You got this email. The one which says that you managed to pass all those boring interviews and tests, and now you have an offer. About thirty seconds of joy, until you find out about compensation package from it. Welcome to the real life, which may not correspond to your value.
Emotional Roller-coaster
Once again, congratulations! You managed to endure the period of tests and interviews. However, the hardest part – salary negotiation – is waiting for you. Almost every young executive is afraid of this moment and accepts everything as fast as possible. Do not fall into this trap!
Data Will Be Your Ally
It is always told that emotions will not pay your bills, and, trust me, it is the truth. It is very important for you to understand what the average salary of a Director of Marketing or Senior Product Manager in your town is. Glassdoor and Payscale can provide you with some preliminary data, however, if there are industry-specific surveys, use them. Otherwise, you will just lose the game.
Counterproposing
When you start replying on their proposal, do not apologize. You are a business professional negotiating on B2B basis. First, give your salary, and explain why you deserve it, giving some information about your performance at the previous job and your ability to generate revenue.
Beyond Base Salary
Sometimes the salary cannot be changed, but maybe, the company has some other sources of funding to provide you with some extra vacations, bonuses or remote work possibility. Ask for this and, mostly, they will take it into account.
Silence Will be Your Weapon
As soon as you send them your counter-proposal, you need to be silent. It is awkward, but at the same time, it creates pressure for them to give you something. Most people ruin the process of negotiation with talks because they get anxious.
Negotiating the “No” Answer
They tell you that their offer is fixed and cannot be negotiated anymore. Now you need to decide whether this position is worth having with low salary or this is the sign that this is not the company to get higher salary later on. Sometimes people stay in the same position for two years only to get the experience and move to another company, where they receive 30% raise.
Conclusion
Negotiation process may scare you, because we are taught to be grateful to our companies for our positions. In reality, the company will appreciate you as a candidate more, showing your value. If they fired you because of your attitude, they would do it anyway.