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BargainQueen · Marc Jacobs

Negotiating your Salary

Elle · Hermes

IMO $15/hour is unreasonably low for the amount of hours your are expected to work and the volume of your responsibilities. I made $13 an hour as a receptionist for gosh sakes! Generally I think you ask for more than you actually want, and they usually meet you somewhere in the middle. If they value you enough to entrust you with dealing directly with clients and overseas operations, they need to put their money where their mouths are

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sage · Dooney & Bourke

I have read that it is best to get them to make an offer and then you can counter with what you would like to earn. If you throw out the first figure then you don't have as much power. Or something like that. Ohh, I really don't know what I am talking about but I def think you should make more money now that your position has changed. Good luck

Dizzy · Marc Jacobs

They'll give you more, but they'll try to make you feel bad for asking. The trick is, you have to be willing to walk away, and you have ot have a good idea of what someone else would get. If you don't have the time or the opportunity to negotiate a better deal now, just keep good documentation and go in for a raise in about six months. But don't let them pull the big-title-mmore-work-but-much-less-pay-than-a-new-person-would-get scam. It's pretty common in inter-office promotions. Worth thinking about: right now is the strongest you're going to be in these negotiations because they don't want to have to find someone else. They've already said yes to you, so they want to stick with it.

But if you can't feel comfortable, or you get a panicked "what if they say no and take away this opportunity..." feeling, don't force yourself to push for more money. You have to be completely confident that you're worth it before you ask for more money. Any doubt, and you'll cave.

If you do decide to go for it, pick a number about 20 percent more than they offered, have documnetation to back it up - break it down by hours, by travel time, by whatever makes your side look better. It looks like you're on the right track with the $15 and hour thing above. Then give it to them as "Of course I thought you'd want to consider this, and I am so excited for this opportunity that I don't want something like money to make it impossible for me to take advantage..." If they give you a guilt trip, just don't respond. Don't get off track. Don't try to justify yourself in asking for more. You're asking because it's the right thing to do for a valued hard-workign employee. You assumed they wanted to do the right thing. Period. DO NOT let the discussion be about you. It's about them and what they can/are willing to do. If they say they can't give you money, figure out some perks - think about tax deductions in this though. (You don't want it to count as personal income).

Good luck! And have fun. Negotiating is great as long as you're not too caught up in the end result. If you are, just stay away and practice on things that matter less to you for a while...

-- Edited by Dizzy at 17:50, 2005-10-27