Friday
Learn how to negotiate your salary and benefits.
Learn how to negotiate your salary and benefits.
Everything is Negotiable
Be Your Own Agent
The Job You Want
Your Dream DealSalary History
Negotiating BenefitsNegotiating
Incentives
Raises and Promotions
The Performance Review
The New Salary Negotiation
The Job You Want
If you're looking for the perfect job offer, you might as well stop right now: there's no such thing. But armed with the right information, you can get a good deal in a good place. Negotiating the job you want begins after you’ve learned how to be your own agent - after you’ve answered the tough personal questions and researched the company thoroughly.
Listen and answer first, ask questions later
Like the salary negotiation that follows it, the interview is a two-way process. The interviewer is gathering as much information about you as you are about the company. And a good interviewer will allow you to do most of the talking, so learn the difference between a quick question and one that requires a longer answer. In addition to listening to your answers, the interviewer may also be paying attention to how you budget your time in the interview.
In leading the conversation, the interviewer will cover essential information about the company, the responsibilities of the job, and other relevant material. Assume that the interviewer will answer most of your questions before you ask them, but ask your own questions at the end if anything is left hanging. Feel free to take notes and refer to them later.
Whatever you do, don’t talk about money until the prospective employer puts a job offer on the table. Until then, you have to convince them that you’re a hot commodity. Once they’re convinced, they will pay the fair amount it costs to get you. Let them make the first offer. Some interviewers will put pressure on you to disclose your current earnings, in the interest of determining whether they’re in the right range. As your own agent, you should just keep stalling - remember that you are never required to give a salary history. Money talk is the subject of Part 4.
Steer toward a better job offer
If, in the middle of an interview, you realize the job isn’t right for you, you have a choice. You could continue the interview, wasting both the interviewer’s and your time. Or you could cut the interview short, leaving halfway through, and going home wondering "what if."
There is a third alternative. You could always try to steer the conversation toward something closer to the job you want, or encourage the organization to restructure the job so that it will appeal to you more. You have nothing to lose, especially if your skills are highly in demand. Companies with an entrepreneurial culture are especially likely to be receptive to this kind of win-win maneuver.
Focus on your contribution
As the agent of your own career, keep your focus on the contribution you can make to an organization. In the selling stage of your conversations with a prospective employer, you have an opportunity to show how your work will help create more value for the company and its shareholders. Your contribution will stand out if, in addition to meeting the basic criteria for the position, you also have added skills or experiences. Examples include a well developed network of contacts, direct industry experience, and specific technical expertise.
Check the fit
You might want to do research to find out what a company is like. You can also see for yourself, once you get to the interview, whether the company walks the way it talks. One way to judge what kind of candidate a company is really looking for is to ask some pointed questions, like:
* What kind of management style is most rewarded in this environment?
* How can I be sure I'm achieving the company's objectives here, as well as my own?
* How do you view work/life balance?
* Why is this position open? What happened to the person who previously held the job?
* What is the turnover rate for the position or department?
* How does the company communicate to its members? How often?
* When can I expect a performance review? What is the process?
* What professional qualities are most valued in team members?
Turn them into a buyer
The goal of the interview process is to make the prospective employer conclude not only that they want to hire you, but that you are exactly the candidate they are looking for. Every answer that creates this impression - every point you score in an interview - makes you more valuable to that employer, and thus more expensive. The interview not only sells your candidacy, but also lays the groundwork for the salary negotiation.
Also check out our job offer assessing tool, The Job Assessor, in order to compare job offers.
Everything is Negotiable
It's all negotiable. Every new job - every performance review, in fact - is an opportunity to negotiate base salary, various kinds of bonuses, benefits, stock options, and other incentives that add to job satisfaction and provide financial security. Taking control of your job search before your job offer and conducting a smart search that takes into account more than just financial considerations can also lead to that elusive condition called happiness.
