Entries from December 2009 ↓

Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.
—Louis Pasteur

Focus Letters
You’re back from the interview. Easy, even exhilarating, wasn’t it? Celebrate, but don’t pop the champagne cork yet if your offer is still pending. We still have a little more strategizing to do together.

Now is the time to get out a pen and paper or boot up the computer. I bet you think I’m going to suggest that you write a thank-you note. Well, yes and no. Now is a time when you can continue to ride the wave of positive persuasion that you created at the interview.

The note we’re going to write now is a different kind of note. I call it a focus letter. Its purpose is to leave no doubt in the employer’s mind that you are the candidate to hire.

A focus letter includes a gesture of appreciation for the interviewer’s time, but also, and more importantly, it imparts a meaningful message of your newfound perceptions of the company . . . and how your expertise is indispensable to solving the problems of their business. On the following page is an example of a focus letter from a marketing executive seeking a position as the senior vice president of marketing at a software corporation.

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job

Pat is a client who negotiated her compensation package creatively when the company she applied to “wouldn’t budge” on salary. She got them to agree on $80,000 a year (more than they initially offered), but she felt she needed to make a better deal with them to feel satisfied working there on the long term. She had a great idea on how to narrow the gap between what she wanted and what the company offered.

• She said she would be glad to accept $80,000 if she could work a 32-hour week. In effect, she increased her salary by $20,000 a year.

• Pat asked that her medical and other health benefits begin immediately rather than after 90 days. She got that too.

• She asked for tuition reimbursement for a master’s degree program that would further her knowledge of her field. She got that benefit also, and it was a lifesaver at $330 per graduate unit (about $1000 per class).

Use the techniques of open-door negotiating, along with the rock-solid confidence you have built while assessing your skills, gifts and accomplishments. Take the risk! It will pay off. I leave you with a phrase I once heard in the movie Desert Hearts: “You can’t win if you don’t play the game.”

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job

Gary did it by continuing to stress his skills and using Q statements. He was sure to let the employer know of the value he could contribute to the company, and he made himself absolutely irresistible. Earning $14,000 in the space of a 45-minute negotiation is certainly time well spent!

Benefits and Your Total Compensation Package
You don’t have to end your salary negotiations with the salary discussion. You can negotiate for just about anything. Here are some obvious and not-so-obvious factors to be considered in your total compensation package:

Relocation fees

Sign-on bonus

Life, disability, and accident insurances

Medical, dental, vision, and counseling benefits

Paid holidays

Vacation days

Health spa or gym membership

Company car

Mileage reimbursement

Training and education reimbursement

401(k)

Profit sharing

Commission structure

Bonuses

Performance and salary review after 90 days

Stock options

Telecommuting (working from a computer at home)

Flextime

Child care reimbursement

Company-sponsored discounts on goods and services

Parking reimbursement

Commuting reimbursement

First or business class airfare

Expense accounts and company credit cards

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job

Even if the interviewer mentions that the position pays an amount that isn’t amenable to you, don’t reject it in the first interview. You haven’t even tried to negotiate yet!

Your objective in the first interview is to get to the second interview.

Hang in there. You don’t have to accept the figure that is mentioned. Simply say you’d be willing to “consider” it. By the second interview you’ll have a lot more bargaining power. You know the company is very interested in you. You may be one of only two or three candidates. You may be their only candidate. You’re in the seat of power.

Another client of mine, Gary, was offered what he considered to be an unacceptably low salary in the first interview. He continued with the interviewing process and made it to the second interview. Gary was able, after a 45-minute negotiation, to get the employer to raise his salary from $35,000 to $49,000.

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job

Clients often ask me what to do if the interviewer absolutely insists that they reveal an exact dollar amount for their current salary. There’s a method for handling that one too:

QUESTION: We can’t proceed unless you tell me an exact dollar amount of your current salary.
ANSWER: My base salary is $78,350 a year, and that is one of the reasons I’m looking for another position. I would like to be making more.

Or . . .
ANSWER: My base salary is $78,350 a year with an excellent benefits package worth $12,000, so that puts my entire compensation package somewhere in the nineties.

If you’re at a first interview and are reasonably sure of a second interview, or if you’re being screened on the phone, you should not get into serious negotiations. The question “How much do you expect to earn here?” is just a screening question taking to get you in or out of the next interview. The best answer is sometimes “flexible,” “open,” or “negotiable.”

