Career: How to negotiate your salary with HR when changing jobs? A Harvard University expert shares 3 tips..
Salary Negotiation Tips: After clearing several rounds of job interviews and finally receiving an offer letter, the feeling is exhilarating. But along with this comes another challenging task – salary negotiation. Even a small salary increase can have a significant impact on long-term earnings, benefits, and career satisfaction.
Getting money out of someone else is not easy. When it comes to HR, it's an even more difficult task. Often, people fail to negotiate their salaries due to shyness and hesitation. Kanti Shonk, a research associate at Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School, has given some tips on salary negotiation. Kanti wrote an article for Harvard's Program on Negotiation.
Kanti explains that in job and salary negotiations, we sometimes become our own obstacles. We fail to recognize negotiation opportunities. We focus only on our weaknesses and give up before the negotiation even begins.
1. Explain your value to HR
Citing the book Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins Into Big Gains (Jossey-Bass, 2015) by Deborah M. Kolb and Jessica L. Porter, she suggests that you first gather information. This will help you determine if your demands are reasonable. Be prepared to explain the value you will bring to the organization. Prepare alternative negotiation options to increase your flexibility at the table, and remember that the other party's alternatives may be less attractive than yours.
2. Prepare answers for your weaknesses
Kanti advises that candidates should be aware of their weaknesses and have answers prepared for them. For example, if there is a gap in your work history, have a ready explanation of what important work you were doing during that time. Explain it enthusiastically.
3. How to state your expected salary
Large and established companies often evaluate job candidates based on well-defined job categories and a fixed salary range. When negotiating salary, try to find out what salary range someone with your education and experience level typically earns. Then, negotiate for a salary at the higher end of that range.
If an interviewer asks you to state your expected salary, do you know how to answer? If your desired pay range is between 70,000 and 80,000 rupees per month, don't say, "I think I deserve 80,000." Instead, say, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've heard that people with my qualifications typically earn between 80,000 and 90,000 rupees." This will establish 80,000 to 90,000 as a strong anchor point for the discussion.
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