Negotiating job offers

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Negotiating job offers

In my view, most job seekers are fixated on getting the job during the interview, no matter what's at stake, without careful reflection.

The remedy? Careful negotiation. In my experience as a career coach, North American women, and new graduates are very resistant to doing something they actually can control to a certain degree-negotiation. Unless we engage in negotiation, we run the risk of being dissatisfied and or misunderstood, which directly relates to our productivity in our new position. Employers do expect job candidates to negotiate. It is a part of the process in job searching.

When it comes down to the "crunch," and the employer makes a candidate an offer, that is when the dynamic changes. Job candidates do pull some clout in whether they will accept or not accept a job offer.

Here are some simple tips to help you negotiate:

1. NEVER accept the offer without telling the employer that you need time to reflect and to review what you have discussed. Even 24 hours is appropriate. Employers will expect this. If they do not, reconsider if you want to work for them, or in the extreme case, be somewhat cautious of their hiring process and their company`s values.

2. Establish your wish list of what you must have in order to achieve job satisfaction. ie working conditions, independence, ability to have a say in projects, etc.

3. Devise your personal rating scale.
Rate what you want in the new job, based on a scale of 1-10.

Rate what what would be``nice to have`criteria from 1-10. (i.e. private office, extra week of vacation, etc)

Assess what are your non-negotiables (ex: shift work; noisy atmosphere, etc)

Examples of tangible things job seekers can negotiate:

-healthcare benefits
-professional development (ie if working for a small business or non-profit employer, budgets tend to be small)
-fitness membership
-tutition or educational reimbursement assistance
-PDA or Blackberry
-telecommuting
-flexible hours

4. `Sleep on it`,`and contact the employer about your decision.

5. Confirm what the employer wants you to achieve in the first 90 days (this is crucial in business).

5. If accepting the offer, get it in writing. Protect yourself at every cost.
(Yes, job offers have been rescinded at the 11th hour in the case of bad blood on the part of ill-willed employers or blind faith from job candidates ).
Remember, intuition is your most powerful decision-making tool).

More on using intuition in future posts.

Melissa Martin
bilingual career coach
careercoachingbyphone.com