Trials & Triumphs of Career Transition, v.21 - Stephen's Lesson in the Art of Effective Salary Negotiation

As we continue to help prepare our candidates for the interview process as part of their outplacement program, we inevitably must discuss how to negotiate a potential salary.

Some candidates, however, will have little idea about what the employer is expecting to pay, because it has not been advertised, or perhaps because the employer itself is not sure what the current market will bear - or they have left room to negotiate.

This was the situation that Stephen found himself in after being offered a role in construction management with a large civil engineering group.  Jobs in this sector were booming at the time and good qualified candidates were hard to find to fit the demand.  Stephen was well aware of this, as well as the outstanding technical and management skills and experience he could bring to the table. He knew that they wanted him on board, but he also wanted to ensure he signed his employment contract for the best possible, but fair, rate.

To help Stephen with his salary negotiations, his CMS outplacement program coach first helped him to confirm the lowest possible salary he and his family could afford to accept at that time, and to project what he anticipated to be paid further down his career path.  His coached helped him to research the current salary scales in his field, in his local area and at his job level; and they discussed the pros and cons of the job, outside of the money factor.  Afterall, income can be discussed in terms of monthly salary, gross annual income, hourly rate, commissions, draws against commission, bonuses, weekly rate, per diem rates, perks, stock options, piece work, contract conditions and expenses, etc. In addition, factors such as commuting time and costs, vacation, and work from home options must be taken into consideration.

No matter how it is viewed, the interviewing company will see a salary negotiation as cash going out to a relatively unknown person based on promise (i.e. risk) and the job search candidate will see it as cash coming in (i.e. security).  It is no wonder that when the question of money arises for the first time in an interview, you can generally hear a pin drop!

Helping our candidates to navigate the question of money, helping them to become aware of the general process, various scenarios and options, and to develop a presentation of their expected salary that is fair, honest and doesn’t immediately eliminate them from the competition, is a delicate balancing act.  Salary negotiations is an art, and teaching our candidates about that art is imperative to them landing the next job in the course of their career history.