Salary Negotiation

Insight into Salary Negotiation

No one enjoys haggling over money, vacation time or benefits; however, you can make a difference if you choose to do so.  The best time to negotiate salary is once you have been offered the position, and this will require some preparation work. 

Here are a few things you can do in order to have salary negotiation options:

  • Review this article from TheBalance.com that covers questions to consider during the interview process.
  • If a company asks you what you expect to make, your answer should always be that it will depend on the benefits package. 
  • If a company provides their benefit package to you, ask for a few days to review the options. Be sure to take note of options you will consider.
    • Create a spreadsheet of your options in comparison to your current job (ie. health benefit costs, sick and vacation time, moving/travel costs, etc.).
    • Consider 401K and other packages.
    • Use this spreadsheet to see ways in which you might gain more salary – remember, on average, employers offer $5,000 lower than they can actually pay!

Quick tip: Once you’ve been offered the position and at what pay, ask the company to email you with all the pertinent details before the end of the day. 

Key things to remember:

Find comparable salary ranges

These resources will help you find comparable salary ranges for the position in question in your particular area of the country:

In the negotiation process there are many things to consider. Here are some different scenarios and tips (pdf) that you may encounter and some suggestions on how to handle them.

Differentiate between Can’t and Won’t. Some employers can’t increase the starting salary due to budget or other restrictions. Others won’t maybe because they think you are not worth more. Show them why you are worth more!

Other things to consider when negotiating:

  • Signing bonus
  • Vacation time
  • Childcare
  • Transportation
  • Cell phone
  • Computer/home internet
  • Flex time
  • Work from home benefit