As if the interview process weren’t stressful enough, part of accepting the job offer is to negotiate your salary. Not the most fun but incredibly necessary. Money is not everything but let’s be honest here, if you are killing it at your career, you might as well be getting paid fairly; right? Ok.
Why should you negotiate?
- Not everyone negotiates. That’s advantage for you.
- In fact, Linda Babcock, author of the book “Women Don’t Ask” found that only 7% of women attempted to negotiate, while 57% of men did. (Side note: Let’s change this!)
- For those who chose to negotiate, their salary increased by more than 7%
- 7% might not sound like a lot but if you compound it to 35 years, negotiating your salary puts you a much better retirement than your counterpart that didn’t.
- According to Stanford Professor Margaret A. Neale, the person that doesn’t negotiate will need to work 8 more years to be as wealthy as the person that chose to negotiate and got the 7% salary increase.
- 74% of employers leave room for negotiation when they make the first offer!
Lastly, if your new role involves sales or marketing, you should be putting to practice your negotiation skills. Don’t let fear cloud your expectations and always be prepared with data to back-up your request. Research salary ranges in your city, add in your experience and what you can do for the company that others can’t. One thing I often tell my friends interviewing for jobs is that once you have an offer, the game is on your side. They have chosen you for the job, keep the game on your side and ask for what you deserve.
If you are reading A Hint of Life, you are as ambitious as they come but, the dream is not to work an additional 8 years to make up for our lack of asking. Ask! As my dad says, you already have the “no” – you’ve got nothing to lose.
