House_Sheila_Blog1
Everyone should know how to negotiate salary, job perks, and job responsibility. That is an idea just about everyone can agree with but have you thought of negotiating your job security in the process? In a podcast from December 2011, Slate’s Negotiation Academy, goes over a few great points about negotiating salary and more. First, you really can negotiate. The key is to be prepaid and be able to back up your requests with facts and numbers that show your worth. Be nice as you speak and do not come off as being overly aggressive. Practice makes perfect so be sure to practice your pitch with a friend or a voice recorder.
Be sure to look at salary ranges for the job you are going to be doing. This will give you your numbers and facts. Consider the cost of living in the area too. Be able to come down from you number and be ready to take another concession. Before you name your salary number build up to the number announcement with your facts and reasoning. Allow silence to happen and wait for the response.
You can also negotiate your job security. This means adding into your contact a severance package. That way, if you are shown the door for whatever reason, you walk with a nest of cash. But what about the gender differences in negotiating? In episode six of Slate’s, Negotiation Academy, a closer look is made of gender.
A main point is that women need to ask and not feel greedy. For deeper information on the matter check out, Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide, by Babcock and Laschever. The majority of negotiators are men. But women are perceived as being caring and nurturing and men will tend to be overly polite when negotiating with women. But women are less likely to ask for more money when they can negotiate their jobs. In, Women Don’t Ask, we see that a study on salaries of Carnegie Mellon University grads showed a 7.6 % difference in the starting salaries of men to women. A deeper look into the facts reveled that 7% of the women negotiated her salary compared to 57% of men who did negotiate their salary. So women, speak up and use your education in the art of deal making.
Try to find out why people want what they want. In iTunes podcast, Negotiation Tip of the Week, Dr. Josh Weiss points out that you can listen for clues to determine which is a position and which is an interest. A position will most likely be stated as a solution. To listen for an interest statement you will want to identify a statement of concern, or need. Want as opposed to why is position vs. interest.
Sources:
Stevenson, Jill Barshay and Seth (2011). Your Salary, and How to Raise It. Learn The Secrets of Everyday Haggling, 2012, from http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/negotiation/2011/12/slate_s_negotiation_academy_episode_10_negotiating_your_salary_.html