Secret of Salary Negotiations

In my last "What Color is Your Parachute?" blog post, I gave a few different tips that could help someone when he/she is interviewing for a job. In this blog post, I am going to talk about "secrets" of salary negotiation. Boles discusses six secrets of salary negotiations in What Color is Your Parachute, however I am only going to talk about of couple of his first three secrets in this blog post.


Salary Negotiation Secret #1
Boles's first secret is to never discuss the salary until the end of the interview process, when/if they have definitely said they want you to work for them. He summarizes the first secret by stating that it is not in your best interest to not discuss salary with a possible employer until all of the following conditions have been fulfilled:

• they've fully gotten to know you and you've fully gotten to know them
• you have found out exactly what the job entails
• it is your final interview at that place, for that job
• you've decided that you really want to work for the company
• they have given you a feeling of we want to have you work to us and/or we got to have you work for us

Salary Negotiation Secret #2
Boles's second secret is based on uncovering what the most amount of money an employer is willing to pay to hire you. It would be easy if an employer were to mention from the start of the interview the top figure they are willing to pay for the position, but most employers never do. Employers know the top figure they would pay for you but they are hoping they can get you for less money. The employer will usually set a range, for example $18-$30. $30 is the most the employer can pay to higher you but they are hoping to get you for $18 an hour. You should try to negotiate the highest salary the employer is willing to pay you within their range. The employer's goal is to save money by hiring you for a lower salary, so you should have your own goal of bringing home the most money possible. As Boles's stated, there is nothing wrong with either goals.

Salary Negotiation Secret #3
The third negotiation secret given by Boles states that you should never be the first one to mention a salary figure. In the interview process, salary negotiation is eventually going to come up. The theory is that whoever mentions a salary figure first generally loses. Inexperience interviewers may not be aware of the theory, but most experienced ones usually very aware of it. Experienced interviewers will try to get you to mention a figure first by asking "what kind of salary are you looking for?". When/if they try to ask you to name a figure, you should have a counter move ready. For example, Boles's counter move from What Color is Your Parachute? is: "Well, you created this position, so you must have some figure in mind, and I'd be interested in first hearing what that figure is." Boles's counter move he listed would be an excellent counter move because it would force the interviewer to first mention a salary figure.

Sometimes it may be hard to know the "best" time to "talk" salary, but these secrets have given you a better understanding of how and when to negotiate your salary.