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Salary negotiation in your current job
A newsletter subscriber inquired whether or not it was possible to negotiate salary at a job your are already working at. After some investigating the local job market, they realized that they were quite underpaid and wanted to level set with their coworkers. Someone had advised them to quit their job and try to negotiate a higher salary elsewhere.
Salary negotiation is not just reserved for new recruits. Anyone can negotiate their salary by asking for a raise. They must be well prepared with a deliberately planned strategy and a well developed supporting case to persuade the employer.
Its not a good idea to ask for a raise too soon after accepting a job or receiving a pay raise. It is important before these events that you know your value to the company and you negotiate based on your knowledge of the job market.
Not only is a salary an important factor of the compensation package, one can also look at factors like improved benefits, more time off, stock options or stock purchase plan. You may look to other creative compensation strategies to entice your employer to bolster your income.
Consider taking these steps before you ask your boss for a pay raise.
1) Know your market value - do not rely on just one salary survey source. Also, make sure you trust their data. Self-reported salary surveys are far less reliable than those that are reported by the human resource departments in the industry in your area.
2) Know your value in terms of the contribution you add to the business. Also be aware of value adds you do in terms of saving company costs, delivering projects on time, and delivering quality in your work.
3) Prepare yourself to discuss this with the boss, and mention that you would like an increase to be in line with the current job market salary range.
4) Explain to the boss where you feels you fit within that range in terms of a percentile basis. Are you a top performer with lots of experience? Can you command a top percentile salary?
There are many factors to consider. I recommend doing a lot of research. One thing is for sure, you will not likely get the raise as quickly or necessarily as much as you were hoping for without mastering your skills in salary negotiation.
If you love your career where you are working, you may need to balance the quality of the worklife with your need for an increase in pay. I recommend looking for an increase where you work first before going through the job efforts unless you're unhappy with your job.
Either way one strategy that helps in negotiation is to have another job offer in hand. With that in your back pocket you will have more leverage with you salary negotiation.
About the Author Trevor Davide Grant is a project manager in the IT field and has extensive experience in salary negotiation. Trevor has worked for large telecom, electric utilities, software consulting, and a prominent web 2.0 site. He has learned salary negotiating in the most powerfulway. Learn great tacticson the topic of salary negotiating at www.HowToNegotiateASalary.com.
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