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Salary negotiation can be one of the more challenging parts of the interview process. You may be wondering: How much should you ask for? How can you find out what the position typically pays?  Will your job offer be withdrawn if you negotiate salary?  Read on for answers to these and other common questions, as well as tips to help you prepare for your next negotiation.

Three Quick Rules of Negotiation

Try to delay the conversation until an offer is made. You have the most negotiating power at the time of the offer, but before you accept it. Discussing your salary requirements too early in the process can leave you at a disadvantage because you have less information about the position.

Ask the company to disclose its salary range first. It’s ...

How many of you out there have actually negotiated more money? Many people shy away from asking for more money because of the fear of rejection.

What if they say no?

What if it makes it awkward with your boss?

Well, I’m here to tell you that you can do this. It’s actually a very normal thing to do and it may not be completely comfortable, but it doesn’t have to make things awkward. I’ve done it myself and got the raise.  If you want to learn how to confidently and successfully ask for a raise, this article is for you. I will share three practical strategies and some dialogue for your next negotiation.

Do your research. It goes without saying that you need to know ...

So many people avoid negotiating their salary and take whatever is offered because that's the most comfortable thing to do. But that’s not the best approach. I encourage you to go beyond what is comfortable to help you realize the benefits of speaking up and asking for what you deserve. I've coached several people through successful negotiations using the tips below. It's very effective, and I'm excited to share it with you here!

The first step in approaching a salary negotiation, or a raise in your current role, is research. You have to know what the job is worth. This is what helps to give you confidence in the discussion. This is where job seekers are at disadvantage. Companies, and larger ones in particular, can purchase access to salary surveys. This means they participate by sharing the salaries they pay and ...

I don't have to tell you that job hunting is an arduous process. If you've been through one recently, then you know. Even once you secure an offer, the work is still not done. Or, at least it shouldn't be.

So many people avoid negotiating their salary and take whatever is offered because that's the most comfortable thing to do. But that’s not the best approach. I encourage you to go beyond what is comfortable, to help you realize the benefits of speaking up and asking for what you deserve.

I've coached several people through successful negotiations in the last few months, using the dialogue below. It's very effective, and I'm excited to share it with you here! To make it even easier, I’ve broken it down into easy-to-follow steps.

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The topic of salary negotiation has come up recently with a few clients, so let’s explore it a little bit. Negotiating a salary makes a lot of people uncomfortable, so many people just avoid it altogether and accept whatever is offered. It doesn’t have to be this way!

Employers expect that you will be negotiating. The further you get in your career, the more this becomes true. There’s a couple of hard and fast rules that will help you make the most of this opportunity. And remember, your point of power for negotiation is ALWAYS at the time of the offer. Once you accept the job and begin doing the work for that salary, it’s only going to be harder. Plus, whatever number you negotiate now is what your future increases will be based on, so make ...

Money makes a lot of people uncomfortable. Asking for money, makes people really uncomfortable. I used to be one of those people. After gaining some experience, I’ve come to accept that negotiating your salary is just a normal part of the job search process. The more comfortable you are with it, the better you’ll be at it. Salary negotiation is essentially a game and you have to learn how to play it. Regardless of who you are or what industry you are in, the best way to play the salary game is to be informed. If you knew accurately what your job was worth, wouldn’t you feel a lot more comfortable when it came time to ask for your salary? Unfortunately, the system is not set up in favor of job seekers and reliable information is hard to find. Employers on the other ...

I’ve written about salary negotiation a few times already, but I want to revisit the topic again. There is a fairly new trend happening right now across the workforce that could have a real effect on job seekers. A limited number of companies, including the Internet company Reddit, are eliminating the salary negotiation process altogether. That means that when you accept a position with one of those companies, you don’t negotiate your salary at all, you accept what they offer you.

So, what could be the implications of this? It's complicated. If you’ve read my previous blogs or worked with me as a coach, then you know that I am passionate about all candidates, but for women in particular, learning to negotiate firmly and accepting no less than their true worth. Proponents of ...

For any recent job seeker, the following scenario is not unfamiliar. You're going through the online application and all is going well, and then suddenly they ask you for your salary expectations. Or even worse, your salary history. So, you try decide to skip that field. Expect that it doesn’t let you continue. There’s that little, annoying red asterisk by it saying that it’s a “required field.” Okay, fine. So, you put in “Negotiable” thinking you can trick it that way. It stops you again and says it only accepts numerical values. SERIOUSLY!? Well, you could be sarcastic and put all zeros, but you’re pretty sure that won’t get you the job. Neither will bashing in the monitor of your computer. I can't tell you how many times that has happened to me.

Why ...

There many different voices out there speaking for women as to how to fix this gender pay gap we have. First, let’s take a quick look at the issue. In 2013, women with permanent, full-time jobs were paid 78 percent of what men were paid for the same work (AAUW.org). The gap only worsens from there as women age, and if they are minorities. Surprisingly, the gap is present even in female-dominated industries, such as elementary education. To make matters more interesting, women have successfully closed the education gap and currently hold more bachelor’s degrees and more advanced degrees than men.  Yet, the pay gap persists.

Now that we know the scope of the problem, let’s talk about how to solve it. Actually, first let's talk about how not to solve it.  I read an online article recently that gave ...

For many of us there really is no comfortable time to talk about salary. Maybe some of us are born with natural confidence and can ask for anything we want. Well, this article isn’t for them. There are so many dynamics that play into the salary negotiation process. First, how much is my job worth in the market? How much am I worth in my job? How much is the employer willing to or capable of paying me? What am I earning compared to my peers? Employees fear being rejected when asking for more money and then possibly enduring a strained relationship with their supervisor afterwards. Women in particular face this challenge, but stayed tuned because that topic warrants its own article!

There are some opportunities that are clearly more conducive to a positive salary negotiation than others. I call these ...