3 Tips to Always win the salary negotiation game

'X' was about to step in the industry and had been a dreamer for most of her life. Her plan was simple: state an amount and if the company did not agree, take up the first job that comes across. She was never given a decent paycheck but she produced a miracle nonethless. 

And her 'real' name was Cindrella! 

Sorry, just wanted to nudge you a little, before we discuss the serious subject!

1) Rule no 1: Candidate should never mention a number.Most companies usually ask for previous salaries, just write, "Competitive" in the box. In the desired salary category, write "negotiable". Yes some hard hitting applications, come with all caps mentioning that the candidate must provide full details. However, it is really important not to mention a number.

If you like many do not have a inside connection to put your resume in the hands of the hiring manager, memorise the few small answers from the next paragraphs.

2) The dreadful interview

During an interview, candidates are under pressure again, to discuss their previous salaries. So when the ball is in your court, you will be expected to answer the desired salary question again. Say, "Through my research, I have realised that industry average seems to fluctuate a lot depending on the job requirement ....once I am aware of the full picture, I can give a better answer to this question"

"I am currently employed at XYZ and it would be a breach of my contract to mention details about my employment." As we all know, most company policies usually prohibit employee from discussing their salaries.

And follow it with the Hmmm...

This may sound silly but would become priceless in during the negotiation process. So if you are told, the position is budgeted at $35000, just repeat the number followed by hmmmm..Go ahead and try a serious face in front of your mirror, say the number without converting it into any currency and follow it with hmmm...

So your next interview answer might be, "$35000,hmmm." 

It is really important to try to raise the given number but may do so with and only with your achievements and raising the number also means negotiating benefits, title, periodic salary reviews and of cource, vacation if you are interested!.

 3) Research the larger picture 

Candidates should collect data from various websites such as salary, payscale and from personal networking. I think it is must that you have concrete documentation of your research which would graph the salary range for a position from low to high and add details to the about achievements, the nature of proposed work (manage a team of) and finally information sources. 

This third tip is usally mentioned in the beginning, but I mentioned it at the end so hopefully we can have a discussion about good research techniques and methods. Dear experienced ones, please share your wisdom for the benefit of all!