Negotiating Pay

The interview’s going well. The job’s within sight. If only you knew when and how to mention the small matter of …er…money. Stick to the following checklist, and you will…

DO:

Minimum Wage (UK)


• If you are aged 23 or over, £5.73/hr
• If you are aged 18-22, £4.77/hr
• If you are aged 16-17, £3.53/hr

• research the market rates before you go to the interview
  If you come equipped with the going rate for similar roles for someone in your field and experience, qualifications, size of remit (e.g. size of your potential team or sales area), and in your part of the country, you will a) be much more credible to the interviewer and b) be much more confident in your pay request.
• know your bottom line
  ..i.e. the minimum figure you can / will accept; but if they ask you what your salary expectations are, don’t hit them with just one figure. Give yourself – and them – a pay range. A good rule of thumb for calculating a pay range is to take your last salary plus 10% as your bottom line as one end of the scale and then to add £x,000 to it for the top end of your scale. The more senior the role, the higher the ‘x’ will be!
• consider the whole package, not just base pay
  Benefits such as company pension, healthcare insurance, additional holiday pay, may well be worth more than a few hundred/thousand pounds on your base salary. And if a bonus is mentioned, find out if it is part of a company-wide scheme (in which case you have less influence over whether or not you actually get it), or if it’s dependent on your performance alone (in which case you do).
• try to ask for an early pay review
  This is especially important if you feel you’re going in ‘on a promise’ i.e. a lower-than-you-deserve starting salary just to see how it goes. Most companies will review pay on an annual basis, so you also need to find out when that review takes place – if they review in April and you join in May, you’ll have to wait almost a full year before your pay is reviewed, unless you ask. It’s not uncommon to have a six-month pay review factored into a contract for new starters.
• get it in writing!
  This is especially important if there are slight contractual differences, such as an early pay review, and if you’re hired by an outgoing manager – trying to ask for the pay review that a now departed manager promised in a meeting will be difficult.

DON’T:

A little pay perspective, please!
So just how important is pay to people’s happiness in their job? According to one survey, the biggest influences on employees’ happiness at work are:

• Nature of their work (87%)
• Working environment (82%)
• Relationships with peers (78%)
• Workload (68%)
• Organisational culture (65%)
• Pay (61%)

UnumProvident Job Satisfaction Survey 2006

• think you have to give a figure in the job application just because they ask for one
  You can actually gloss over the request to give your ‘salary expectations’ or ‘current salary’ either by not mentioning it or by writing the words ‘competitive’ or ‘negotiable’. This is a useful move if you’re trying to move sectors or jobs, and are prepared to take a pay cut or if you are currently in a very underpaid job, and want to convince them of your skills. It might sound like a scary move, but if they’re interested in you, it won’t automatically stop them from inviting you in for an interview. If they ask in the interview why you didn’t include your salary, you just need to say that you prefer to focus on the ‘fit’ element first, as that’s what matters most …
• raise the issue of salary until they do
  This is probably the single biggest mistake candidates make when it comes to talking money – they just rush straight in. Result? It makes you look like you’re only interested in the money, not the job; it also suggests you’re a bit too sure of yourself. You have to convince them you’re the right person for the job before talking pound signs. There is an etiquette when talking about salary in an interview situation – 1) let them raise the issue; 2), don’t expect them to raise it in the first interview; 3), if they bring you back for a second interview and still don’t raise it, that’s when you can make your move; 4) if they tell you there will only be one interview, and they don’t raise it, then wait until the end of that interview before making your move.
• start with your bottom line
  In the negotiation ‘game’ the interviewer will expect some give and take, and so if you start with your minimum acceptable, you have nothing left to give and you’ll find yourself backed into a corner.
• feel obliged to give an answer there and then
  Haggling over, there’s an offer on the table, and all eyes are on you. It’s a test of your nerves, but this isn’t timeshare – you don’t have to accept or reject straight away. In fact, asking politely to be able to think about it overnight may well make you look like a considered, thoughtful sort who won’t rush into silly decisions when you’re working for their firm.
• negotiate over the phone
  They won’t know when you’re smiling, worried, annoyed, nervous, and you won’t be able to see each other’s body ‘cues’ e.g. if they’re nodding in understanding or sitting back with their arms tightly crossed in an ‘absolutely out of the question’ kind of way…