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How to Negotiate Your Next Job Offer

You may be interviewing with multiple companies if you’re in the market for a new job. At some point, you’ll receive an offer for a new role. However, before accepting the job, you’ll want to ensure that the position is right for you and offers fair compensation for your efforts.

Knowing how to negotiate your job offer is a crucial part of the hiring process, just like preparing for an interview or updating your résumé. While most people consider salary as their top negotiating concern, you can also negotiate benefits like vacation time and workplace flexibility.

Before beginning the negotiation process, consider these tips for successful bargaining.

Is the Company You’re Planning to Work for Stable?

Be Likable

In larger companies, your hiring manager may not have the authority to give you a higher salary or better benefits package. They’ll accept your request, but they’ll need to go through various levels of management to make it happen.

Overcoming the red tape between senior managers and HR can be frustrating and time-consuming. If other highly qualified individuals accept what they’re offering, the hiring manager may not want to do the extra legwork.

But if your hiring manager likes you and feels you’re the perfect fit for the job, they probably won’t mind spending the extra time and talking to HR. Pay close attention to them and try to develop a rapport. If you can identify some common ground, they’ll be more willing to fight for you.

Explain Why You’re Negotiating for a Better Offer

Before asking for more pay or better benefits, it’s best to understand why you’re doing so. It’s a poor negotiating tactic to simply throw out a salary amount or ask for more vacation days if you don’t have a good reason.

Explain why you’re asking for more money to get the hiring manager on your side. For instance, if you’re leaving another company to join them, you can explain that you’d need them to match your current salary or offer a little more to justify the move.

People are more willing to work with you if they understand your mindset.

Be Clear That You Want the Job

If you have multiple job offers, congratulations. But if the job you truly want is with the company offering you an insufficient salary or benefits package, you’ll need to negotiate.

When you begin negotiating:

Explain that you have other offers.
Tell them that they are your top pick.
Explain that you’ll gladly accept the offer if they can meet the requirements you’ve stipulated.

Few hiring managers will attempt to work with senior leaders or HR to obtain a good benefits package for you if they don’t think you’ll take the job. It’s not worth their effort.

Understand Constraints

Sometimes, organizations have certain constraints that prevent them from offering you a better salary or benefits package. They may have a specific range of salaries they can offer to people in your role. If the salary you want exceeds the cap, they may not be able to do anything about it.

Larger companies and governmental organizations are more likely to have salary caps. If the hiring manager indicates that they can’t meet your salary requirements, you can try to negotiate other aspects of the package, like vacation time or a bonus.

Answer the Employer’s Questions Truthfully

Once you begin the negotiation process, your hiring manager may ask you questions, especially if you’re trying to secure significantly more than they’re offering. Answer any questions they have truthfully. Don’t appear elusive; it could undermine your credibility.

Questions the hiring manager may ask include:

Are you considering other offers?
Are you still looking for different roles?
Are you interviewing with other companies?
Does your current company know you’re looking for another job?
Would you stay with your current company if they match the salary you want?

The questions may seem invasive, but the hiring manager wants to know how serious you are about working for them before responding to your requests. Prepare yourself to answer these questions in advance of the negotiations.

Take a Holistic Look at the Offer Package

Job hunters often look specifically at the salary a company offers instead of considering other important factors like benefits. If the salary isn’t quite what you’re expecting, look at all of the elements of your package.

For instance, some companies may offer benefits like (but not exclusive to):

Remote work options
Paying for you to earn a certification or advanced degree
Free childcare
Company-sponsored gym memberships and/or fitness classes

Sometimes, benefits cover the difference between your salary expectations and the offer. If this is the case for you, it may be worth accepting the role.

Negotiate What You’re Seeking All at Once

When an organization offers you a job, they’ll typically provide you with a written offer letter that lists the benefits you’ll receive. Review your entire offer before attempting to negotiate.

When you begin the negotiation process, address all of your concerns simultaneously. That way, your hiring manager has to speak with senior management or HR to change your compensation package only once.

If you successfully negotiate one aspect of your package, then attempt to address another, you’re likely to lose the attention of your hiring manager. People are often willing to change something once, but if you continually try to get more, they’ll get tired of dealing with you.

Stick with It

If you’re unable to negotiate what you want now, that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to in the future. New employees are usually unknown quantities. A hiring manager chooses them based on their interview and employment history.

If you prove yourself to be a reliable employee the company can’t do without, you may be able to negotiate your salary later on. Accepting less now can set the stage for successful future negotiations.

Negotiating a Job Offer Isn’t Easy, but It Can Pay Off

If you’ve recently received a new job offer, it’s an exciting time. However, sometimes the offer may not meet your expectations. Employing our strategies for negotiation can help you get what you’re looking for.

Cowen Partners Executive Search | National Executive Search Firm

At Cowen Partners, our trusted executive recruiters are exceptionally skilled at delivering in-demand candidates, no matter the need and across all industries. Backed by a proven executive recruiting process, we have been the partner of choice for startups, corporations, small businesses, non-profits, and more, meeting unique and critical recruitment needs across the entire C-suite, including CEOs, CFOs, COOs, CMOs, CIOs, CTOs, CHROs, VPs of sales, other VPs, directors, and several other leadership roles.

With our executive recruiters, you get senior partner-led searches, due diligence-run networking, meticulous candidate vetting, and so much more, all geared towards one goal — placing the very best talent as soon as possible, all while ensuring a seamless fit with your company culture, your big-picture objectives, and other factors. Plus, we have one of the highest candidate retention rates in the industry while consistently delivering world-class talent faster than the competition.

That’s how Cowen Partners has become a leading executive search firm nationwide, and it’s why our executive recruiters have a reputation for excellence and success.

Contact us to see why we are continually ranked as one of the best executive search firms around and why we have so many repeat and long-term clients, as well as referrals.

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How to Negotiate Your Next Job Offer | Top Executive Search Firm