5 Common Mistakes to Avoid in Salary Negotiations

When you’ve found a company that’s interested in hiring you, it’s time to begin the process of salary negotiation. As with almost everything else in business, there’s a right way and a wrong to negotiate your compensation.

Here are 5 common mistakes to avoid in salary negotiations.

1. Being Unprepared

When you’re at the point where you need to negotiate for the best salary you can get, probably the worst mistake you can make is to “wing it.”

Enter negotiations fully prepared. Make sure you’ve researched the average salary for someone with your job description in your area, so that you know what you should make at a minimum. Also, do a salary comparison by city just to get an idea of what the averages are elsewhere. You might be able to raise the average in your area.

Finally, use leverage if possible. If you know that the company is in desperate need of someone with your skill set, use that to your advantage. Do some gentle arm-twisting to get more pay.

2. Negotiating Before You Have an Offer

If there ever was a case study of people who are known to put the proverbial cart before the horse, it would be employment candidates who start negotiating for a salary before they’ve even been extended a job offer.

If you haven’t yet been extended an offer, there’s no need to talk about salary at all. Stay quiet about the matter until you’re certain that the company wants to hire you.

3. Discussing Salary in Your Cover Letter

Unless you’re specifically asked to do so, avoid discussing salary in your cover letter.

You can think of your cover letter as an extension of your resume. It’s where you “sell yourself” to the company that wants to hire somebody with your background. In other words, it’s not where you ask for payment, it’s where you talk them into wanting to interview you.

4. Talking About Your Finances

You might be experiencing some personal financial struggles as you enter the salary negotiation phase. Although those struggles offer a unique set of challenges and will have some impact on your compensation requirements, you shouldn’t mention them to a prospective employer.

Remember, salary negotiations are an attempt to gain an increase in pay based on what you can offer the company. There’s no reason you should expect the company to offer you more money just because you’re facing financial struggles.

5. Ignoring the Benefits Package

Your compensation involves more than the money you take home in your paycheck every week. You’re also compensated in terms of benefits, matching 401k contributions, and vacation time. If you can’t reach a settlement on salary, you might be able to sweet talk the employer into giving you an additional week of vacation every year. That will give you extra time with your family, which is really priceless.

If you studied the best 2 year degrees by salary and followed a program just to maximize your pay, you still might need to negotiate for the best compensation package. Just make sure that you don’t commit the same kinds of mistakes as people who have gone on before you.