Omar Moustafa

How to (Negotiate your first job's salary) ?

Created July 2, 2022

If you are here, it's no way you didn't read the title and you would like to learn/know how to negotiate your first salary.

You, as an (employee) you will be satisfied if you got the salary you like.

Let’s understand why it is important for you to negotiate your salary before accepting any offer.

Why should you "Nogotiate"?

As fresher, most of the candidates opt for the brand name and don’t even think of negotiation because apparently, money should not be a priority.

Let's talk about why is it important to negotiate

  1. Experience matters, not salary - Both matter equally. You can work with less salary is your choice but shouldn’t be a norm.

  2. You can always ask later - No, you can not. If there was no discussion related to salary before the joining, then expecting a conversation later is not sensible.

  3. Offering to work for a lower salary won’t give you the job - If an organization is looking for an efficient candidate, salary becomes secondary mostly. What they need is the attitude and confidence in the candidate that they can be the best fit for the role.

Now, why is it important to negotiate?

  1. Negotiation is perfectly normal and derived from research shows how competent you are.

  2. 70% of hiring managers expect candidates to negotiate their salary and benefits - the result of Robert Half's online U.S. survey.

  3. It helps you to build self-confidence that will help you while doing the job.

  4. It’s the way your employer shows that they appreciate your work and value the time that you putting in and your skills are indeed good.

  5. Salary is one of the parts which helps in work-life balance.

  6. Negotiation is a skill that helps a long way.

Tips to negotiate your first salary

Skills can be learned and that’s why we are here - to learn a skill of negotiation and rock the next chance we get.

Negotiation for any kind of role requires similar steps which are:

Research:

Once you know what’s the salary range for that particular role, move on to step 2.

Understand your market value:

Once you know your worth, you can move forward with confidence.

Always let your employer make the offer:

Schedule a meeting for discussion only:

Postpone the salary discussion for the end:

Always ask for a higher amount so that even if negotiation happens further, you still get the desired salary.

Let’s talk about some behavioral tips to get ready for negotiation.

  1. Be confident:

    • It’s important to come up with your top game. Be so sure about your skills and strength and about the salary range that even the hiring managers pause for a moment to change their minds.
  2. Plan your pitch:

    • Planning is essential. Approach with the strategy to not get stuck in the loop of ‘should I say this or am I being rude’.
  3. Prepare yourself for tough questions:

    • Be honest and confident and handle the conversation according to the questions they ask.
  1. Lead the conversation gracefully:

    • Your choices might not align but always keep your professionalism and your attitude in check.
    • Be respectful and thankful for the opportunity.
  2. Rehearse your pitch:

    • Rehearse with friends or family and see where you are lacking.
    • You can try recording yourself or talking to yourself in the mirror too for a better understanding of your gestures and expressions.
  3. Last but not least, be comfortable and positive throughout the conversation. If the conversation is giving positive vibes, then you have won half of the war already - learned from Akash.

Also, if you know you are worth more than what they are offering, be ready to walk away. Never sell yourself short in the name of “opportunity”.

That's it from my end. If you have some more points which helped you negotiate your salary or have some interesting experiences to share, do add those in the comments below.

THANK YOU!