Introduction
A job candidate asked, “How do you politely negotiate salary via email?”
Challenge
Receiving a new job offer is an exciting time for a candidate. It can also be very stressful. It is especially so if the salary is lower than the candidate hoped. Also, because the recruitment and selection process is currently done virtually, you may not have the benefit of observing the body language and other non-verbal ques from the person who extends the offer to you. This make it more difficult to assess how successful your negotiations may be. You don’t want them to withdraw the offer.
Strategy
Be encouraged. This doesn’t have to be a stressful process. Just follow my time-tested, six-step salary negotiation strategy: 1) Research; 2) Acknowledge timely; 3) Ask for Time; 4) Consider more than money; 5) Be realistic; 6) Follow up when promised
Implementation
Step 1. Research
Ideally, your pre-interview research should include learning what is the market value of the job that you will interview for. Consult sites such as LinkedIn, Salary.com, Glassdoor.com, Pay.com, Indeed.com, etc., to see what salary employers are offering for similar jobs. Also seek the advice of people within your network who either work in similar positions. You can also ask people how have access to salary survey information.
Step 2. Acknowledge receipt in a timely manner
When you receive a job offer via email, don’t play games with the employer. Reply via email to the sender to thank them for the offer.
Step 3. Ask for Time
Did I hear you say that you didn’t do your pre-interview research? Don’t despair. You can still recover. So, in your acknowledgement email, ask the sender for twenty-four hours to consider the offer. Provide a date and time by which you will follow up with your decision to accept or decline the offer. Of course, if you receive your offer on Friday, you can ask to follow up on Monday. This will give you a couple of additional days to think it over.
Step 4. Consider more than money
Determine what your total rewards package is. This is a combination of base salary plus other perks. For example, will you receive employee stock options, deferred retirement contribution matching, regular merit increases for high performance, a flexible work schedule, or voluntary benefits that can save you money? For example, many employers now offer pet health insurance for your fur baby, legal plans, chronic health condition management at low or no cost to employees. These can make a significant difference in your personal bottom line.
Step 5. Be realistic
Understand that main stream corporate, for-profit organizations typically offer higher salaries than non-profit and public-sector environments. As a trade-off, government or public-sector organizations may offer a little more job security.
Step 6. Follow up as promised
Never leave an employer hanging. First, because you want to be professional in all of your interactions with potential employers. Also, don’t burn bridges. You never know when new opportunities might arise. So, you want them to remember you in a positive light. Also, if you don’t think that the current offer is right for you, don’t hold up another candidate’s opportunity to accept if it’s right for them. Finally, if you take too long to respond affirmatively, the employer might move on to the next candidate.
Conclusion
As you see here, you can successfully negotiate salary via email. The key is to always meet your challenges with a strategy. Also, be flexible to making adjustments to your plan as needed. Following these steps will have you starting your new job, close to, or at the salary that you want.
For more salary negotiation tips and advice, visit me at https://nnamtique.com and search on salary or negotiation.
If you like what I’ve shared with you today, scroll down and leave me a comment. Or, ask me your question about the job search process. It might be featured during a future blog post.
As always, Career Search Success to You! Go Get Your New Job!
