I’m going to teach you 6 tips that’ll help you to negotiate a higher salary for yourself. Whether you’ve just been given a new job offer or you’re wanting to ask for a raise, if you know that you deserve more than what you’re currently getting, you definitely want to keep the following tips I have for you in mind. All right, so let’s dive into;

Tip #1. And that is, to talk about your value.

Personally, I think this is the most important tip and that’s why I put it as the first one to discuss. So, in order to justify a bump in salary for yourself, you need to know what your value is, and how you’re going to articulate that to your boss or manager. So that means, bringing up any and all evidence that proves why you’re worth what you’re worth. So you’ll bring up instances where you’ve helped the company to increase profitability for example, or reduce costs. Or you’ve saved time in certain areas and that you’ve been recognized as a strong performer. You want to have a list of these types of items ahead of time in your mind, so that when you’re in the meeting, you can clearly explain them, one by one. You want to be assertive and tactful, when you explain yourself, but at the same time, calm yet confident. Because when you can do it in a relaxed yet confident way, they have no choice but to really listen to what you’re saying. And that is only going to help you in getting closer to getting that bump in salary.

Onto Tip #2. Do market research.

Now this is pretty much a given for most people, but while you’re coming up with your value, you also need to know what the market is paying for someone with your credentials and level of experience. So that means, going out, talking to headhunters, talking to recruiters. They tend to have the most up to date market information. As well as perhaps talking to people who you know who have similar job titles and level of experience as you do. Also, you can rely on Google to find out a range. Although I would be wary with Google because salaries do really differ depending on the region and area that you’re looking at. So, whatever information you find through the internet, you want to make sure that it’s true to your specific region, your specific local area. Other than that, the most important thing to keep in mind about doing market research is to definitely use more than one resource to determine your expected salary. If you only rely on one person’s information and say that’s the number that you want, it may turn around and hurt you, because it may not be in line with what the market is paying. So you want to essentially, look at multiple sources, and determine an average number for yourself that you can reasonably expect.

Tip #3: Give a number, not a range.

So when an employer asks, “What are your salary expectations?” Most candidates tend to tense up and are afraid of offending the employer by giving just one firm number. So instead, they give a range. This is the biggest mistake that I think candidates make. For two reasons.

The first reason, it allows the employer to give you lower than what you really wanted. So if you give a range, and the higher number was what you truly wanted, they’re probably going to go for the lower number anyway because you said that you were open to that. Despite what you really wanted. So why would you give a range in that case? You just want to give one number.

Second reason why it’s a big mistake, is that from a hiring manager’s perspective, it makes you look a bit wishy washy. It makes it look as though you don’t really know what it is that you want in terms of salary, so you’re wanting them to make the decision for you. This is not the way to do it. You want to give one number.

Now you want to make sure this number is obviously fair, it’s deserving, and at the same time, it lines up with what the market is paying. So, there are two numbers that you actually want to keep in mind when it comes to this. There’s your, what I call, your “ideal” number and then there’s your “willing to settle” number.

So your “ideal” number is the number that, if you got this salary, you would be ecstatic, you would be so happy because deep down, you know that that’s actually more than what you think, based on someone with your experience and value is truly worth. At least for now. So, the ideal number is generally just slightly higher than what you’d normally expect for someone at your level.

Now, the “willing to settle” number is the number that you know is truly justified. It’s what you’re truly worth and what you deserve. That you shouldn’t be getting any less than that, that that’s the number that you’re worth. So, when you’re being asked, “What are your salary expectations?” You actually want to give your ideal number. And the ideal number is not WAY over the mark of your “willing to settle” number, it’s maybe about $5K more? So you want to give that number, for the reason that the employer, likely, will look at it and say, because they’ll do their own research. They’ll look at it and they’ll say, “Okay, this person wants this much.” “They feel they’re worth this much.” “But we feel that the role is worth this much.” And they won’t really go too far off from your ideal number. Which means that you’re going to get your “willing to settle” number. Which is the number that you should truly be expecting anyway. Because that’s what the market is paying, and that’s what someone with your level and experience is also worth.

Tip #4. Go in with leverage.

So, whenever you’re trying to justify a higher salary for yourself you want to make sure you can leverage everything and anything in your favor. So that means, let’s say that you’re in a new job offer situation. A company has just handed you a job offer. But at the same time, you know that there may be other offers that may potentially be coming in. You want to let the hiring manager as well as the headhunter or recruiter know that. You want to simply say to them, “Just wanted to let you know, but I’m considering multiple offers at the moment.” “So this is one of x number.” What that does, is it enhances the ‘scarcity’ mentality for the hiring manager. Because if they really like you, they’ll be willing to pay more if they know you’ll be easily snatched up by someone else.

Now, in terms of a situation where you may be asking for a raise, and you want to stay at your current company. Then, you don’t really want to bring up the fact that you’ve received multiple job offers or anything like that. I mean, even if you have, all you can really say is, “This is what the market is offering.” And that you’re fairly confident that this is what the market is offering. So you’re going to hint at it but not necessarily outright say it. Because you don’t want to mess up the relationship with your employer if you don’t plan on leaving the company.

On top of that, you want to leverage what we talked about. Which is explain your value. Talk about your achievements. Talk about your accomplishments. Highlight them in a clear and concise way. And you also want to really prove to the employer, your boss, your manager, why you are a top performer. Why you stand out from everyone else. You really want to let them know that you ARE different from the rest of your team. You ARE different from the other people in your department. That you truly do deserve more. So, just simply saying, “You know, …over the past year, I’ve done X, Y and Z.” “And if you compare me to the rest of the team,” “nobody else has made the same types of accomplishments that I have.” “So I know that I do deserve more.” I mean it’s simply just highlighting the contrast between YOU and the rest of your team. That’ll also help you to hopefully, get a bump in your pay.

Tip #5. Time it appropriately.

If you’re in a new job offer situation, the only time when you want to be mentioning what your salary expectation is is when the employer ASKS you. Never bring it up on your own. So this could be right at the beginning, it could be during the interview process or it could be at the very end when you’ve actually received the job offer.

Either way, only bring up your salary expectations when prompted by the employer. Never bring it up on your own, because it makes you look money hungry and this is not the impression you want to be setting. Now if you’re in a situation where you want to ask for a raise from your current company, then you want to time it during the performance review time. So most likely, towards the end of the year before the New Year begins. Cause this is the time when most managers expect for these discussions to happen. So it won’t be a surprise coming out of left field. And on top of that, it’ll be a good opportunity for you to leverage your performance review results as well as the value discussion that you’ve prepared ahead of time, and your market research results as well. So you can use all of those to leverage and explain why you deserve a higher salary. And finally,

Tip #6. Be humble and polite, yet confident.

The whole salary negotiation process is simply one where you’re communicating your value and worth to an employer. It’s not about being aggressive or greedy. It’s just simply about justifying why you’re worth what you’re worth. And when you can go in with positive intentions, it’ll only help to increase your chances of getting a positive result. So now you’ve learned 6 tips on how to negotiate a higher salary for yourself, whether you’re in a new job offer situation or you’re simply wanting to ask for a raise.

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