Kazira

Here is one subject that no one talks about much …. As the etiquette goes, “Never ask a woman her age and never ask a man how much he makes”. Honestly, money is one crucial aspect that you must ponder when seeking your first job.

A lot of folks just don’t think about it and some ignore it completely (as one of the jokes that I mentioned earlier in my previous blog – One person while filling a job application answers “Yes” to the question “Salary Expected?”). The company that you are about to interview with expects you to be as ignorant about this subject as possible – It gives them an upper hand in this negotiation! But a little preparation on your part can change this.

Don’t ever forget – “The salary that you start with is a key factor in determining how far you’ll financially reach in the long run”. This is due to the fact that a raise given each year – is given as a percent of your current salary. Typical raises in most job markets vary between 4% to 10% - depending on how well your performance has been and how well the company did during that evaluation year. (Please disregard this article if you are working for the Wall Street or some dream start-up company – the equations are way different there). So, lets say you start of with a $50,000 job and get a raise of 4% a year (on an average) – In 5 years you will be getting 60,800. Meanwhile, if you negotiated well and received $60,000 for the same job to start with – now 5 years down the road (with the same 4% raise a year) raise, you will be making $73,000. You see what I mean when I say that your initial salary will be a key-determining factor on your compensation in the long run. To make the matter worse, even when you switch a job, the new company usually asks for the salary that you made previously and offers a salary based on that information.

Successful negotiating is all about the fact that – both parties leaving the negotiating table feel that they got something substantial out of the deal – A WIN-WIN for both parties. Lets face it, you are looking for a good job to start your career and the companies are looking for cheap labor that they can get for a reasonable price. There is a fine line in this – where you can feel that you got a fair price for your expertise and you will get something out of it in the long run and the company’s feel that they have acquired a talent that they can in turn mentor and for a reasonable price.

There are several folks that I have met – think that once they start off in a company, they will be able to negotiate a better base salary and get an instant jump – In a majority of cases, this is impossible. So, how the heck do you figure out what is the upper limit on what the company can offer you and not look elsewhere for filling the job. Here are a few suggestions that you could use while going through the hiring process:

• Research the job description/requirements first. Armed with this information, you can now figure out an equivalent paid salary by any relevant government agency. This gives you a ballpark figure. The government has a good way to define the salary band based on the work performed. This is public information. Also look up Dice.com or Monster.com for clues on what other companies are paying for the same job requirement (Some companies post a range for the job that they post).

• Go to salary.com or Payscale.com and research salary range commensurate to your job requirement. If you are a member of associations such as IEEE; they usually post the salary ranges for various different jobs. Also, note that your salary should be scaled based on the location. One of the young engineers that I hired in Washington DC from Ohio was shocked to see the living expenses in the DC metro area. He settled for salary as if he would be living in Ohio – naturally he regretted that for a long time.

• Research the company that you are about to join and figure out what level of desperation that they have in hiring you. Based on the level of desperation of the company, inflate your demand from the norm.

• Ask your seniors from college (if applicable) as to what range of salary to shoot for when looking for a job in the company that they work for …

• Have a poker face when you are interviewing. Don’t show excitement or give out more information than necessary. Any clues regarding your preference to stay in one place (your family etc.) will give the folks who are hiring you an upper hand. As I posted on my previous blog (48 laws of Power – Remember “Always say less than necessary”). Here is another story about another guy that I hired – He openly mentioned that his fiancé has moved to the DC area and hence its imperative for him to move to DC. Poor guy, didn’t realize the impact of information that he volunteered.

• Never volunteer a salary figure when the companies ask you for one – unless you are completely sure of what you want. My friend calls it the concept of Anchoring. Once you anchor yourself to a figure – then the companies can very shrewdly use it to negotiate it down. Always make the companies make the first offer.

• Never let the company play the following card on you – “Once we hire you; we can review your performance and then give you appropriate raise then” – It’s a trap. And once you are trapped, the excuses that the companies can use (for not giving you a raise) are numerous for me to document here.

• Another card that companies play is that they say – “We give so much money in bonuses every year so we can’t afford to pay higher salaries”. Again a trap that the companies use – The bonuses usually depends on the performance of the company that particular year and is a variable. Don’t bet your salary on it.

So in summary – the key to a successful negotiation is KNOWLEDGE – The more you know, the better you’ll be at negotiating. The more you could anticipate other parties desires, weaknesses, and desperation, the more advantage you’ll be in … Don’t forget, the other side is trying the same on you. This particular concept applies not only for negotiating salary, but negotiating ANYTHING. “Know as much as you can about the subject under negotiation and show up in the meeting armed with this knowledge. Talk to a lot of people – research on the web.

Don’t get undersold on your first job assignment. GOOD LUCK!

Note - Photo Credit