Negotiating a Salary or Not?

[Curls]

Next week I''m interviewing for a new position with the company I currently work for. If I do get an offer at the interview, I want to be prepared. Based on what I''ve heard others say, when my company offers you a job, they always offer you a salary that is the minimum for that position. One of the examples to prove it is, a year ago a co-worker friend of mine received a promotion and a few months later her boss (which is my boss too) said "I was really surprised you didn''t try to negotiate your salary."

The position that I am applying for now is not under the same boss and I have absolutely no clue what they make. I''m confident they make more, I just don''t know how much more. I tried to look up average salaries on salary.com, but it''s a strange position and I really can''t pick what is comparable because nothing matches up completely. I really, really, really want this new job so I don''t want to do anything to blow my chances of getting it.

Here are other things about my situation….no matter what it will not be a pay decrease because that’s against my company’s policy. I’ve never held this position before, so I would have a decent amount to learn. They would still consider me an asset though because I know the computer programs that are specific to our company, they know me, I already have good relationships with the people I will work with, and I have a great track record/reviews with the company. I am not applying for any other jobs so I can’t wait for better offers. My company is actually going through a rough period so they’re not going to be too eager to give out money.

So my question to anyone reading this is do I take whatever they give me and be happy considering my company''s situation, or do I try to negotiate a higher pay rate? If you think I should negotiate, I would love to hear exactly how you have done that? And how do I know how much higher I should shoot for if I can''t figure out the average salary for this position?

I''ve looked up tips, but I really would like more input that’s specific to my situation. Maybe some of ya''ll have been in a similar one.

 

[robbie3982]

I think you should try to negotiate higher, but how to do that is a bit beyond me. I''d love to hear the answers of others.

 

[TCBug]

Congratulations on the possible move and good luck! Yes, by all means negotiate! I''ve been on both the "employee" side of this (as an associate attorney) and on the "company" side (years later, as a partner). I must say that the picture is pretty much the same, regardless of the angle you''re viewing it from. The company wants to promote qualified, well-polished, professional people. And one way to prove you are one of those folks is to treat your own career in a professional, serious manner. I''m not saying to ask for the moon; and I''m not saying to be intractable.

What I am saying is to gather all the information you can and to have goals in mind (do you want to make $2k more per year? $3k? Is this reasonable? Have one more week of vacation? Is this reasonable? etc.) and then be willing to get a bit less than you asked for. Also, consider whether your company has a firm pay-grade system? Or a rock-solid "time off" policy. (In other words, are they "locked in" on some things?) There''s nothing wrong with getting a bit less than you asked for -- frankly, I think it means you didn''t leave money on the table. Chances are that they will respect you for knowing your own worth.

Finally, don''t beat yourself up because you will have to learn new things in the new position. This is true anytime we advance and "stretch" ourselves. What your company is doing is trying to decide whether to take a chance on you in this new role. Can you learn what is necessary to do this job well? Of course you can -- so express that (both by demonstrating that you know what new skills you will need to acquire and by showing them what skills you already have that you can transfer into this role).

Speak up for yourself and good luck!

 

[kcoursolle]

Negotiate! I am almost done with my PhD in a social science field. I read a few articles the other day that suggested that on average women do not negotiate, while males on the other hand overwhelmingly do. These different patterns produce drastically different career income trajectories between men and women and contribute among other things to the gender gap in wages. The articles suggested that women were insecure about negotiating for wages because they were just happy to get the position, whereas the men had a more "get as much as you can" mentality. Because one''s starting salary has implications for future salary, it is especially important to negotiate. Even a small amont can add up to a large amount of money over the course of your lifetime career path.