Salary negotiations are a very delicate part of the initial interviewing process and can cause a lot of anxiety for job seekers. Come in too high and you cut yourself off at the feet, come it too low and you shoot yourself in the foot - either way, you won’t be walking comfortably for a while. Employers differ in their approach to these negotiations - some may wait to bring it up only once a job offer has been made, while other may start discussing it in the midst of the very first interview. Either way, you have to be prepared to discuss the following:
- Past earnings
- Current salary expectations
- Whether you will be willing to negotiate on certain terms
Once you are presented with a printed offer as part of the salary negotiation process, it is imperative that you take the time to work through it carefully. Request permission to take it home and discuss it with your legal counsel if you feel you can benefit from a professional opinion. Often, salary contracts are densely and complexly structured in the hope that the potential employee will give up on the fine print and simply sign on the dotted line, leaving a lot of scope for eventual loopholes on the part of the employer. Here are a few things to bear in mind while slogging through the paperwork:
- In the event that you have to move, does the company offer relocation reimbursement? In the same vein you should calculate how the cost of living in your current location measures up to where you will be moving. There could be a sizable difference that might influence your salary expectations.
- What type of benefits will form part of your salary package? Medical aid and retirement annuities are not necessarily always included in salary offerings, which is why it is interesting to note which companies do include it in their offer. There are normally organisations that care for the welfare of their employees and realise that a happy, healthy worker is a productive worker.
- If bonuses are discussed in the offering, does it seem realistic? When offering bonuses, prospective employers sometimes attach unattainable goals that have to be reached. As such, don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
We will be discussing further salary negotiation factors on this page in future, so be sure to check in regularly to gain more knowledge in this particular field of job hunting. We will also be posting relevant salary surveys.
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