Pay And Remuneration Archives - The Career Success Doctor

How to Negotiate Your Job Offer

Written by Natalia

On our previous post on how to deal with salary interview questions, we talked a little about the importance of negotiation. Today we will focus specifically on how to negotiate your job offer.

Knowing how to wiggle is not such a common skill. And just like with any other skill, there is always something new we can learn, something we can improve. How are you going to improve your negotiation skills today?

What is better than learning from the experts? In the video below, Deepak Malhotra, a Harvard Business School negotiation professor and best-selling author of “Negotiation Genius” and “I Moved Your Cheese“, recorded one of his lectures offering 15 pieces of negotiation advice for his students, followed by Q&A.

Although he is referring to his students’ first jobs, his advice applies to all ages, no matter your work experience.

If you have the time, watch the whole video, some of the questions might be beneficial for you too. Otherwise, you can watch the first 35-40 minutes for professor Malhotra’s lecture.

I won’t say much to reveal the negotiation tips you’ll learn from this session, but I’ll share just the first one. The “equation for getting what you want”:

Here are the components of what you need to do:

1. They need to like you

2. They have to believe that you deserve it

3. They need to be able to justify it internally

I believe you have an idea now how valuable this video is for your negotiation skills. Chances are you don’t think of it in that way every time you want to negotiate your job offer – or anything else in life.

Here is the YouTube video. Grab a pen and paper and… enjoy! You’re about to be a better negotiator today, learning from an expert.

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How do you negotiate your job offers? Any tips you want to share?
What are your thoughts about this lecture? Did you find it helpful?

Let us know! Leave a comment below, or visit our Facebook Page.

How To Answer Salary Questions In A Job Interview

Written by Natalia

Many job seekers feel uncomfortable when asked salary questions in a job interview. I had a phone call today from a friend who is currently searching for a new job, and he told me he landed two interviews last week. That’s excellent news! And then the question arose: “The recruiter asked me about my salary expectations. What’s the proper answer to this question?”

It is a fact that interview questions like “what are your salary expectations?” are considered to be among the difficult ones. You really have to be careful because your answer could either lead you to miss a good opportunity if the wage you propose is too low, or even miss the job if it’s too high. Other trick questions like this could be “what was your last salary?”, or “would you be willing to take a lower pay than what you were getting in your previous job?”.
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So, how should you answer salary interview questions?

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Research

First of all, it is vital to do your research before the interview. This means that you have to learn as much as you can about the company including its compensation policies. A web search will help you with this if you do not know any of the employees in person. In addition, Ellen Gordon Reeves, the author of ‘Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?’ proposes to go straight to the source: “You can call the HR department of a company and simply say, ‘I saw a job advertised at your company and I’m wondering what the entry-level salary is for this department.’”

Of course, I am assuming here that you have already done your homework, and you know what salary to expect for this position according to the industry, your location, skills and experience.

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Diplomacy

Unless you are a psychic, you can’t possibly know the exact figure the recruiter has in mind. That’s why it is a good idea to give a diplomatic answer ‘throwing the ball back’ to the interviewer. Don’t be too open though (like “I’m willing to take whatever you give”), as you don’t want to sound weak.

A good example could be saying that you need more information about the job responsibilities before discussing salary. You could also ask the interviewer back what the company typically offers to someone with your qualifications, or what is budgeted for this position.

Always remember that what we say is not the only important thing. How we say it is quite significant as well. Your body language, your voice, your pauses and the way you talk are crucial to communicate your message. You don’t want to sound aggressive, right?

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Set a range

If they insist on a figure from you, it is best if you reply with a range. This will give you room for negotiation in case what you have in mind does not agree with what the company is offering. This is where all the research you have done becomes handy.

You could say something like “Based on the industry rates, my skill-set and previous experience, my requirements are in the $55.000 – $60.000 range, depending on the scope of work. Is that the range you had in mind?”

