Negotiating a fair and competitive salary for yourself can be tricky.
It can be much more difficult, especially if you’re a recent graduate because you have no experience negotiating a salary. If you’re switching to another industry, you most likely don’t know the appropriate amount of money you ought to earn in the new career. If you’re taking up a higher position in your current workplace, you want a better compensation package.
And if you just need a salary increase in your current role, how would you ask your boss?
However you want to go about it, you don’t want to earn less than you deserve. You also don’t want to present yourself as greedy by asking for a remuneration far above your worth.
So, whether you’re entirely new to the workplace or assuming a higher role in your current job, this article will show you how to negotiate salaries in 8 easy and practical steps.
What does it mean to negotiate a salary?
Salary negotiation is discussing your possible salary with your employer, recruiter, or hiring manager. The goal is to ensure you get the pay you deserve.
But when should you negotiate or renegotiate a salary? The following are the conditions for salary negotiation:
- When you’re about to start a new role
- When you’re underpaid
- When your contract of employment expires
- When you’re about to take up a different role in the same workplace
- When your employer adds extra work against what’s on the contract of employment.
Negotiating or renegotiating a salary doesn’t make you money-conscious before a hiring manager. A senior recruiter at Intuit, Emily Durham, says it’s acceptable to care about compensation, and it’s part of a recruiter’s job to give you a salary offer that makes you happy.
How to negotiate salary in an interview
Imagine you’re a highly skilled web developer and you’ve just received an attractive job offer from a tech company. Without a negotiation plan, you might be tempted to accept the offer immediately without negotiating because you’re excited or afraid of losing the opportunity.
However, in so doing, you may be leaving a significant amount of money and other benefits of the job on the table. And this won’t speak highly of your negotiation skills and professionalism.
Therefore, to negotiate salaries effectively and reach mutually beneficial agreements with the hiring manager, here are 8 steps to follow.
1. Research your industry to understand the salary ranges
Researching your industry to understand the salary ranges is the first step Emily Durham recommends. In her words, “Go online and research what the average salary range is for this kind of job in your area.”
You don’t want to mention salary ranges that are unreasonably high or low. Using the industry or market information from reputable people helps you negotiate with confidence. And you’ll need a lot of confidence to pull through the negotiation process.
Here’s how to research industry salary ranges:
I. Ask questions
Some of the options to explore and get useful and reputable information:
- Asking friends in the same industry
- Talking to colleagues or former colleagues who used to work in similar roles
- Asking recruiters in your network
- Checking data from reputable career publications such as Payscale, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn jobs. Remember to narrow your search down to Nigeria.
The most important thing to note is that you should consult many sources. That’s a great way to view your industry’s salary ranges holistically.
II. Consider other factors like your location, skills, and experience
- Your current location: Context matters when finding salary information. For instance, if you live in Nigeria, filter your search to Nigeria on foreign websites.
- Your skills and experience: Your level of experience matters. For example, the salaries of junior staff differ from those of senior staff. So keep that in mind when researching or asking questions.
2. Determine your worth to the company
Every job advertisement comes with requirements. Hence, compare your skills and experience with the job requirements if it’s a new role. If you meet most or all the requirements, that means you’re an excellent fit for the job. And the company will most likely go to any length to hire you.
If it’s a current job and you want a pay raise, you can refer to your offer letter or employment contract which usually contains the job requirements. Then you can compare them with your skills and experience.
This comparison will help you understand your value to your prospective company. Linda Raynier, a career strategist and coach, strongly recommends discussing your values with your employer. She says, “To justify a bump in salary for yourself, you need to know what your value is.”
This comparison is important, especially if you doubt whether you deserve the salary range you intend to ask for. But how do you know these values?
Answering the questions below will help you determine your values.
- What new skills have you learned since taking up this job?
- To justify a pay raise, what new education, certification, or licensing have you acquired since taking up the job?
- How have your new skills, licenses, and experiences helped save the company more time and money?
- To justify your pay raise, what differentiates you from every other person working on your team or in your department?
Once you can answer these questions, you’ll be empowered to ask for a pay raise.
3. Set your target salary range
A target salary range is the scale of pay you’re willing to accept from your employer. It includes the lowest and highest amounts of compensation you can take for the job.
For instance, depending on your market research and your worth, your salary range can be between N150,000 and N200,000. Hence, while the highest amount is ideal for you, you’ll likely decline the employer’s offer if it’s below the lowest amount you have estimated.
Having a salary range is like having plans A and B. So, no matter what, you’ll still fall back on one plan without making the hiring manager feel like they don’t have options.
Remember, you don’t have to let the recruiter know your salary range. You only have to tell them the highest amount you can accept. And if they counter it and offer you something closer or slightly lower than your ideal salary, you’ll still be happy.
4. Rehearse your negotiation
Imagine going for a negotiation and forgetting to mention a super important point out of nervousness. You may find it hard to forgive yourself.
Rehearsals, therefore, are a great way to build confidence. Words might fail you during the negotiation. But if you’ve considered various angles the recruiter’s questions can come from, you’ll be more likely to come up with intelligent and convincing arguments.
Here are options you can take to ensure a comprehensive rehearsal before the negotiation:
- Do your research. Reach out to recruiters in your network. Talk to former colleagues to understand possible questions you could be asked during a negotiation.
- Write down these questions and have someone close to you read them out to you while you respond to them.
- Practise before a mirror if you don’t have anyone to practice with.
Assuming it’s an email, reading out the written text aloud would help you detect inconsistencies and points you may have missed.
5. Factor in the job bonuses and benefits
Job bonuses and benefits are extra ways your employer can compensate you. They can come as:
- Health insurance
- Paid holidays
- Free housing
- Opportunity to work remotely
- Free data subscription.
