Working Life > Employee Interview > Salary Negotiation

Tips for Successful Salary Negotiation in your Job

The goal of the salary negotiation is to come to an agreement about the amount of the income among the employing party and the employee, which is normally part of the interview prior to employment and of annual appraisal discussions. Most discussed is the basic income, but also additional payments are matter of negotiations, like bonus-payments, costs of education or cars that are registered on the company.

• Good preparation is essential. This includes:
  • Get informed about what the usual payment is, for your kind of (future) occupation. Ask colleagues or friends working in the field, or have a look at income contracts in comparitive studies or payment tables. Information is available on the internet, search for "income".
  • Prepare yourself a line of argument in order to locate yourself within the spectrum of possible incomes that you have found. Can you take into account special abilities and knowledge of yours that would be advantageous for your employer and that other employees do not have? Do you work in other projects that require special skills?
  • Make up a written compilation of your credits, occupations and fields of competence.
  • Think of the negotiation from the employers' point of view: What are their interests? What are the economic situation and development of their company? How do they rate your proficiency? Are you among their favourite employees that they will not want to do without? What is the range of possible increases of salary that they are able to provide you?
  • Think of alternatives to an increase of salary. These could be further education and training, a one-time extra payment, special services like a PC or mobile phone for your private use, or company pension. Another alternative is to come to the agreement that you will be among the benefitters next time. In this case make sure, though, that the agreement is not a disguise but really meant.
  • Practise an interview in front of a mirror or with a friend, and pay attention to your voice, appearance and body language. Exercise different possible situations that can occur.
  • Think of possible objections of your employer and prepare answers to them.
• Present your capacities seriously and in an objective way, give facts and numbers where you can.
• Define a realistic goal to achieve for yourself, first of all concerning the annual salary. Do not demand what they cannot provide.
• Explicate in terms of your capacities what makes you deserve more money. A wrong argumentation would be that you needed more money, which rarely an employer cares about. What they are interested in is your labour value.
• Make the employer see that you are willing and ready to take more responsibility and new commissions.
• Make an appointment with your employer to talk about "profession-related further education" and have the talk in their office. Make it a suitable point of time, that is not Monday morning or Friday in the afternoon or when things are generally not going well or the company is in a crisis.
• Do not accept promises and unclear statements, but head straight towards agreements that are fixed in writing.
• Enter the salary negotiation confidently and look into the eyes of your opposite. It is a negotiation, not a petition. Since you have prepared, you are on one level with your opponent. This is supported, along with good argument, by your body language and by your appearance which fits your profession. Avoid becoming personal or attacking your employer, even if you should feel treated unfair.
• Take the negotiation more as a talk and be easy yourself, without too much pressure to succeed. Be also prepared for the case that you do not achieve your goal.
• Once you realize it is not possible to get the salary increase that you were aiming at, involve your alternative demands.
• Ask them what you can contribute in order to earn more money.
• In case a negotiation is in danger of failure or escalation, adjourn it and make another appointment.
• If, despite thorough preparation, appropriate efforts at work and repeated negotiation, you cannot get the salary of your desire, then you should take a new line and change your workplace. Do not threaten to leave, during a negotiation, unless you can present evidence of a corresponding offer. Attempts of blackmailing will only increaese resistance of the opponent.
• In the first job interview, do not address the issue of salary, yourself. Your future employer will certainly come to this at the end of the interview, if at all, in the first interview.