By: fallen angel

I have an ex-colleague who has changed jobs a few times in the past 5 years, and each time he jumped ship, he calls me for advice. What advice? Negotiation advice of course – he doesn’t really know what to do when discussing about salary with his potential employer.

In today’s daily post, I will share with you tips that I shared with him during those phone conversations, in the hopes that it may help some of you out there that needs such advice. It has worked for me, it has worked for him, and I hope it will work for you too.

There will be 8 points to this, and although not all the points will apply to your situation, across many scenarios, each of these 8 points will apply, and therefore as important as the rest.

1. Research

Before you start the negotiation process, you’ll need to do your homework. Research as much as possible, as much as you can for anything that can help you in the negotiation process. In our case, it could be the industry’s salary range for the applied position, the job scope, what values does the company prefer, what is the maximum the company is willing to pay for, and if you’re resourceful enough, what did the previous person in that position get.

2. Get as much leverage as you can

Then, you’ll need to identify your leverage. Leverage is basically an upper hand, it can be something you have that is of value to your opponent, in our case, your potential employee. It could be expertise in a specific skill that the company values, it could be your contacts, it could be your portfolio, it could be your certifications. It could even be the fact that the company is desperate to hire you because of some compliance or need. The main thing is to identify your strong points and your leverage, which you can use during the negotiation process. I learned this the hard way 6 years ago; I missed an opportunity to negotiate for higher salary when the company needed my certifications to comply to a certain compliance in order to get certified. If I had done enough research and found that out, I probably could’ve gotten 20% higher than what I had settled with.

And throughout the negotiation process, maintain your cool. You don’t want to appear too desperate, and at the same time you don’t want to look as if you’re not serious about the job. It’s a balance you will have to learn to keep, and with practice it will come naturally.

3. Set your minimum, and NEVER share it!

Set a minimum amount you are willing to go down to, but remember to NEVER EVER share it. It should be a number that exist only in your mind, not anywhere else. And you never start with this number. You should always start with a number that is higher than the minimum, and the quantum should not be too little that there is no space to negotiate. For example, if you have RM 3.8k as the minimum that you can compromise with, you shouldn’t start your negotiation with RM 4k. This gives too little room for negotiation, and too little room for the final price to stop at RM 3.8k. Your potential employer may say, oh, 4k is too high, how about 3.6k? There goes your 3.8k.

4. Mentally prepare yourself for the negotiation process

Your potential employers will do whatever they can to shake you mentally in order to gain as much leverage against you in negotiation for your salary, given the chance. They will sell the job to you, they may use certain tactics that puts you in a bind during the event itself, and so on and so forth. What you agree to during that discussion, will be the base amount they will be paying monthly for years (if you stay that long), and trust me, if they can lower it, they WILL lower it.

5. Negotiation is a process, not an event

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that the salary negotation is an event, an event that happens when you meet your employer. In truth, the salary negotiation may have started during the first interview itself, when your employee try to get as much information about you as possible, when they try as much as they can to lower your expectations (if given the opportunity) and it may also last well after the meeting has ended. Before you’re given the employment contract, do not assume that negotiation is over.

6. Detach yourself from the object of negotiation

You must always detach yourself from the object of negotiation. This applies to every negotiation out there, be it a negotiation to buy a house, to rent an apartment, your salary – everything! In the case of a new job, you need to detach yourself from the job; don’t think of all the nice things that the job can give you, don’t just blindly accept the good points of the job that your interviewer or your future boss is trying to sell you, they’re just trying to get yourself so attached to the job that you’re willing to take any salary that comes with it.

7. Make a decision

You need to make a decision, and know full well the impact of your decision. If the salary is lower than your expectations, are you ready to take it, or can you walk away and lose it? You need to make this decision internally, and not be affected by any tactics whatsoever.

8. Never burn bridges

Last but not least, you should never burn bridges. Never let the negotiation go bad; always be friendly and courteous throughout the process. You can play hardball, but don’t play it too harshly that you end up being seen as rude by the other party.

Always remember that the negotiation is a process, and it may or may not end by the time it supposedly should end. Who knows, if the potential employer couldn’t find anybody suitable and decided to re-open the negotiation? And who knows, maybe there’s future openings? Always remain polite and courteous, and this will ensure that in the future if there is any possibilities of another negotiation, you’re always in the picture.

Good luck!

P.S. The title of today’s post is actually the title of a book by Herb Cohen – You can negotiate anything! I would recommend that you check it out, if you’re interested to learn more about negotiation.

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