Successful salary negotiations. How not to overdo it?
When starting a job search, most candidates anticipate the salary they expect from their new job. Recruiters are usually the first link in the recruitment project to ask the candidate about their desired remuneration. Of course, when recruitment takes place, there is usually no salary negotiations with the recruiter – this is the last part of the recruitment process, when the candidate has already been selected and the terms and conditions need to be agreed.
It is important to be in a strong position
It is important to take a firm and reasonable position on remuneration when negotiating with a prospective employer. If the recruitment process was based on one amount and the recruitment process is different, then this is an opportunity for the employer to question the candidate’s firmness in his/her intentions regarding the remuneration desired. It is important to stick to the same amount and not to try to change it without reason. It is also important to justify the amount. Even if it is the same amount that has been earned in the past, this is a good justification. If the employer does not understand why the candidate wants a certain amount, then the employer is more willing to negotiate.
When can flexibility be shown?
If the position is partly new and the experience you have does not make you feel completely confident, but the role itself is interesting, then it is possible to show flexibility in salary negotiations, at least during the probationary period. This way, the employer feels that the employee is motivated to take on the role and that it is not only financially motivated. At the same time, if it is known that there will be a lot of prospects in the new role, it may be possible to lower the salary expectation at the beginning, if that will help to get the role. Only the expectation of reward should be lowered right at the start of the recruitment process, otherwise a sudden drop in the middle of the recruitment process can be seen as a sign of lack of self-confidence.
Limits or a specific number?
Only a specific number. Salary caps indicate abstractness and it is unlikely that an employer will immediately offer the upper end of the range. So you should try to aim for a concrete amount
It is therefore important to assess the situation and adapt the desired remuneration to it. If the salary is expected to rise quickly, then the initial amount is less important. If the salary increase is expected to be infrequent, then you need to assess your position in the recruitment process and choose a figure that is sufficiently high, but still competitive. If the position is very interesting and the financial part is not important at the current stage of life, then the priority should be to keep the work interesting and the financial part can be reduced in favour of the priority of the interesting part of the work. The key is to have a strategy and not to blindly choose an amount and always state it the same, regardless of each individual situation. Only in this way can one become financially successful in the long term.
