Can You Lose a Job Negotiating?

Salary Negotiating Skills

Before negotiating, find out which position or person you are negotiating with. This should let you know his or her expectations for proper compensation. You should also know what kind of compensation you can get. Once you know these two things, make a connection for both parties and try to meet in the right place.

Always negotiate in a professional manner and always be ready to hear no. In this way, you will feel inspired by what you have achieved through the negotiation process. Never engage in aggressive negotiating behavior as this can backfire and cause you to lose the offer entirely.

Don’t assume the two of you are on the same page when it comes to determining when to meet, who should be there, what your agenda is, etc. Instead, negotiate carefully because you will negotiate ahead of time. Discussing such procedural issues would pave the way for more focused discussions.

Negotiating can be a difficult skill to master, but it can also be a key part of your job search.

Negotiation is a skill, and like any skill, practice is critical to success. Role-play with your friends and your career services contacts. Practicing with a partner who won’t budge easily asks for a slightly higher salary. Practice asking for a higher salary with a partner who doesn’t budge at all. Always respond in a professional and appropriate manner.

This process leverages our ability to build relationships, communicate effectively, listen, solve problems, make decisions, assert ourselves, and influence others. So being able to negotiate successfully is a useful skill, whether you’re discussing the terms of a new job or discussing with your family what to do for the weekend.

Negotiation skills are not only useful in career, but also in everyday life. Learning to negotiate effectively involves acquiring a variety of relationship management skills, including communication, strategy development, persuasion, conflict resolution, decision-making, and relationship building. In particular, to achieve a successful outcome, negotiators must analyze issues with the interests of all parties in mind and determine the other party’s priorities. Experienced negotiators plan negotiations ahead of time, look for areas of mutual interest, collaborate, and research each other to find common ground to discuss before the negotiating session begins.

For many of us, the prospect of talking about salary is just about as appealing as talking to a stranger about our most embarrassing memory. It’s no surprise then, that data collected for PayScale’s Salary Negotiation Guide shows that 57 percent of respondents have never negotiated salary in their current field. Twenty-eight percent of those who refrained from negotiating held back because they felt uncomfortable negotiating salary.

On the other hand, 75 percent of those who asked received some sort of a raise. So you can see that it’s worth it to ask for the salary you deserve. If you’ve done all the legwork — researched an appropriate salary range, developed a strategy, and prepared a script — but you’re having trouble taking that last step and starting the conversation, it might be time for a little inspiration.