Salary negotiation is a stressful experience for most people, and this is especially true when the negotiations happen over email. With the lag in communication, you don’t get to see tone of voice or facial expressions, and that can make second-guessing yourself even more challenging. However, there are some things you can do to prepare for your salary negotiation, that will help you to keep calm and ensure the best outcome possible.
The first thing to do is prepare a list of reasons you feel you deserve a certain salary. These could include your years of experience, education level, and unique skills or talents that you bring to the job. Having these business-related reasons prepared for the conversation will help you to avoid sounding too desperate or entitled, which can come across as pushy or arrogant.
If the interviewer brings up salary expectations before you’ve had a chance to do your research, try to deflect the conversation by talking about other work-life balance benefits such as remote work flexibility or childcare reimbursements. This will give you more negotiating room and allow you to remain confident in your requests.
If you are forced to talk about salary during the interview, always provide a range rather than an exact number. This will allow the interviewer to negotiate without putting you on the spot, and it will also give them room to negotiate your final offer up or down depending on their own research. Try to start the discussion with a figure from the higher end of your range, and then work toward a compromise. Salary negotiation tips