Negotiating Salary After Disclosing Current Salary or Salary Expectations

Oops, you already told the employer what you're making or expect to be making. Now what?

All is not lost! Just because they know your current salary or salary expectations doesn't mean you can't negotiate for a fair market value.

Once you've broken the sound barrier, so to speak, on your salary, you at least have one advantage: no more tug-o-war between you and your potential employer about revealing salary.

If salary bumped you out of interviewing, it will be hard to gain reentry at all, and even if you do, it might be at the price of an informal pre-interview agreement that if chosen, you'll consider a pay cut.

If you're still in the running, however, your "disclosed" circumstances make it doubly important to do your research well. In this case, you don't need to address salary again until there's an offer. At that point use researched facts, not your past salary, to substantiate your salary request.

When they've decided on YOU, that is, when they're making you the offer, not your competitor(s), then it's time to make the move away from the number you disclosed to your ideal compensation. Don't let your past salary be the starting point for negotiations. Let your own satisfaction and joy of receiving great pay be the motivating force behind you at this point.

Remember that what you negotiate now is what you'll live with for a long time. A minute or two here can engender months and months of satisfaction -- or the opposite if you miss this opportunity. Let's assume they've made an offer. What do you say?

Respond with: "I know I've discussed my [current] salary/salary expectations. I want to make sure from this point forward that we're looking for a compensation package that is not just a 'raise' from my previous job, but rather a motivating, fair, value-based salary we will both be satisfied with. Can we agree on that principle?"

Once you have your agreement on that, then follow the rest of the salary negotiation rules.

by Jack Chapman

Degrees of Salary Negotiation for Job-Seekers Who Can't Afford to Say No to Job Offers

What if you can't afford to lose this job offer? Can you still negotiate for a better salary? Sure you can, but some strategies offer more risk than others.

Broke. Flat broke. It happened to Donald Trump and to almost every millionaire you can think of. At one time or other they were broke, busted. But they did not give up negotiating. It can happen to you. It will make you feel that you have to take what's offered or risk losing the offer altogether. But, getting more money is not a matter of extremes: all or nothing at all. It has gradual increments.

There are varying degrees of negotiating depending on the strength of your negotiating position. The strongest position is to be able to walk away. You can take it or leave it. That puts 90% of the negotiating advantage in your court.

The opposite end of the spectrum is "I can't afford to say no, no matter how low the offer it, I need a job paying something!"

Obviously there is a minimum acceptable income -- bigger than zero -- that's your bottom line. So it's not true that you have to take anything they offer. We'll look at your leverage and show how you can trade your leverage in successive increments as your need for security declines.

Double Lock Down
This strategy has a 99 percent chance of non-jeopardy to the job offer it gives away the most negotiating power, but gains the most job-offer security.

I must be frank with you. This job is important to me, and if the offer you just gave me was the best you could do, I would accept it, no question. However, I would like to discuss it a bit provided that you're comfortable with that. So, just to make sure... I wouldn't jeopardize this offer by discussing it would I? (Single lock down.) [No Problem.] So, I can be sure, then, that the offer as it stands is a firm one? (Double lock down.)

Single Lock Down
This strategy offers the best combination of safety and negotiating room.

Thank you for your offer. I'm delighted to receive it. May I ask you, there are a couple items I'd like to talk about to see if they could be adjusted, but I would only want to talk about them if you're okay with it. Can we talk about a few things without jeopardizing the offer as is?

50-50
This strategy presents a blend of negotiating and job offer security.

Wow. I'm so glad to get this offer. I presume it's a firm offer, right? I mean if I talked through a few things right now and took it home to really examine it thoroughly, it would still good tomorrow morning, right? [Yes] Good, because I'm better when it comes to money if I have some quiet unpressured time so I can make sure both of us will be satisfied with it.

No Lock Down
This strategy does present a small risk of losing the offer.

I appreciate your offer, and I'm sure you put some thought into it. Likewise, I've been thinking of the work, my unique contribution, and have some ideas of my own. I appreciate your offer of $X, and I think at that level we'll need to talk through this because we're just a little bit apart at the moment. Now, talking about money can sometimes be a charged or uncomfortable conversation. That's not always true, of course, but could I ask you a favor? [Yes] Could you hang in there with me until we get to a good agreement even if it gets uncomfortable. It's important to both of us, I think, to make sure we've got a compensation we'll both be happy with.

