Why You Need to Negotiate a Job Offer And How To Rewire Your Brain To Be Able To Do So
Would you walk away from $10K, without any reason at all? That’s what happens when negotiating a job offer is not done - value is left on the table, unclaimed by you. This post will discuss the ‘why’ you need to negotiate your next job offer, the top 3 reasons why Canadians do not negotiate their salary and how to rewire your brain to be able to do so.
Why Negotiation Is Important
Fair Compensation: negotiating is based on facts - level of experience, expertise, and courses completed are a few facts every candidate brings to a role. When negotiating, it is critical to approach through a lens of ‘fair compensation’.
Undervalued: a ‘low ball’ salary offer does not reflect the facts of your experience, expertise or knowledge. This leads to resentment.
Overvalued: if a candidate asks for more than their worth, this sours negotiations. ‘Fair’ on both sides is needed.
Fair Compensation: candidates need to be reasonable in their ask by looking at industry trends, similar roles in the same company, and assess their experience, expertise and knowledge accordingly. This is the sweet spot - where both parties feel they have achieved a value oriented deal.
Value: Look for value, not just money. Value items, other than salary, up for negotiation include: personal time off/vacation days, work remote options, flexible schedules, and health benefits.
Tip: think about what value brings the most impact to your life. Other than money, what would make your life better?
Retirement: Money over time compounds and grows. By negotiating for more money, you are setting yourself up for your retirement … FASTER.
Example: Person A is offered a salary of $90K. Through negotiation they are able to secure $98K. They take $8K and invest it - one time. Over 10 years, assuming a market return of 6%, they will have $14,326 and over 20 years, to $25,657.
Details: that’s only by investing $8K one time. Person A will be receiving $8K more than the original offer, EVERY YEAR!
Resentment: if you ask, you MAY receive. But if you never ask, you will 100% NOT receive. This can lead to resentment: feeling throughout your work that you were worth more. By asking, and being told ‘no’ you can feel confident in yourself that you at least tried. Opposite of this, is that you ask and you get what you ask for!
Top 3 Reasons Canadians Do Not Negotiate
According to research conducted in 2020 by Robert Half, nearly 40% of Canadians did not negotiate their offer, even though they wanted to. The top three reasons listed are: (1) they were uncomfortable, (2) they feared losing their offer, and (3) they didn’t know their specific industry’s fair compensation.
Source: https://bit.ly/3KB10Xo; February 2020
How to Rewire Your Brain To Negotiate a Job Offer
If you find yourself facing the same top 3 reasons for not negotiating, here is how to rewire your brain:
Uncomfortable negotiating? Speak to your circle of family and friends or better yet connect with a professional who can coach you. This is a skill that can (and should) be learned.
Think you may lose your job offer by negotiating? Know this:
Company A needs you. The role is empty and they picked you. You are the preferred candidate and they want you on their team. Company A is invested in recruiting you and will want to play ball to have you successfully join their team.
If Company A IS the type to rescind an offer merely based on your request to negotiate - RUN. This is not the type of company you want to be part of. If this is true, count your blessings and move on. In this instance, you can do research and reach out to current employees, read reviews online to see what is the culture of Company A.
Know that Company A does not want the reputation of rescinding offers - it is in their best interest to be open to negotiations. If they truly cannot accommodate negotiations, often they will be honest and upfront about their limitations. In this scenario, you will simply get a ‘no, we cannot do this but we would still like you on our team’. Don’t let your brain trick you into the worst possible scenario, i.e., offer being taken away. This is very unlikely to happen.
Don’t know the going rate?
Do research online to find what similar roles in similar companies are offering. There are multiple search engines geared to do exactly this. If you have to pay a small fee for access - do it. Spending $100 once to bump your salary by a few thousand every year is good value.
You can also reach out to others within the organization to learn what the range for a specific role is.
Your career and job moves are critical to your health and well being. More value (monetary, benefits, flexible work options) will all ADD to your quality of life. Negotiating for yourself is how you can achieve the right mix of value for yourself. To learn the skill of negotiation you can connect with me and receive personalized coaching.
You have one life … Why not try to get the most out of it?
