Salary negotiation is more of an art than a science. It usually is one of the most neglected and under-rated aspects of a Job search. Have your ever thought about this while you apply for a job?  Few points while negotiating for better pay are given below:

• Preparation is critical when negotiating the terms of your employment. The more information you have, the more successful you will be. Study about your employer, the kind of job you are about to involve, quanta of work, etc and think about your salary.
• Employment negotiations are different from other types of negotiations. Even though you want to negotiate the best possible deal, you need to proceed in a way that doesn't tarnish your image.
• Understanding what you want and what a company can do within its own organizational and budgetary constraints will enable you to determine what trade-offs are possible in order to maximize what you get. This knowledge will also enable you to walk away from a job when a company cannot offer the type of compensation package that suits your needs.
• Sometimes you will have skills or experience for which there is a great demand. You may be the only qualified candidate to have made it through the interview process, and the company would like to hire someone quickly. Similarly, if you have been able to defer discussing compensation until the company has determined you are the best candidate for the job, your bargaining position will be greatly strengthened.
• Honesty is important. If you lie during the negotiations, sooner or later you are likely to be caught. Once you are caught lying, you lose all credibility.
• You should be able to justify every request in terms of fairness. If the cost of living is higher where you're going, it is only fair to have your salary increased sufficiently to compensate. If comparable executives in similar companies are given one percent of the company's stock, you should be treated no differently.
• If an employer is not certain what it will take to recruit you , its initial offer is likely to be close to its best offer. If you have divulged too much information, it will likely not offer you as much as it might have otherwise. By not disclosing exactly what your compensation package is or exactly what it would take to get you to leave your current job, you will force a potential employer to give you its best offer.
• You may not be able to get everything you want, but you want to be sure to get everything you can. Focus on the value of the total package. Look for different ways to achieve your objectives.
• Too often in negotiations winning becomes more important than the actual goals that are achieved. This tendency is particularly problematic in employment negotiations. Not only is it important to focus on achieving your goals; it is also important not to make your future boss feel like a loser in the negotiations. Remember, that this person will control you future career. You will have gained little by negotiating a good deal if you alienate your future boss in the process.
• There comes a point in every negotiation when you have achieved everything that you could gave reasonably expected to achieve. At that point you should thank the person you are dealing with and accept the offer.
• Employment negotiations are the starting point for your career with the company. They set the tone for your employment relationship. Get too little and you are disadvantaged throughout your career; push too hard and you can sour the relationship before it even begins. How you handle the initial negotiations can have an impact, for better or worse, on how successful your tenure with a company will be.

Source: Excerpted from Get More Money on Your Next Job, by Lee Miller; copyright 1998 by The McGraw Hill Companies, Inc.

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