this is how salary negotiation should work -- ASK A MANAGER |
this is how salary negotiation should work
by ASK A MANAGER on DECEMBER 7, 2010
The always awesome Jamie just posted this comment in response to an earlier post on job candidates disclosing their salary history:
This was absolutely the worst part of the process for me – because I hate salary negotiation.
I hate it because I’m terrible at it – so at least I’m self-aware.
In an ideal world the company would let you know the range for the position, and then making you an offer within that range based on what you bring to the table.
Then you can either accept or not based on your own criteria. Most job hunters have their own realistic ranges – many would accept less for a job if it had a great commute, or perks…whatever.
But I think the company should state the range for the position first. This way it’s on the table and the candidate can determine if it’s in the ballpark, if not then no one is wasting time.
Personally I would interview for a job if it were within 10,000 of my lower acceptable figure as that’s within the realm of possibility for negotiation. Anything lower than that I would know it’s not the right level job and move on.
The reason they want salary from applicants is to take advantage of those who were underpaid at their last job – and while I’m all for trimming every bottom line there’s something just not right about that.
If you pay market value from the start you don’t have to worry about one of your hires being so awesome you need to rectify this later…that’s hard to do gracefully.
Amen. It’s complete BS when employers insist on guarding the range they have in mind — because of course they have a range in mind.
If the employer doesn’t want to state the range because it’s flexible for the right candidate, then state it anyway and say it’s flexible for the right candidate. But if you don’t want to state the range because you want to lowball candidates, then you suck.
Pay people what they’re worth. Salary history has nothing to do with that if you’re good at understanding people’s value to you, and game-playing just ensures you’ll have a staff that sees you as their adversary.
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