The new college graduate walked into his job interview and sat down. He put both feet up on the desktop, leaned back, and looked at the interviewer through steepled fingers. After a five second silence he said, “Well, I’m just what you need. Before we go any further I want you to know that I need at least a six figure income and a new BMW. I also expect 6 weeks of vacation.”
The silence stretched for 10 seconds, then 20. After 30 seconds of silence the interviewer said, “I can only offer you $328,000. What color of BMW do you want?”
The candidate’s eyes unfocused as his feet came down to the floor and he leaned forward. He croaked, “You’re kidding!”
The interviewer frowned and waited 10 seconds, then he grinned and said, “Of course I’m kidding, but you started it.”
Timing is critical. Don’t negotiate salary, vacation or perks until they love you and are sure they want to hire you. You have no leverage for negotiations until you are the final candidate.
The problem is that THEY want to talk about it too early. So what do you say? We’ll talk about that tomorrow.
Something to do today
Write down the salary, benefits and perks you want. Also write down exactly what you have today.
Then do something more important: Write down why you want to leave. If the list is exactly the same, salary, benefits, and perks, you are in trouble. There is another problem.
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Tomorrow: Negotiating a salary at a new job – first interview
Later: Negotiating a salary at a new job – really negotiating
All I want is more money, vacation and benefits
A crippled ace
An ace who learned