Negotiating Your Future: Successfully Evaluating and Negotiating Your Job Offers
Salary
Know your worth. Research salaries for the industry and function you seek.
- Enter the salary negotiation portion of your interview with a clear understanding of your skills.
- Provide the prospective employer with compelling reasons why you are asking for a salary increase.
- Use other job offers for leverage.
- Prepare a budget to determine what realistic salary offer is acceptable.
Review "Negotiating Your Future":
- Don't over emphasize the value of a signing bonus. It may be inconsequential within the context of the career opportunity. Ask when your first performance review and salary increase (if applicable) will be. You will need to demonstrate the "added value" you bring to the organization.
Try a quick quiz - Salary Negotiation
Job and salary negotiations should be a "win/win" situation.
- If salary negotiations are not an option (not all employers negotiate, it may depend on the industry), there are other compensations that you may be able to negotiate:
Start date, relocation expenses, tuition reimbursement (if not a regular benefit offered), vacation, association /professional dues, flex-time and other benefits
Not every offer needs to be negotiated. Companies are competitive in their salary and benefit offers.
Check the following Salary Surveys and Resources:
- MIT MITCO:
http://web.mit.edu/career/www/infostats/graduation.html - NACE - National Association of Colleges and Employers:
http://www.naceweb.org/salarysurvey/salary_survey.asp - Professional Associations - MIT Virtual Library:
http://libraries.mit.edu/help/virtualref/ - National Society of Professional Engineers:
http://www.nspe.org/ - Job Star:
http://jobstar.org/tools/salary/index.htm - Wall Street Journal Careers:
http://www.careerjournal.com/ - Salary.com:
http://www.salary.com
The site offers salary reports covering virtually every occupation, as well as information on salary, benefits, stock options, negotiation, and human resources issues. - Dewey Research Advisor:
http://libraries.mit.edu/dra
The Dewey Research Advisor is an FAQ on business-related topics. In the search box, enter "salaries." - http://web.mit.edu/career/www/graduate/podcasts.html/
Podcast: Women Don't Ask - Negotiating in the Workplace
Last updated on Wednesday, May 14, 08 at 04:43:42 PM EDT.
