1. Introduction

Negotiating your next salary can be both a challenging and rewarding experience. A great deal of care is required when you are negotiating with your prospective employer. It is best not to appear greedy; better to come accross as someone who wants a fair level of pay for a fair day's work. Negotiations may well flounder over your salary and a certain amount of tact, skill and diplomacy may be required to get the best deal for yourself.

2. What affects your salary negotiations?

There are a number of factors that affect your ability to negotiate the best possible salary. Your CV must be well-written and reflect your true market worth. If it doesn't then you may struggle to get interviews and even when you do get to interview it may become an uphill battle from the start, which is prejudicial to your ability to negotiate a good package. A good CV will lead the employer through the successes in your career and compell them to wish to employ you.

At the interview stage- your CV gets you to the interview and it will also form the basis of an employer's questioning. It follows that if your CV doesn't convey a highly favourable impression of you, even if somehow it got you to interview - it will surely, severely hamper your salary negotiations. If you need assistance in putting together an interview-winning CV please consult a professional CV writing service (such as Bradley CVs). In fact a good CV could add 10% or more to your next salary, as it will convey your full market worth to an employer. Consider it money well spent. The registration process at 999tom automatically creates a structured bullet point CV - this is an excellent way of getting your next employers attention, it takes around 30 minutes and is a solid partener to your own, usually longer and rambling personal CV.

The impression you give of yourself and your conduct at the interview will play a major part in determining your salary. Make sure that you are smartly dressed and well groomed. Check the company uniform/dress policy if possible before you attend and make sure your attire is in harmony with their general view in this regard. You should prepare thoroughly beforehand. As well as preparing for the actual interview itself you should also prepare for the salary negotiations. Find out the salary range for the job you are applying for and also the salary range for similar jobs.

If you are applying for the job through a recruitment agency please ensure that you have talked to them about salary, once you have been selected for interview but before attending the interview. Most recruitment agencies are paid a percentage of your salary as their fee - so it is in their interest to help you to maximise your salary. Your recruitment consultant should have a good idea of what the employer is willing to pay and how much you are therefore likely to get.

To maximise your next salary you must ensure that you perform well at the interview. At the interview itself make sure you state all your work related achievements. Focus on facts - stick to your achievements and how you brought them about. It is also very important to stress what you can do for your new employer. The more they feel they need you the more they will be prepared to pay you. If you are a specialist or a senior manager you may be able to negotiate a substantial bonus for a certain level of performance. Of course, you will have to achieve this level of performance to get your bonus!

3. Benefits

There are a number of components that makes up your final remuneration package - so there is often a lot of room to negotiate. As well as a basic salary you may also be able to negotiate bonuses if your performance is at a certain level, or benefits in kind, such as a company car, private health insurance, a company pension, enhanced pension contributions etc. Before you go to the interview make sure you know what is included in your current package and what they are all worth. You will also want to think about what sort of package you are expecting from your new employer.

4. Redundancy

When you have been made redundant you may feel that you will
have to accept a lower salary than your previous position. This should not be the case, in fact you may well be able to increase your salary. Do not be tempted to accept a lower salary if this will cause you to resent your new employer - your feelings of 'they got me cheaply' may well affect your performance. In any event, a prior redundancy in a previous life is entirely unconnected and should not colour your judgement.

5. Handling salary related interview questions

So we now come to the part where you prepare to deal with
the two crucial questions you will be asked at an interview: How much did you earn in your last job? What level of salary are you looking for now? These are awesome closing questions from an emploiyer and yet getting this part of the interview right can add literally thousands to your next salary package - time to prepare and make sure you get it right!

"What did you earn in your last job?"

Think carefully here before answering this question because
once an interviewer knows your current salary - it's only human nature to try and fix your next remuneration package based on this figure. Of course, this may be fine by you if you only wanted or expected a small incremental rise in salary and if you know that your current salary is in line with their salary range. However, how do you know whether your current salary is substantially lower than ther rate for the job, or do you, because of the circumstances, want a substantial pay increase?

In these cases you would be best advised to say that you do not really want to prejudice yourself by presenting yourself in a category which he/she might then judge to be too high or too low. Ask if you can discuss remuneration later after the responsibilities for the job and emplioyer expectations of you in the role have been discussed. You may also want to ask them what the salary range for the job is (if you do not already know). Also, if the new job you are discussing is substantially different from your current job you might want to point this out. This is especially true if the new job carries far more responsibilities and/or challenges than your existing job.

If you feel that you must quote your actual salary then add up all your benefits, including salary, bonuses, car allowance, pension, healthcare, etc. In this way - giving just one figure will make your total remuneration package seem larger than just giving them your actual basic salary and it alows you freedom to manoever.

"What level of salary are you looking for right now?"

Be very careful when you answer this question - you do not want to appear to be too greedy or just be seen as a money grabber. You need to make sure that you convey that you are looking for a new career opportunity, that salary is important but secondary and that you would prefer to emphasise and substantiate your potential with their organisation before moving on to money.

If you are applying for a specific vacancy you could ask them what the salary range is. Once they have answered you might say "I think my experience and/or personal qualities, would place me at the top end of your range, don't you?" This one question could add thousands to your next salary - so don't be afraid to ask it. You should only ask this question if you feel confident that they would say, "Yes". If they ask you this question fairly early on in the interview you could delay answering by saying "It is hard to discuss salary without first knowing a little bit more about the job and the responsibilities and in particular establishing that I am the best candidate for the role."

If this is a new position or there is no defined salary then the salary negotiation is wide open. It would probably be best if this was the initial meeting with the employer to say that you would need to see the full job description and understand the companies expectations of the role in detail before you could answer this question. If there isn't a job description then you could offer to help write it - this would give you scope to find out more before you negotiate your salary and is a powerful buying signal from the employer if they consent to it..

6. Afterthoughts

You should approach the actual salary negotiation just as you would any other negotiation. Don't be shy about stating why you are worth X, when they think you are only worth Y. If you cannot get the initial basic salary you want you may be able to persuade them to increase your salary level after a period of time. You might be able to supplement your basic salary with extra benefits in kind or a good bonus payment if you perform satisfactorily. remember always that the opening salary defines the way forward with any future pay reviews - if they get you on the cheap, they will sure keep you there.

Remember the 6 P's - Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents Poor Performance - spend some time thinking this aspect through before the fateful day and good luck !