Confessions of a Corporate Shopaholic

In every job search opportunity the topic of remuneration and package always comes out one point or another.  Regardless whether you think you have any negotiation power on what’s on offer or not, you should know what you are worth.  If I were the employer, even if I don’t agree with the number you are proposing, you would still have gained my respect if you present a relevant logic of how you tabulate the number.

Salary surveys, benchmark reports, and insider information are all undoubtedly helpful in assessing how much your fair pay is going to be, but don’t apply yourself in everything you are hearing.  Each person has distinct characteristics and experience to offer and the higher the career ladder you are at, the bigger the variability.  So next time when the so-called headhunters coerce you in accepting an “unbeatable” offer, do your own research and make your own assessment.

What makes you stand out from the other candidates being considered for the same position?  Do you know who are out there and what level of experience they have?  The number one step is to know your competition.  Once you have been in a profession for some years, that should not be as hard to do as it seems.  You should have compared yourself with your colleagues in your own company, those in competitors’ organizations, at business seminars, trainings and cocktail parties.  In my line of work, I particularly pay attention to the personalities of my industry peers other than just their professional qualifications, because sometimes that is what it takes to tell a couple of similarly qualified candidates apart.

The hard qualifiers are easy.  Years of experience, number of subordinates, revenue numbers, savings figures etc. are all quantifiable.  Compare your accomplishments with the market to assess your net worth.  Why is your employer going to be “profitable” to bring you on board?  To drive revenue up?  To land more savings?  To re-energize the team?  Always make sure you will be delivering a much bigger number than what you want on your paycheck.  It’s simple math, and both sides have to win.

Yet it’s the soft qualities that few manage to notice.  Soft qualities like personalities, influencing skills, communication skills, staying power and leadership skills all have unlimited potential that no past accomplishments can truly showcase.  We have seen countless cases where a very competent high performer fails miserably in his new role because he does not have the leadership skills at the next level.  I wrote about that in my earlier post recommending Marshall Goldsmith’s book.   On the other hand, if you are confident that your soft skills are going to add great value to the post at hand, make sure you let your employers and headhunters know about it with examples, and then attach a dollar figure to it.  Yes how one sees this figure as relevant is a subjective issue, but as long as you can put together your logic behind it, there isn’t much to lose.

When negotiation is at stake particularly for a fairly big portion of your career life,  don’t be shy about it.   The key is to be as fact-based as possible, build a convincing proposition and articulate it skillfully.  If you are a good salesman at your job, why wouldn’t you do it for yourself?