace culture; eventually, say what is your expected salary.

· Is It Worth It to Negotiate Salary?

Yes, sure! As a 10% more will not harm you and no one will do it for you; however, keep in mind our previous tips, be reasonable, and know your market statics.

· What Should I Say in Salary Negotiation?

Different salary negotiation dialogues work with the same strategy, make a list of your achievements, and the big benefits you are offering to the work, use these factors in your conversation when negotiating your salary raise, and remember to stay calm, focused, and professional in the negotiation process.

· What Should You Not Say During Salary Negotiation?

Let us be clear first, not negotiating is always a mistake, but there are also some words that could turn your salary negotiation into a bad one; thus, you should NOT:

• Reveal your current or previous salary.
• Just ask for more money without any value listing.
• Request more salary by mentioning your life expenses.
• Apologize when negotiating.
• List other companies trying to hire you with better offers.

· How Much Higher Can You Negotiate Salary?

This totally depends on your expertise level and the unique skills you have; however, on average you can start negotiation with 10-20% more, but, unless you are living in Lala Land, expect to settle for a 7-10% salary increase eventually.

Last but not least,

The negotiate salary act is one of your rights, so do not afraid of doing it as long as you do it professionally; moreover, give yourself the chance to do what you like with a great income too.

Always remember to contact us to find your great opportunity.