Answering the Money Question
From http://www.nytimes.com
Most job seekers think that the salary negotiation
process is complicated. Actually, it's not, IF the
negotiator understands a few central tenets - and
that the process begins at the very first mention of
money.
An old assumption of negotiating is that he or she
who gives the dollar figure first usually loses out
in some way. You always want to try to get the
person interviewing you to give figures first. That
puts you in a position of power, the power to not
respond immediately, the power to react in a
deliberative fashion, the power to put off further
discussion - and mostly, to eventually get more
compensation out of the process.
Even more important, it is critical for the job
seeker to understand that putting off the salary
discussion is always to his/her advantage for four
basic reasons:
If you come in low, sometimes the other person will
assume that your experience isn't so sophisticated
as the job requires. People who think like this will
equate salary with expertise, unfortunately. That
isn't always true, as we know.
Another problem with coming in low is that a
prospective employer might "low ball" you; that is,
come in with an offer less than he/she originally
intended. That is bad business planning, but in a
"this quarter" business climate, too common. Later
on, you might find out that you're being paid less
than your peers and less than market.
Coming in at the right level sounds fine, but
there's a problem here, too. You've limited your
negotiating stance for later on in the discussion.
What if the job turns out to more than you had
thought? Then, you're stuck.
Presenting too high a salary might mean immediate
elimination from consideration. Most people will
think that's good, since they don't want to talk
about a job that can't afford them. My contention is
that given today's market, salary is not the entire
picture and that we need to consider "total
compensation," which can be widely variable. And we
do want to hear what that total picture is before
making a decision or being eliminated from the
process, which means GO FOR THE OFFER.
There are many ways of initially avoiding the salary
discussion, keeping in mind that the longer you
avoid it, the more opportunity you have to build
value. A response to the salary question might be,
"I hate to eliminate myself from consideration at
this point because of a number. Money is extremely
important to me, but at this point, fit is the key
consideration. Would it be ok if we deferred this
discussion until we have a better idea of how my
skills fit the situation?"