Although bonuses and benefits may not come directly as money, they can save you money.
Let’s assume your ideal monthly salary for a job as a civil engineer in Lagos is N400,000 and the hiring manager wants to pay you N200,000. In addition, they’ll offer you a free self-contained apartment close to the office.
Although this amount is far below your ideal salary, the free accommodation close to the office can compensate for the N200,000 shortage.
To factor in bonuses during your salary negotiations, you need to:
- Know whether the bonuses and benefits are one-time or recurring
- Understand the monetary worth of the bonuses and benefits
- Figure out how the bonuses will impact your life financially and otherwise
- Know if there are conditions attached to them
- Understand if the bonuses and benefits will impact your future earnings.
Considering these points will help you make a more informed decision.
6. Pay attention to the hiring manager’s body language
Body language is an unspoken language people show under certain emotions or conditions. Once the negotiation starts, you can notice the hiring manager’s body language through their
- Facial expressions
- Postures
- Behaviours and actions (gestures)
- Tone of voice.
Negotiation is a mind game. Because you can’t get into the hiring manager’s head, reading their body language is the best way to estimate their thoughts before making your moves. It is also the best way to understand what they think about your statements during the negotiation.
For example, if you name a price range in a one-on-one negotiation and the hiring manager smiles, that could be an indication that the amount is off the budget.
With that, you can prepare a strong defence to convince them you’re worth the price. And you never know — they could change their mind and pad the budget.
Reading body language is only most effective in a physical or video negotiation. Trying to read body language via an email and phone negotiation is almost impossible.
The following are essential tips to remember when reading the hiring manager’s body language during a negotiation.
- Talk less and listen more.
- Pay attention to their facial expressions.
- Observe if they maintain eye contact. It’s a sign they’re confident about what they’re saying.
- Take note of their gestures and postures.
- Observe any changes in their tone of voice.
7. Highlight how your qualification can help bring a solution to their problems
Working for someone is like trading. You’re trading your time, skills, and experience for their money and other benefits. But without your skills and experience, your time is worth nothing to them.
If you observe through the recruiter’s body language that they’re not convinced about what you bring to the table to compensate for your salary expectations, the next step is to let them know.
Let’s say you’re taking up a higher position in your current job or just asking for a salary increase. As long as you have learned new skills, acquired new licenses, and grown in experience, you should demonstrate to your boss how your unique skills, experiences, and licenses can:
- Save them money
- Help them make more sales
- Generate them leads
- Help them save time
- Differentiate you from other members of your team.
So even before the negotiation, assess your skills, licenses, and experiences. That’s how you come up with convincing evidence that you deserve what you’re asking for.
If you’re a current employee at a company, note projects, exercises, or areas where you’ve used these skills. But if you’re a new employee, consult your past education and experiences to come up with these facts and figures.
8. Follow up on the negotiation
Following up on the negotiation is the next step after the negotiation process. The goal of this can be
- To clarify some of the points made during the salary discussions
- To show that you’re still interested in the position
- To resolve outstanding issues if there are any
- To confirm the agreement in writing
- To politely show you’re not interested in taking up the position.
“Once the negotiation is done,” says Siew-Yong Bong, former Head of Talent Acquisition, “it’s a good idea to send a follow-up email to express your gratitude to the employer for the discussion.” Hence, whether the negotiation ends well or not, it’s essential to thank the recruiter for their time and for considering you for the job in the first place.
Following up not only helps you know where you stand with the hiring manager. It also helps to portray you as a professional and reliable candidate. Depending on what you and the hiring manager are comfortable with, you can follow up by email, phone call, or a physical meeting.
Salary negotiation FAQs
1. What are some ways to negotiate a higher salary?
Here are ways to go about negotiating a higher salary:
- Research to understand your industry’s salary ranges by checking out industry and career websites, talking to friends in similar roles, and reaching out to recruiters in your network.
- Highlight your skills, experiences, achievements, and licenses to show your value to the hiring manager.
- Be polite, humble, and confident while negotiating.
- Practice the negotiation thoroughly to build confidence and not miss your points while negotiating.
2. How do you negotiate a job salary with no experience?
When negotiating a salary with no experience, here is what you should do:
- Understand your industry salary ranges by checking career websites and talking to former colleagues or friends in the same position in your location.
- Present your skills, certifications, and licenses to show your value.
- Never look down on yourself, even the CEO once had no experience. Stay confident.
- Practice your negotiation speech with a loved one to build confidence.
3. How do you negotiate a salary when you don’t know the range?
Every industry has a salary range depending on your location and level of experience. Recruiters or hiring managers know this. So, once you know your industry’s salary range, you’ll be on the right side without worrying about your exact prospective company’s range.
To understand the salary range for your industry:
- Check out industry and career websites.
- If you’re asking for a raise, find out salary ranges from former colleagues or peers who used to hold similar positions.
- Reach out to recruiters or hiring managers in your offline and online network to understand better.
Tips for negotiating salary at an interview
Here are some salary negotiation tips to consider:
- Think about what you want to say before you say it.
- If you need more time to think about an offer, politely request the recruiter to give you some time to think about it.
- Be calm, polite, and confident during the negotiation process.
- Throughout the negotiation process, remember that negotiation is not a fight or an argument. It’s an opportunity to express yourself and your views politely and professionally, even when you disagree with the hiring manager.
Conclusion
Understanding how to negotiate salaries is crucial to securing a good compensation package for your dream job offer. With that knowledge, you’ll be able to advocate for your true market value effectively and ensure that you’re well compensated for your skills and expertise.
The steps outlined in this article are essential because they clarify and prepare you for a successful salary negotiation process. They help you start your new job with a salary that reflects your true worth and sets you up for a more rewarding and fulfilling career.
