The Bookseller.com

18th May 2008

John Lees is author of a range of careers books: How To Get A Job You’ll Love, Take Control of Your Career, Job Interviews: Top Answers to Tough Questions and Why You? CV Messages to Win Jobs (McGraw-Hill). His website is johnleescareers.com.

Negotiating a pay rise

08.04.08

Are you putting more energy into worrying about your pay level than you are into the job?    Here are 7 steps to improving your pay deal:

Step 1 – Do your homework
Consult job ads, recruiters, and colleagues to find out the pay range for your job.  Then work out the skills you need to claim the top 10% of that pay range.

Step 2 - State your objectives clearly
When you ask for a meeting, don’t talk vaguely about ‘prospects’  - be clear that you want to talk about your contribution to the organisation and you’re asking for a pay rise.

Step 3 – Make Your Pitch
Your opening needs to be about your contribution, and not about money.  DON’T make your bid sound like a complaint.  Some managers become very defensive when it comes to pay issues.  No matter how carefully you make your case, what they will hear is ‘I’m unhappy’.  Be careful to ensure that you communicate how much you enjoy the job, particularly those parts where you have extended your job content. 

Step 4 – Create the right impression
DO look, act and sound like a person already holding down a job paying the kind of salary you want.  Don’t negotiate a pay rise in an old suit.

Step 5 – Don’t talk about your bottom line
DON’T be tempted to talk about what you ‘need’ financially, or about your financial commitments.  Talk about the value you add. 

Step 6 – Let your boss shoot first
Spell out your ‘offer’ first, and find out what your employer is prepared to put on the table.  Even if your employer asks ‘What did you have in mind?’ it’s worth at least one attempt to find out what might be possible.

Step 7 – Negotiate like a pro
•    Don’t believe that the first offer, particularly if it’s made quickly, is the last word. 
•    Convert the difference between what you are asking for and your employer’s offer into weekly pay – “‘We’re talking about a difference of £20 a week – we spend more than that on envelopes” .
•    Relate your proposed total salary in monthly terms to the annual bottom line contribution of the job, e.g. ‘For £2,000 a month salary costs you’re going to achieve at least £90,000 savings (or sales, or profit, or output) next year’.
•    Stand up for yourself, but be assertive rather than aggressive.  You are now exercising the same toughness and negotiation skills your employer expects you to demonstrate on the job.

For more free career tips see www.johnleescareers.com.

JOHN LEES GIVEAWAY

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Read the comments on John's previous blog, Getting that first job.