Are you prepared to negotiate for happiness? The negotiation process is an opportunity to define, communicate, and achieve what you want out of your job offer. But to get offered the right job that pays what you deserve, you'll need to do your homework. The first step in the
negotiation clinic is to understand the negotiation basics.
Negotiation requires gathering information, planning your approach, considering different alternatives and viewpoints, communicating clearly and specifically, and making decisions to reach your goal. In her book, Job Offer! A How-to Negotiation Guide, author Maryanne L. Wegerbauer describes how each party in a negotiation can fulfill specific needs and wants of the other party, a concept called "relative power." According to Wegerbauer, understanding your strengths and resources; being able to respond to the needs of the other party; and knowing your competition enable you to assess your bargaining position more accurately.
Learn the power factors
What is your power over the other side of the table? Relative power, Wegerbauer says, is a function of the following.
Business climate factors
- Overall state of the economy and the industry in which you compete
- Overall unemployment rate and the general employment picture
- Demand for industry- and profession-specific knowledge and skills
Company factors
- Profitability
- Position in the business cycle (startup, growing, stable, turnaround)
Hiring manager factors
- Urgency of the company's need to fill the position
- Decision-making authority
- Staffing budget
Applicant factors
- Other opportunities in the job offer
- Technical expertise, unique knowledge/skill set
- Resources (financial depth, networks, etc.)
- Level of competition/availability of other candidates
- Career risk of the job offer
Plan and communicate
A negotiation is composed of two major steps: planning (research and strategy) and communication (information exchange and agreement). In the planning step, get as much information as you can up front and, using both the company's written and unwritten signals, map your skills against what the company values.
Give it time
Timing is also important. Remember that the best time to negotiate is after a serious job offer has been made and before you have accepted it. Once you are clear about the initial offer, you can express interest and even enthusiasm, but ask for more time to consider the job offer. Wegerbauer suggests that this request is made "in light of the importance of the decision." Sometimes you can split up the negotiating session into two meetings: one to firm up the job design and responsibilities and the second to go over compensation and benefits. The key message here is not to make an impulsive decision. If they really want you, there's time.
Consider the alternatives
You should be prepared with a rationale for everything to strengthen your position. Counteroffers are an expected part of many negotiations, so be sure to remain flexible. Keep in mind that different companies can give negotiations more or less latitude. Smaller companies may be more flexible than large, bureaucratic companies. Unionized companies usually have very little room for individual negotiations.
Negotiate for a win-win
Remember that the negotiation is not about strong-arm tactics or win/lose. It is a two-way process where you and your prospective employer are each trying to get something you need. In a negotiation, you're both designing the terms of a transaction so that each of you will receive the maximum benefit from the final agreement.
Also check out our job offer assessing tool, The Job Assessor, in order to compare job offers.
Thursday
Leave the khakis at home
Leave the khakis at home
Today's job hunters must schmooze, glad-hand--and don business suits
By Joellen Perry
During the heyday of the "new economy" in the late '90s, job hunting took little effort. With unemployment at record lows and desperate firms wooing candidates with sky-high salaries and absurd perks, "anyone who could breathe, basically, could find a job," says Kirsten Watson, CEO of tech recruiting site HireTopTalent.com. Now, with a recession and a layoff-scarred labor force, job-search basics--from pounding the pavement to wearing a business suit--are back in vogue. The following rules can give you an edge in finding a job in today's crowded market:
PREPARE FOR THE WORST. About 2.5 million workers were laid off in 2001, the largest number since the government began tracking mass layoffs seven years ago. Even if your firm appears sound and your job secure, a shaky economy could spur unexpected cuts. "Accept that your job may not be safe," says Nancy Collamer, author of The Layoff Survival Guide, an E-book. "The reality is, very few people are indispensable."
Facing that truth can help you mitigate the mental and financial shock of getting the ax. For example, you might want to discreetly investigate your firm's severance policy and start padding your savings account to cover a potentially lengthy job search. And keep in mind that current business contacts are invaluable resources. "After you've been escorted out the door, all your files may be sitting in a desk you no longer have access to," says Collamer, who suggests keeping copies of contact lists at home.
