Know Your Value Before Salary Negotiating

In advance of salary negotiation, it is imperative for you to know exactly what your salary value is. If you do not know how much you are worth before negotiating salary, then you will find it very difficult to ask for a salary that matches what the job market will pay.

Without doing your legwork, your employer will probably suggest an increase that you find disappointing. While people around the world negotiate salary every day, not many of them are able to get the most out of salary negotiation!

Research ahead of time is critical before approaching your boss for a raise, or before putting your foot forward in salary negotiations at job offer time. It is like a card game. Do not reveal your cards too soon. In this case, your cards are personal secrets like how much you made in your last job, or how much money you'd like in the new job, or how much of an increase you'd like.

Before going into a salary negotiation, know what you are worth in compensation terms!

Whether you are looking for new employment or you are asking for a pay raise, do your research first. There are great Internet resources available, like SalaryExpert.com or Monster.com. These sites have continual access to all the salary information that is available.

One challenge is understanding the reliability of the source of the information. If a resume website is reporting salary ranges as reported by their list of job seekers, it may not be as precise as if the salaries are reported by the human resources department of the firms that are seeking to recruit personnel.

Another option, if you are not afraid to ask, is to do a bit of snooping. If you know someone who works for the firm, and are not afraid to ask, is to find out what other people are making in the same role for that company.

The best source of information is a trusted friend who works in HR. You may find out that the company pays well, or you may find out that they are cheap. Any way you can find accurate information will be helpful.

There are many firms that do research into the human resources data for a particular job market. These firms publish very expensive reports that are only disclosed to inside subscribers. If you are able to gain access to one of these reports in a lawful way, then you may just find you have a wealth of information, that is even more valuable than asking a friend.

Many salary sites report salaries in the form of a large range. If the range is $45,000-$69,000, the site will often report that data in 25% intervals. The bell curve is sometimes found within the 0-100% range, and it is important for you to clearly assess where you fit in the range, and make sure you are not below the bottom or too far above the top.

In order to determine where you lie in the salary range, you need to figure out your percentile. This is the measure to which you believe in yourself and your abilities, combined with your tenure, experience and proven status on the job. If you feel you are honestly a high performance employee, give yourself a higher rating. If you know you have less experience or you are new to a job, then rate a little lower. Be honest in your self assessment.

If you don't genuinely know, you might ask for some honest feedback from a trusted co-worker, or from a friend in a similar position elsewhere.

You must be able to express the value you bring to the business in terms that employers really like to hear. If you are able to describe your value in quantifiable terms, then you will have a lot stronger argument. Think about cost savings, profits you've been responsible for and efficiency you may have brought to the business. This is the greatest way to communicate your worth when negotiating salary.

To your salary negotiation success.