When you've been out of work, not only are you more desperate to find a job quickly, you may also be feeling uneasy about your own worth. After all, if your last employer could do without you, how much could you be worth to this new company? What you have to realize is that negotiations are not only accepted, they are expected when job offers are concerned. According to Richard Beatty, author of The Complete Job Search Book, "it is important to realize that employers, for the most part, prefer to make offers that are at, or below, the salary range midpoint" for the position being offered. Most employers assume you will negotiate and expect such a response from a competent professional.
While there are a number of negotiation guidelines to follow, the most important one for someone who has been out of work for some time is don't panic. Don't assume that if you counter their original offer the company will rescind the offer and hire someone else. If they made the offer to you in the first place it is because you are the candidate they chose for the position. There may be others who had better credentials and cost far too much, or others who were less qualified but would cost the company less. However, because they offered you the job you are now in the driver's seat. As with any negotiation, you need to be reasonable, but you do need to negotiate.
Negotiate
If you are at the point of receiving an offer, you have probably already discussed salary ranges with your prospective employer.
You should have a reasonable understanding of where your salary requirements fit within the range of what the company is willing to offer. If you don't know where your requirements fit with the salary range for the position, you need to do some initial investigating before you negotiate a final offer. Because you want your negotiations to appear reasonable to the company, you need to know the company's salary range for the position being offered. Such a carefully worded request should be acceptable to the person giving you the initial offer. The more information you are able to get from the company about the offer, the more effective you can be in your negotiations.
Once you determine the salary range for the position being offered to you, you can use that information to determine your response to the company's offer. If you are able to get information about the salary range for the position, you will be better prepared to give your counter offer to the company.
As you begin your negotiations, your prospective employer will want to know what kind of offer you are looking for. You should respond with an amount that leaves the company with some room to negotiate. In addition, your amount should be slightly higher than the maximum amount you believe they are prepared to offer, realizing that they are likely to negotiate downward from your offer.
The keys to effective salary negotiations are to be reasonable and to provide a rationale to support your request. If you know that jobs for people with your qualifications are scarce or that the state of the economy has put many people with your qualifications out of work, you may need to reduce the amount you ask for. Throughout the process, don't forget that the company offering you a position has decided that, unemployed or not, you do have a definite value to them. Your salary negotiations should be reasonable, but they should also reflect the fact that you also believe you can add value to the company.
