Your First ResponseFrom: Jack Chapman In my job as a career consultant, in which almost everything I do is individualized and there are exceptions to every rule, it’s delightful to know that Salary-Making Rule 3 always holds. Salary-Making Rule 3 is When you hear the figure or range, repeat the figure or top of the range, and then be quiet. Dangers and Power of Silence: Out for the CountYou must repeat the figure or top of the range with a contemplative tone in your voice as if this were the start of a multinational summit meeting. Your enthusiasm for the job and company and industry has been unbounded up to this point. Now let a quiet look of concern grace your countenance and gaze at your slightly shuffling feet as you ponder this offer. Count to thirty and think. Quickly Calculate the Annualized AmountFirst, you should calculate roughly what the offer is in annual terms. Hourly workers can easily convert an hourly figure to a yearly one by doubling it in thousands. So fifteen dollars an hour is roughly $30,000 a year; twenty dollars an hour, $40,000; all based on forty hours a week with no overtime. To go from weekly to yearly, multiply by fifty (or divide by two and add two zeros). For instance, $600 a week is $30,000 a year, and so on. Calculate what the salary is, then compare it with your expectations of what this job should pay, considering your quality. During this time there is silence in the room. If you had not repeated the figure or the top of the range, the silence would be awkward or dangerous. Your interviewer would wonder if you had gone to sleep or if you’d heard what was said. The interviewer might think you were accepting it or that you’re too shy to talk about money. But when you repeat it, the interviewer knows that you heard it and fears you’re disappointed. Let the interviewer be nervous, worried, or anxious. That’s okay for 30 seconds. That way he or she will again consider your quality and the return you would make on the company’s investment. What Happens When You’re QuietThe most likely outcome of this silence is a raise. How about that! You haven’t been on the job for even thirty seconds and already you have a raise. It might sound like “[silence] But we could go as high as X dollars for someone like you” or “[silence] But we could be flexible on that.” If you like, you can greet the raise with the same silent treatment: “$60,000. Hmmm [silence].” Sometimes you’ll get an explanation of why the budget allows only that much. “Times are rough, competition’s tough. We’ve just sunk money into an updated Flam-a-doodle Wig Whumper, and the cash flow is squeezed by the president’s frequent business trips to exotic locations.” Listen. Be quiet. Think. Compare, contrast, evaluate, and then respond. What do you respond with? The truth. Responding with the TruthThe truth is either “Sounds great,” “Sounds acceptable,” or “Sounds disappointing.” You’ll know which one is correct because before the interview you’ll have followed the advice in this chapter and researched your market value. That will give you the strength and power to negotiate for your full value because you’ll have the information to back it up. (The same approach applies to raise negotiating.) Note that your past or present salary is only one indication of your market value. Earlier you learned not to let your most recent salary restrict your new one. You might have sidestepped or postponed the salary question altogether by asserting, “all I expect is a fair and competitive offer with respect to this job.” So, now, even if this offer is less than your most recent salary, you must abide by the same rules. It’s not fair to complain, “But that’s less than I’m earning now,” or “That’s less than I earned before.” While employers usually try to exceed your previous salary, your salary in some other job does not really determine the value of your work in this job – that value is made up from a formula with three components. Jack Chapman is a nationally know job coach and seminar speaker specializing for the last 20 years in salary negotiations and job interviews. For more information on Salary Negotiations, please visit: http://www.breakthrough-salaries.com/ |