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job

Let’s imagine Wu-lei in another version of the story in which $62,000 was a lot lower than what she had expected.

• If she says, “That’s not acceptable,” she closes the door to any other possibilities.
• If she replies, “How about $68,000?” expecting the employer to counter halfway at about $65,500, she still may be cheating herself out of thousands of dollars a year.

Here are some ways Wu-lei can use open-door negotiating by not mentioning any exact figures. She can respond to the interviewer’s proposed range in a number of ways:

ANSWER: [leans back in her chair for a moment, thinking, then leans forward with direct eye contact] To tell you the truth, I was expecting something somewhat higher.

Or . . .
ANSWER: (Leans back and then forward) I was actually expecting a substantially higher figure.

Or . . .
ANSWER: Thank you, but I’d be much more inclined to accept an offer closer to the seventies or eighties.

Or . . .
ANSWER: Hmm . . . I think I would find the offer more attractive if it were closer to $70,000.

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job

Also, he does not ask for the salary range for the position. He forces the interviewer to look at what he, as an individual, can contribute. If he had not done this, he may have been offered only $30,000 in base pay. In the space of a moment, he was able to increase the offer by 50 percent. This is a very dramatic case, but it really does happen in this way for many of my clients.

Now that we’ve analyzed Alex’s conversation with the interviewer, lets look at a few examples of how other job candidates have been able to receive optimum compensation. Here’s a story of Wu-lei, a marketing specialist:

QUESTION: What are your salary expectations?
ANSWER: Actually, moving from the semiconductor industry to the clothing industry, it’s very hard for me to judge. Maybe you could let me know what sort of salary range would be expected for a person with my background.

QUESTION: We could start you anywhere between $50,000 and $62,000.
ANSWER: [stands up to shake hands] $62,000 would be fine. When can I start?

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job

1. He never mentioned the exact amount of money he made, even when asked twice.
2. He did say he was in the “mid to high range.”
3. He thinks of a reason (for example, it is difficult to compare salaries in a small company with those of a large company). Other reasons could be the following:

• A change of geographic area (for example, from Seattle to Atlanta)
• A change of level of position (for example, from manager to director)
• A change of industry (for example, from travel to telecommunications)
• A change in the type of pay structure (for example, from commission to hourly wages or a salary)

After he establishes that a comparison can’t be made, he turns the question back on the interviewer by saying, “What salary range do you think would be reasonable for a person with my skills?” Notice he still doesn’t ask for an exact number. An exact number would partially “close the door.” Alex crafts his responses so that the door stays open.

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job

Here are some possible scenarios that illustrate the principles of open-door negotiating and the use of the four bargaining factors. This is the story of Alex, a computer hardware sales engineer:

QUESTION: What are you making right now?
ANSWER: I’m making as good or better than a person of my skills in this geographic area.

QUESTION: Can you give me an exact number?
ANSWER: Well, you know, it’s very difficult to compare what someone in a small company like mine makes with what someone working in a large company like this one would make. Maybe you could tell me what salary range would be reasonable for a person with my skills in this company.

QUESTION: Oh, anywhere from $30,000 to $60,000, plus commissions.
ANSWER: [stands up, puts his hand out for a handshake] $60,000 sounds great. When can I start?

This may sound like it’s all too simple, but it works. This is a very typical salary negotiation for many of my clients. The scenario can certainly unfold in a thousand different ways, but what looks like luck here isn’t. It’s skill. Let’s see what happened and exactly how Alex managed to pull this one off:

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job

There are several rules to observe in the game of open-door negotiating if you want to play it well:

• Try to postpone the salary discussion until a job offer has been made or until you are in a second interview.
• Do not be the first one to mention an exact amount of money, no matter how many ways the interviewer tries to get you to inform him or her of what you earned or what
you wish to earn in the future.
• Speak in terms of ranges of salary rather than using exact figures.
• Postpone saying no to an offer until you are sure you have all the information.
• Postpone saying yes to an offer until you are sure you have all the information.
• Postpone, postpone, postpone. There is no reason to rush a salary discussion, especially when that discussion could add 15 to 20 percent to your earnings. Be patient.

Finally, remember that your base pay is not the only thing you’re negotiating for. You’re actually negotiating for a full compensation package that may include a sign-on bonus, extra benefits and perks, and many other features we’ll talk about later in this chapter.
Let’s move on to an actual blow-by-blow account of a salary negotiation.

Taken from : Fearless Interviewing - How To Win The Job