Money

Lisa Gates of SheNegotiates offered many helpful tips and preparation strategies to grad students and post-docs in her recent salary negotiation workshop. Read a recap of some of her important takeaways here.

By Stephanie Griffin, Funding Peer
Friday, May 27th, 2016 - 1:11pm

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On May 20, the Graduate Division hosted a salary negotiation workshop led by Lisa Gates, co-founder of SheNegotiates. Along with role-playing exercises and audience Q&A, Lisa discussed how to relate your aptitude and experience to others in negotiating salaries and promotions, including negotiation tactics and frameworks.Credit: Lisa Gates

Some principles of negotiation strategy include:

  • There's always room to negotiate an offer. All employers expect you'll negotiate salary and/or benefits and aspects of the job.
  • Do your research beforehand. Begin by knowing exactly what you want and rank your priorities. Many entry-level or early-career employees aren't aware of all that's able to be negotiated. Salary isn't the only thing on the table; you can also look to improve benefits, bonuses, flex time, rotations, securing office equipment or staff, and other aspects of your position. When you approach with your counter-offer, be able to list the things you'd like to discuss.
  • Slow it down. It's rare that you'll need to respond to an offer immediately, so take a moment to consider your options and how you'd like to respond. Don't say the first thing to pop into your head.
  • Body language is key. Avoid crossing your arms and legs when speaking with someone in person, and lean in slightly towards that person, to appear more engaging and positive. When possible, sit on the same side or directly across from the other person.
  • On a related note, match your partner's conversational style and tempo.
  • Know your resources beforehand. When interviewing or considering an offer, ask the company "where would I gather resources/people to accomplish... ?" It's important to know where you can turn to in that company.
  • Learn about the company's promotional pathway and employee development. During the interview, an important question to ask is, "how does your company grow and develop their employees?" Note how frequently and easily employees receive promotions or raises, and how often employees can expect performance reviews. This is especially important for jobs where you're told a specific salary is expected for all entry-level/early employees.
  • Avoid single-issue negotiations. When it's time to negotiate, respond with all salary and benefit demands at once. It's easier for people to reject a single request than several.
  • Frame your negotiation for mutual benefit. Create perspective around your request by describing how it would help the company.

An important preparation for entering negotiations is brainstorming objection and response scripts. Lisa provided some example responses to problems you may encounter with your demands:

  • If part of your counter-offer is rejected, stress the difficulty of giving something up and ask for something in exchange. For instance, if you asked for better retirement benefits, and the company can't budge on the benefits, you could respond: "I understand the company can't provide the retirement benefits, but that'll be difficult for me. I'd like to raise the salary by X% to offset that retirement package."
  • "I understand your constraints. The bulk of my experience is in the fields of X and Y, which would be of huge value to this job/organization. Can you find any more wiggle room in my direction?"
  • Use diagnostic questions throughout the process. After stating your ask, using open-ended questions (e.g., "How did you arrive at your first number?", or "How would you feel about my offer?") will help you understand what they may be able to offer you, and what may be beyond their control.

Be sure to always conduct negotiations in person or over the phone. Even if your offer is emailed to you, don't respond by email. Conclude your counter-offer with an additional persuasive statement or argument for your ask.

After you've accepted an offer, these negotiation strategies should be called upon throughout your career! According to Lisa, it's important to continue to negotiate promotions or raises. For organizations without a clear promotion pathway, employees should consider asking for raises, bonuses, or promotions at the following times: every 6-12 months; when taking on new responsibilities; when given a new job title. Employees are also encouraged to continue to ask for professional development support throughout their career, whether it's attending workshops or gaining a new skill or certification. (If you're lucky, your company may pay for some of these costs - especially if you can show how it would directly benefit them.)

If you're considering switching to a new organization, you'll undoubtedly be asked at some point about current salary. Lisa offered the following responses to some standard questions to position yourself better:

  • How much are you making now? "Right now, I'm making $X, but it's under market value by Y%. To move to a new company, I'd need a salary range of A to B."
  • What are your salary expectations? Give a broader range that are a step above your current salary range (e.g. if you're making in the mid-60s, say your expectations are in the 70s).

For more resources, check out the SheNegotiates website.