Final Thoughts
Notice, in all of these negotiations, the employer promised, in a way to keep the offer open even if you try to negotiate it higher. You can pick the level of risk you want to take, it comes at the expense of security. But you CAN negotiate and not put the job at risk.

by Jack Chapman

How do I go about getting the best salary... the best job offer?

Most job-seekers find this part of job-hunting the toughest  at least the toughest in the sense of getting an offer that you want. We worry about appearing too greedy or about not asking for enough. We worry about causing conflict when we don't even have the job yet. However, negotiation is part of the job-hunting process, and if you are determined to get the best offer possible, you really need to learn to get comfortable with it.

Key Salary Negotiation Strategies:

1. Delay salary and benefit negotiations for as long as possible in the interview process. You'll have more power to negotiate when the field of candidates has been reduced to just you when the employer is completely sold on you as the best candidate for the position.
2. Remember that you'll have your greatest negotiation leverage between the time the employer makes the original offer and the time you accept the final offer. Once you accept an offer, you have little to no room to negotiate.
3. Don't negotiate at the time the initial job offer is made. Thank the employer for the offer and express your strong interest and enthusiasm in the job, but state that you'll need time to evaluate the entire compensation package. Most employers are willing to give you a fair amount of time to review.
4. Do your research. The greatest tool in any negotiation is information. Make sure you have done a thorough job of determining your fair market value for the job you seek, the salary range of the job for this specific employer, and geographic, economic, industry, and company-specific factors that might affect the given salary.
5. Just do it. While a large percentage of corporate recruiters (four out of five in one study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management) are willing to negotiate compensation, only a small percentage of job-seekers actually do so. You don't have to be an expert negotiator to get a sweeter deal; you just need to know the rules and strategies of negotiation.
6. Negotiate to your strength. If you are a smooth talker (an extravert), call the employer and ask for a follow-up meeting to discuss a counter proposal. If you communicate better in writing, follow our guidelines for writing a counter-proposal letter (below).
7. Always ask for a higher salary (within acceptable limits) than you are willing to accept so that when the employer counters your proposal, the salary should be near your original goal.
8. If the salary you're offered is on the low end and the employer has stated that salary is not negotiable (probably because of corporate salary ranges or pay grade levels), consider negotiating for a signing bonus, higher performance bonuses, or a shorter time frame for a performance review and raise. Always negotiate base salary first, and then move on to other elements of the job offer.
9. When presenting a counter-proposal to the employer, be sure and include a few benefits that are expendable so that you can drop them in a concession to the employer as negotiations continue.
10. Never stop selling yourself throughout the negotiation process. Keep reminding the employer of the impact you will make, the problems you will solve, the revenue you will generate. And continue expressing interest and enthusiasm for the job and the company.

by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

Keys to Passive Salary Negotiation For Job-Seekers Who Don't Like Negotiating

Passive negotiating. So you're not one who enjoys conflict? In fact you avoid confrontation of any kind? You don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or take advantage of anyone. You're a giver -- not so good at receiving? You're a helper, not so good at being helped?

Here's the two things you can do that will not create the dreaded possibility of tension and disapproval, but give you a chance to add dollars to your paychecks.

Some negotiations require action on your part. Documenting, comparing, estimating, promising, etc. Other things are more passive. you want the least amount of negotiating besides saying "OK" (which is simply no negotiation at all!) consider these two passive techniques.

1. Be quiet when it's time to be quiet. You can still be an agreeable person, just don't agree right away! Use "The Flinch." When it comes time -- and it will come time to do this no matter how nice you are -- to talk money, simply let them talk. You don't need to break in; don't need to counter offer; don't need to do anything proactive, or even reactive: just be quiet. When you hear their offer, repeat it and say "Hmmm." Think about it. You will probably get a raise on the spot.

2. Ask "What's the best you can do?" You don't need to argue, present your evidence, make a case, etc. You don't need to say "no" to the offer you received or re-negotiate terms or cover fine pits. You don't need to demand more money or even ask for more money. You won't push them outside their comfort zone. Simply say, "Wow, thanks for your offer. I look forward to starting. And I'm not a very good negotiator, so I prefer to leave this up to you -- I trust you'll tell me the truth. What's the best you can do?

There, that's not so hard, is it? Have fun!

by Jack Chapman