What to Negotiate Besides Your Salary

When most people think of job offer negotiation, they immediately think of trying to get better pay from the company in the form of more salary or a higher per-hour rate. But a job's compensation consists of many elements. Consider also negotiating these key aspects of your compensation package.

Vacation
The nice thing about negotiating vacation time is that it's not a direct, out-of-pocket cost for the company. So it can often be easier for hirers to let things slide and give you what you want. Small companies are generally more flexible than large firms on this one, since they're less prone to being ruled by rigid corporate guidelines. Start by negotiating more days in general, but if that doesn't work, look to accrue time more quickly. Or use it as a bonus -- if you achieve certain measurable goals, then you get a pre-determined extra amount of time off. At the very least, see if you can roll your vacation time over instead of losing it at the end of the year.

Insurance
This one can be a little tough, since most companies buy insurance in preset group packages. So you're best off trying other, more flexible aspects of your compensation to negotiate first. That said, if you have special needs that depend a great deal on insurance, this might be a good place to start. Begin by asking if the company has any leeway to negotiate on insurance before you waste time butting your head against the wall on it.

Miscellaneous Perks
Such extras as expense accounts and company cars typically offer tremendous room for negotiation. And it's not just whether or not you get such perks. Consider what the exact nature of them is. For example, is the "company car" a used Ford Taurus or a brand-new Mercedes S-Class? And is it going to be replaced every year, or every four years? Obviously the difference in terms of compensation could be huge.

Severance
Extra money for layoff time is a great thing to negotiate, because the company knows there's a pretty good chance it will never have to pay out on this request. Naturally, if the organization doesn't offer any severance to begin with, any amount of it you can score should be considered a nice extra.