26. Sell your Value. Sell your value, and make your value visible. Stress what you have to offer the employer. Explain why you are the person for their job. Explain why you deserve a good raise or bonus by pointing out your accomplishments. State your sources from your prior research to underpin your facts. The interview chair is not time to become shy or timid.
27. Your True Cost. How much do you really cost? Think of yourself as an asset to your company, and work out how much you really cost. If you don't, you'll risk spending too much time talking about salary and related bonuses only, and not enough time on your real cost. You'll also run the risk of not discovering ways you can save your company money - money that can be shared with you.
So if you have an office at home and are happy working from there some days per week, then what are the cost savings your employer will reap? Do you have your own laptop and accessories?
Did you go direct, or through an agency? If direct, then how much are you saving them in agency fees? If via an agency, then how much are they paying the agent? Could you negotiate your agents fee downward?
Do you really need all the fringe benefits? Would they be happy paying you the equivalent in money instead?
28. Is time on your side? Calculate what you're worth per hour or day, and multiply up the amount of hours you will be working to see if you're being paid your full worth. Many consultancies expect that you work longer hours, including weekends, but don't pay you for this time. So the high salary may look less attractive when you weigh the real opportunity cost in lifestyle trade-offs. Perhaps you should be negotiating a time based pay model rather than a project or fixed rate. So would an hourly rate be better than a daily rate? Alternatively, if you're confident of completing the project in good time or in fulfilling your responsibilities in say 4 days per week, then argue for the full salary on your reduced amount of time. Would flexitime suit you better?
29. Many Goals to Score. Flesh out your goals and interests before going into every negotiation, in as much detail as possible. Make our Salary Negotiation Checklist your own by adding in extra columns. The more distinctions you make, the more material you have with which to negotiate. If you walk into a negotiation with only 1 goal, you risk being stuck in a deadlock. With 2 goals, you risk a to-and-fro dilemma. With 3 or more goals and issues your options begin to open up, and with some creative juices you can build the perfect job offer. So divide your goals and negotiation issues into sub goals and sub issues.
30. The Perfect Job Trinity. The Perfect Job can be yours, but only if you hit bulls eye on the Perfect Job Trinity. Too many IT professionals start their job searching online, looking at ads. This only takes care of the most visible part of the trinity - "Job Offers". Unconsciously they scan roles with an eye out for things that they know they can do - "Your Skills". Assessing your skills should have structure, starting with your assessing and them mapping out fully ALL your skills to date - even the skills from previous careers you didn't think you would end up using again. Usually last on the list is the most important - "What you enjoy". So do you love your job? Yes, we don't use the "L" word lightly. If you don't, then write down all the things you have enjoyed, include hobbies and previous careers. If you do love your job, then you're lucky to be able to add to this list all the wonderful things you love about your current job. This makes sure that you won't take a role that doesn't give you full satisfaction - there's a very real danger of your taking for granted all the things you love, and then missing them when you later realise what they were. So what does all this have to do with salary negotiation? Firstly, you're only ready to negotiate a position when you know it's right for you. Else you'll be unhappy, not excel or be able to perform at your best and want to move on sooner. Secondly, having a list or mind map of all the skills you possess and all the things you enjoy will focus your job searching lens. Thirdly, you'll be able to focus in on the skills that you possess that your employer needs - whether they know it or not. Fourthly, your role may be shaped into one that gives you real satisfaction - and this makes everyone happier in the long run.
31. Don't be Evil. Just as Google's early days corporate motto stated. Promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but... Geeks are famed for telling it like it is. Don't trade on your hard earned professional reputation for the sake of a possible benefit. Being honest does mean you can choose which facts you want to focus on, and which you wish to avoid. This is an important part of "Framing". Choose which part of the picture you wish to focus the frame on, but don't distort the truth. It's likely that you want a longer term relationship with your employer. Industries are smaller than you may think, and people do talk. If you find the other side being economical with the truth - challenge them and give them a chance to put the record straight.
32. Tactical Counters. Beware the tactics. Learning them the hard way is too costly. So should you be using tactics? We suggest not. Tactics are usually dishonest, and dishonestly costs you in the credibility stakes. When successful, tactics may win you money in the short term, but they'll be gunning for you next time around. People want to regain the dignity they see you having taken from them - otherwise known as revenge. Negotiation credibility takes a long while to build up, but can crumble in seconds. Negotiation tactics is a zero sum game that hurts trust and relationship irreparably. You still need to be aware of tactics in order to better be able to identify and neutralise tactics when someone inevitably tries to use them on you. Yes, we've named and shamed the more important tactics in several of the points above, and shared advice on how to counter them. Do pick up a book on negotiation tactics to be on guard and be armed to counter nasty tactics you will undoubtedly encounter.
The Way of the Future
33. Supply and Demand. Taking feedback from readers, I agree that there is a valuable 33rd point that needs to be added. A general rule of thumb in business is that of supply and demand. Perhaps one of the reasons sales continues to hold sway as the number 1 paying career path is exactly because you can't take a degree in sales. Remember what salaries were like in IT before certificatoins and degrees popped up all over the place? Standardisation and regulation leave in their tidy wake more workers who can more easily be compared and traded off against each other, this of course pushes wages downwards. Tertiary institutions are perfect for left brain focussed IT, but woefully poor at the right brain people and high concept skills that sales demands. Another trend that goes hand in hand with this reality is outlined by Daniel Pink in his book "A Whole New Mind". Daniel goes on to make the point that if it's left brained, logical and process intensive, it can be boxed up and learned in the developing world. This pushes supply up still further. Now tell me, how easily can a graduate living in India or China sell a non-commodity product to your clients?
Advice here for techies? Go one of two ways. Either become niche, specialise and target your services, and re-train regularly. Else combine your left brain IT skills with right brain people and conceptual skills to become an uncommon hybrid adding value and ideas with follow through.