Job Offers and Salary Negotiations
You have conquered the CV and covering letter, aced the interview process, and now you have been offered a job—what do you do next?
 How Do You Evaluate a Job Offer?
A job offer is not likely to meet all your criteria, especially if you are at the beginning of your career or making a change in career direction. So, how do you evaluate whether a particular job offer is right for you? Here are a few possible factors to consider:
Yourself - Now is not the time to take a job because you think you are supposed to or because your parents want you to. You have to consider your own wants and needs because you will be the one who has to invest the time and effort into the job.
Work Hours – Will this job require regular hours or are there variable hours including nights, weekends, or holidays? Does this job require routine overtime work to meet deadlines? Consider the effect the work hours will have on your personal life.
Salary and Benefits - Many graduates have only a vague idea of what they want and need in terms of money. Now is the time to define your ideas about what is a good or acceptable offer, both in terms of salary and benefits.
Growth Opportunities - Will this job give you a chance to grow personally and professionally through development opportunities? Does there seem to be a good chance that you'll be able to move up in the organization over time? You need to examine what types of opportunities you are seeking from a job.
Job Duties - Does the job you've been offered interest you? Will it challenge you, or will it bore you to tears? You'll likely be spending many hours on the job, so you want that time to be stimulating and fun.
Company Culture - What is this organization really like? Do the employees seem to like each other and work well together? You should be able to assess the culture from your on-site interviews. If your head, heart or gut keeps whispering words of warning to you, it's a very good idea to pay attention!
Your Boss - Your direct supervisor has the power to make your first job a wonderful experience or a task to awaken to each day. Do you have a sense of your ability to talk to your supervisor? Do you feel you can learn from him or her? If you feel your supervisor is likely to be distant and unaccommodating, beware.
Location - Will you be working in a busy city even though your heart yearns to work in a smaller area? Will this new job force you to endure a long, daily commute? Will you need to relocate?
Reminder: Not all of these factors will be perfect in a first job, so you must determine what balance of these factors is acceptable.
Salary Negotiations
While it is problematic to make definitive statements about what to do and what not to do in every negotiation situation, there are potential pitfalls to be aware of before entering the negotiation process.
5 Common Pitfalls
1. Initiating Negotiations Too Soon - The appropriate time to negotiate is when a formal offer has been made. If the offer meets your needs, by all means accept it. Never negotiate just for the sake of negotiating. There's nothing wrong with asking for time to consider the offer or outright asking if the offer is negotiable.
2. Only Negotiating Salary - While money is the most frequently negotiated portion of an offer, it's not the only one. Many employers have benefits established by company policy, but other areas that may be negotiated. They include signing bonuses, unpaid leave, relocation expenses, flex-time, and severance.
3. Mistrusting the System - Many job seekers operate under the assumption that employers will, without exception, try to lowball. While there are employers who pay employees below the industry standard, you should never enter a negotiation with a "them versus me" attitude. An offer may come down to a take-it-or-leave-it proposition because of budget restrictions, not because the employer is trying to take advantage of you.
4. Assuming Your Degree Entitles You to a Higher Starting Salary - Increasingly, an advanced qualification is nothing more than a requirement that allows prospective employers to narrow down the pool of applicants to a manageable size. If you have little relevant work experience, your degree may keep you in the running, but won't entitle you to a higher salary.
Also, don't assume your qualifications are all you have to offer the employer. Having significant work experience will probably carry more weight than a qualification alone.
5. Believing Every Negotiation Will End in Your Favor - No matter what you bring to the negotiating table, it's naive to assume you'll always get what you want. Negotiating is a compromise. Very few of us are in such high demand that we can write our own tickets, but that doesn't mean you should settle for any offer that comes your way. Accepting a job just for the sake of a paycheck could lead to mutual dissatisfaction, so it may be better for you to continue your job search.
Counter Offers
In every negotiation, the time comes when the other side puts an offer on the table. At that point, the ball is in your court. Unless you want to accept that offer or walk away from the table, you have to put forth a counteroffer.
Here is some practical advice that should help you develop counter offers to achieve your goals:
1. Get Prepared - Before the negotiation begins, take the time to research standard compensation for this position. Establish a reasonable range for salary, a typical benefits package and common additional compensation (e.g., stock options, annual bonus, performance bonus). Then, determine the most favorable compensation package for you. Make sure that this package addresses your real needs. This package is your counter offer.
2. Be Firm - Select a reasonable and appropriate counter offer -- one based on the data you gathered in your research -- and stick with it until the other side offers an argument based on additional data or information that justifies a different figure or package than you had developed—a reason for you to change.
3. Be Wise - Keep the big picture in mind. Your goal in the negotiation is to reach an agreement that satisfies your interests. Remember to use your energy to generate solutions, not to fight battles. Negotiation is all about exchanging ideas, possible solutions and information. Offers and counter offers are the typical steps in this process.
Useful resources on the web
Quintessential Careers: http://www.quintcareers.com/salary_negotiation.html
WetFeet.com: http://www.wetfeet.com/advice/negotiation.asp
|