MAKE NEW FRIENDS. Networking has always been the gold standard of job hunting, says Neal Rist, a senior consultant with career management firm Manchester Inc., who credits some 70 percent of successful job searches to personal contacts. Amid a jam-packed labor pool, says Rist, face-to-face meetings with folks who are hiring--as well as with friends, family members, and business associates who might know of openings--have never been more important. Expand your circle by joining professional organizations, attending industry trade shows, or doing pro bono work in your field. In November 2000, Ernie Villanueva, 43, a systems engineer in Mission Viejo, Calif., was laid off by Cisco Systems. Recently, a former Cisco colleague introduced Villanueva to a friend launching a traffic monitoring firm. Two months later, Villanueva was hired. "Even though I'd spent months applying to jobs, in the end it came down to who I knew," says Villanueva.
STOP SURFING. With thousands of employment Web sites boasting seemingly infinite job openings, it might be tempting to spend all day online zapping out resumes. But the proliferation of sites--and users--has created a resume glut for many employers, some of whom receive thousands of responses to each posting. A report last year from technology analysis firm Forrester Research showed that just 10 percent of job hunters who culled cyberspace leads found positions. So "you should spend 10 percent of your job-hunting time online," says Richard Bolles, author of the world's bestselling career guide, What Color Is Your Parachute?
REINVENT YOURSELF. Be open to career changes and new industries. "A controller is a controller," says Jim Boone, a top executive of recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International. "Many of the skills of that job are readily transferable to other industries." Highlighting such talent can help you make the transition from an ailing industry to, say, the thriving healthcare sector. Marketer Andrea Preziotti, 30, survived two Web site layoffs. By playing up her writing skills, Preziotti, of Brooklyn, N.Y., recently snared a temporary gig developing content for the Winter Olympics Web site. The job not only won her a trip to Salt Lake City but also supports her new goal of becoming a freelance writer. "It never would have happened if I hadn't expanded my idea of the kinds of jobs I was qualified for," she says.
BE YOUR OWN BOSS. Losing a job can give you the freedom to pursue a dream. Brian Orner, 41, and Frank Vallone, 39, former Nortel Networks marketers in Rochester, N.Y., who were laid off last year, decided to take the entrepreneurial plunge after months of fruitless job searches. Last October, using money from their savings, the two introduced PennyPlanes.com, a site that capitalizes on their childhood passion for aviation by selling model-airplane kits. "Business is going better than we ever could have hoped," says Orner.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK. The dot-com collapse and the recent Enron debacle illustrate the importance of researching a potential employer's background. Bone up on a company's financial health by reading newspaper articles on the firm and studying annual reports; call colleagues in the industry to suss out a firm's reputation. Start-ups require special scrutiny. "Take a close look at the firm's funding, at whether its board of directors is reputable, and at whether there's actually a market for their product," says Watson. Bonus: Armed with such intelligence, you'll easily ace the interview.
WHEN IN ROME. While many firms still deem Friday a dress-down day, "there is a bit of a backlash going on" against the anything-goes attire that characterized the dot-com crowd, says John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Don't be afraid to call ahead and discuss the appropriate garb for your interview to avoid a fashion faux pas.
TAKE WEEKENDS OFF. Finding a job should be considered a full-time endeavor, but don't underestimate the emotional and psychic strains of unemployment. "Job searches are loaded with rejection," says Manchester's Rist. "They're illogical, inefficient, and people are not always courteous to you." Choosing to while away a sunny Saturday morning can help you develop the thick skin a search will require.
