Belmont University Massey   the Competitive Edge




Negotiating Compensation 1: Timing is Everything  
Printer Friendly
Print Summary
with Jack Chapman

Overview/What You Will Learn

Knowing when to enter into a discussion about compensation is critical.  If you know when you should talk about it you will be in a position to negotiate from strength.

Key Points

Your Next Steps / Tips for Success

Research how you can make tangible impact to improve the business.

  • Employers often want to talk about compensation right away because it is a way they can screen out candidates.  They are worried you are too high.
  • You want to postpone negotiation until there is a formal offer because you do not want to be screened out before you can establish your value to the organization
  • Keep in mind the process you go through when you are buying something you can’t afford,:
    • Budget:  not in the budget
    • Fudgit:  trim from other expenditures
    • Judgit:  consider the value you get from the item (it is worth more than the expense)
  • You must establish how your value is greater than your cost
  • Get  enough time to clarify your value to the organization in terms of the impact you can make on the business
  • Some phrases you can use to postpone the salary questions:
    • “What is the ballpark salary for this position?”
    • “Let’s keep talking”
    • “I am sure you are wondering if you can afford me.  It shouldn’t be a problem if you can pay a competitive salary”
    • “For the moment, I would appreciate it if we can focus on the fit between me and the job.”
  • Let the employer go first when it is time for an offer
    • Ask:  “This offer is firm, right?
       
Expert BIO
with Jack Chapman

Since How to Make $1000 a Minute was first published in 1986, Jack has become a specialist in all aspects of salary and raise negotiations--from high-profile executive negotiations worth an additional $300,000, to strategies an hourly-wage worker can use to bargain for extra benefits or perks.

He has personally assisted over 2,000 individuals, one-on-one, in improving their careers through the challenges of job changes, career planning, and entrepreneurship, and has influenced countless others through his many seminars, courses, lectures, TV and radio appearances, and newspaper columns.

Jack's background includes seven years of study in the Jesuit order, where he earned a B.A. degree with 5 majors: Classics, Philosophy, Theology, Mathematics, and English. The holder of a master's degree in Vocational Guidance, he has had a wide variety of careers himself--teaching at the high school and college level, real estate management, corporate training and development, and career management consulting.

Contact Jack here: http://salarynegotiations.com/contact.htm.