Get the salary you want

The key to a successful negotiation is being prepared for the discussion before it occurs. This means having a good idea of what you are worth and why and for this, there are a number of considerations.

Firstly, it is important to understand how the company you are interviewing with is performing. Have they posted record profits for the previous year, or is their financial performance below their targets? Have they made many redundancies in the past 12 months?

These factors will have an effect on whether the organisation is going to pay above, below or on the market rate salary for a role. The key is to demonstrate your views with good examples of similar jobs both from inside and outside the firm; you can do this by benchmarking your salary against salary surveys in your sector.

Market conditions

Being aware of market conditions is crucial – if a recruitment consultancy is managing your application, they should be able to help you with this. Is the area you are applying to currently short of quality candidates? Are there a high number of roles appropriate to your skill set available in the sector?

Salaries in your sector

Have general salaries been rising or falling within the sector? It is important you know the answers to all of these questions so that you understand what level of salary you are able to request and what is realistic. Find out how much you're worth, by downloading a free copy of our Salary Survey.

Be realistic

While economic recovery continues, it’s important to be realistic. Employers are generally still being fairly cautious and are unlikely to react kindly to wild salary demands.

Employers are generally still being fairly cautious and are unlikely to react kindly to wild salary demands. Again, the key to this is doing your research.
 

Top tip

Try to not be lured into a false sense of security by the top-line salary figure. Make sure you do your salary sums and consider how your day-to-day costs will change; for example, you may need to travel further to reach your new workplace. Of course, the reverse can also be true. Your new salary may not be as high as you would like, however other benefits such as a company car, free health insurance, gym membership or other perks could be included.