STAY CONNECTED. Last July, Villanueva and fellow layoff survivor John Pollock, 49, decided to meet each week for a cheap lunch in Mission Viejo, Calif., to share job-hunting tips and travails. Word spread fast, and 80 people now attend their "Taco Tuesday" lunches. The atmosphere is deliberately casual--though recruiters sometimes show up--with many sporting Hawaiian shirts and shorts. "The job-search process is fraught with so much pressure and isolation," says Pollock. "But I leave every Taco Tuesday feeling renewed and ready to begin again."
How can you avoid wasting your time with an unprofessional recruiter?
A recent college graduate has repeatedly run into such recruiters during his four-month job search. The 27-year-old May graduate from University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business in Indiana has encountered several so-called contingency recruiters who claim assignments they haven't landed yet or pressure him to lower his expectations. (Retained recruiters partly get paid in advance of filling posts while contingency recruiters, who often fill lower-level openings, earn a fee only if their prospects get hired.)
Amid hard times, "a lot of companies aren't going to recruiters to place people, so the recruiters are struggling," observes the Hoboken, N.J., resident. "These people are commission-based, and sometimes I get the impression that they're lying the minute they start talking to you."
Many career experts say you can calibrate recruiters' level of professionalism by asking them a host of questions, such as: Is this a contingency or retained search firm? Do you have this search exclusively? How long have you had the search? Whom are you dealing with at the client? Do you have a "spec" or position description? How did you get my name? How long have you been in the search business?
Recruiters sometimes display unprofessional behavior during their initial approach. Mark Jaffe, president of Minneapolis retained search firm Wyatt & Jaffe, says some recruiters fish for information before deciding whether an individual should be a candidate or a source of prospects. "That communicates a lack of professionalism to me," he adds.
Be wary of disclosing too much personal information until you obtain concrete information about the pending hunt, warns Gary Kaplan, president of Gary Kaplan & Associates, a retained search firm in Pasadena, Calif. A contingency firm "might not really have a job order. But if they collect enough resumes that match the parameters, they have a better chance of getting a placement and a fee."
It isn't just contingency firms that fail to exhibit professionalism, however. There's "a certain amount of arrogance" among retained firms, too, says Mr. Kaplan. "I hear all the time from individuals that they never get feedback from a retained search firm and are left to dangle in limbo. It's unconscionable and not good business sense."
Even if a recruiter lacks an appropriate opportunity, you can still figure out whether he or she has your best interests at heart. Steven P. Cohen, an executive coach who teaches negotiation skills in Pride's Crossing, Mass., suggests asking about a vacancy better suited to your background or for an introduction to a fellow recruiter more knowledgeable about your field. "It's a sign of good faith," he says.
But any time a recruiter's style makes you uncomfortable in any way, "it's best not to waste a lot of energy trying to figure out what's going on and just move on," advises Nancy Collamer, a career consultant in Old Greenwich, Conn. "It's just best to find a few recruiters you can establish long-term relationships with."
Email your comments to cjeditor@dowjones.com.
Career Consultant
Nancy Collamer, M.S. gained a nationwide following as the online Career Transitions Expert for the Oxygen Media Network. As the founder of Collamer Career Consulting, based in Greenwich, CT, she has built a clientele assisting clients through telephone coaching, workshops and publications.In addition to her appearances on Oxygen TV, Nancy’s advice has appeared in Redbook, US News and World Report, Ladies Home Journal, Fortune, Working Mother and the Wall Street Journal. Nancy’s workshop, “Part Time Careers for Full Time Mothers” was the subject of a feature story in the December,1998 issue of Working Mother magazine.She holds a M.S. in Career Development from the College of New Rochelle and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill. Prior to establishing her private practice, she was the co-owner of an employment agency and worked as the Director of Human Resources for Air Express International Corporation, and as the Assistant Director of Personnel for Saks Fifth Avenue. She is a member of Working Mother Magazine’s Reader Panel, the Career Masters Institute, The Alliance of Work Life Professionals, the Career Coach Institute and the Westchester Career Counselors Network.
To learn more about Nancy's telephone consulting option - CLICK HERE