Negotiating job offers | Part II
Expert insights by your mentor Eva Cortés Romero
Hi you,
We are back to the topic of salary negotiations.
If you have been applying for jobs you probably were asked about your salary expectation or even better you may receive a job offer very soon. To help you negotiate an offer that makes you and your employer happy we brought some tips for you in Negotiating job offers | Part I and invited Eva Cortés Romero to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about this topic.
Eva is a Senior Talent Acquisition Manager & Career Mentor at Imagine Foundation. She has over 7 years of broad experience working in companies in Barcelona, London, and Berlin. Check out what we discussed.
Eva, are there any differences between junior and senior candidates when it comes to negotiating an offer?
Yes. The main difference being that Junior candidates tend to be uninformed and put it on the Recruiter or the company to decide on how much they would like to offer. Senior candidates come much more prepared and they would typically tell you openly their current salary or where they would like to be. However, I start to notice Junior candidates becoming way more assertive with their salaries which is good. No matter what level a candidate is, I would always advise them to do their research and not leave the salary topic in the dark.
What if the candidate is applying for a job abroad, the salary negotiation is somehow different?
Yes, because relocation and cost of living then factors in. There is a lot of misinformation not only from candidates but also from companies relocating candidates when it comes to cost of living.
When recruiters ask for a salary expectation, what is the best option: saying a range or saying an exact number?
Ideally the exact number because then we can work towards that and it avoids back and forth with offers at late stages. I understand how for some candidates it might be interesting to play with negotiations and then get companies to counteroffer until they get someone to offer a higher number. However, a candidate who does that might not come across as genuine and that might not play in their favour. The best is to be up front and transparent. It can also happen that expectations might change and a candidate might realise they have underestimated themselves. This is why it is best to do research upfront. Note also that if you are working with a decent Recruiter they will tell you immediately they are not in a position to meet your expectations and then the conversations would stop there to avoid any time waste. On this note, I have also seen companies raise their brackets because the cost of not hiring someone was higher than the cost of paying them more. So the bottom line is, do your research and do not underestimate yourself.
I see candidates who are not happy with the offer they received but are afraid of asking for more. Do you have any advice for them?
Yes, you should voice this and ask the company their reasoning for under offering you and what are your options for progression once you join. At the end of the day salary is not the only selling factor when it comes to joining a company but sometimes is the potential for growth, a great team, interesting challenges or simply a location. Make a list and compare pros and cons.
I have personally accepted offers I was not happy with in terms of salary. However, I was looking at the opportunity as a whole and looking back I don’t regret taking those decisions because of the experience I gained and the people I got to work with. I gave myself a timeline to gain as much experience as possible as fast as possible and in less than a year I got back to more than my initial expectations.
What if a candidate receives an offer from a company while participating in the final interview with another company. What should they do?
If you are in the advantageous position that a great company has made you an offer and another one is interviewing you, the best thing to do if they are hesitating is to let both companies know and buy some time. In most cases that will speed up the process. As a recruiter, if a candidate shared this information with me I would make the team aware.
Eva, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us. I’m sure that the information you brought will be very helpful for job seekers out there looking for opportunities in Europe.
Do you have any other questions? Feel free to write them in the comments.
Cheers,
Team Imagine.