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Room for negotiation

Supposing you did your homework, the range you proposed was an acceptable one. Nevertheless, you will probably be offered a salary closer to the low end of your range. That is why it is wise to structure your proposal in a way that there is room for a counter-offer, in case you are not happy with the compensation the recruiter suggests. Lisa Gates in her article on The Daily Muse explains perfectly how to wiggle.

Negotiation conversations are made up of anchors (putting a number on the table), counteroffers, and concessions. Simplifying wildly, you need to know two things—your target (what you really want) and your reservation point (your walkaway or resentment number).

Remember to never try to negotiate anything until there really is an offer on the table.

Also, don’t forget that salary is not the only aspect of a job offer. Bonuses, employee benefits, or even share percentages are also parts of the package. If the benefits are more than you had expected, maybe a slightly lower salary isn’t so bad. On the other hand, if they are less you could use that as a justification for a higher salary.

For further reading on how to answer salary questions in a job interview, I have two more articles for you:
– The first one is by Aimee Bateman on Undercover Recruiter
– The second one, on BioSpace, by Carole Martin, provides some really good examples of Q&A’s

Best Jobs For Women

Written by Natalia

What were the best jobs for women in 2013 and what are the predictions for this and the coming years? Some years ago, if a girl wanted to work there weren’t many options. Nowadays women are working in all fields. From factory workers to CEOs, and from police officers to pilots, women can be found in every working environment. And it is not uncommon in our century for females to run the household finances, and -more recently- to run businesses.

But what are the best jobs for women these days? What were the most high-paying career options last year? What do statistics show about working women?

In the infographic below, published in Visually by Graphs, you will see a nice summary of every kind of research around the topic ‘professional women’.

According to research, 73% of working women had white collar occupations in 2009 and it is projected that women labour force will be increased to 78 million by 2018.

As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the best-paying job for women in 2013 was the one of the pharmacist. In the second and third place were lawyers and computers and information systems managers accordingly. Great news for women in STEM: in this top 19 there are many professions in that field.

The job of the physician’s assistant is the highest paying job in the top 10 career options for women, followed by that of the video game designer. It is worth to take a look at the jobs that women outnumber men. Among them are school teachers, insurance underwriters and HR managers.

Looking at the countries with the highest percentage of women’s entrepreneurship I was surprised I didn’t see the United States or any of the ‘big’ European countries (the ones with the strongest economy). Thailand has the highest percentage of female entrepreneurs in the world! Peru, Colombia and Venezuela are following. To my amazement, Greece -where I come from- is ranked in the 9th place!

It is a fact that women are starting new firms at twice the rate of all other businesses. Today, women-owned businesses in the Unites States represent nearly 40% of all US businesses. The most interesting fact is that women-owned businesses employ 35% more people than all the Fortune 500 companies combined!

Explore more infographics like this one on the web’s largest information design community – Visually.

Paying People A Living Wage Is Important

Written by The Career Success Doctor

There’s a tradition that has grown up in the UK, particularly, but not exclusively, in the Media industry to ’employ’ free interns. Although the law limits how long you can do this for, they get round it by calling them ‘volunteers’. In theory, the experience looks good on a CV, and might even get the intern a job in the company where they are interning.

That’s how it’s sold. And in some cases, it’s true. My partner’s daughter got her first PR job through interning and has never looked back. Unfortunately, however, too many companies are just exploiting young people who are desperate to get a foot on the career ladder.

And the Media industry is sexy, so people tolerate this behaviour. Sadly, Ebenezer Scrooge is alive and well the whole year round, not just at Christmas.

Peter Cappelli, Professor of Management at the Wharton School of business has recently written a hard hitting article in the Harvard Business Review about the low wage culture in the USA and the double standards of large Corporates who claim to be into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In the USA, like the UK, it’s very hard to live on minimum, so-called ‘living’ wage rates.

Here’s what Capelli has to say on the subject.