They like You, They Really Do - Taking the Fear Out of Salary Negotiations

The salary negotiation phase of the job search, although necessary is probably the most frightening aspect for young professionals. It can be truly uncomfortable and intimidating to negotiate with your potential employer, especially when you know that saying the wrong thing could jeopardize the offer of employment. For that reason, most candidates will quickly agree to whatever is offered without making a counter.

There are certainly a lot of resources on the web to help you with salary negotiations. These might range from the research based such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.bls.gov) to the anecdotal such as The Noel Smith-Wenkle Salary Negotiation Method, posted by John Shipman from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (http://infohost.nmt.edu/~shipman/org/noel.html). The latter recounts lessons learned from a headhunter in the early 1980's.

Of course, like every concientious job seeker, it is important that you read both treatments as well as take note of the following guidelines to help you handle the salary negotiations phase of the job search.

Relax & Breathe!
The fact that the company is discussing a salary with you is a great thing! It means that you have successfully navigated your job search to get to this point. You have already created an effective resume, www.provenresumes.com, expressed yourself well in the interview and have now captured the attention of the employer. This is good news and creates the foundation for your negotiations! Be proud of your accomplishments to this point and know that you have at least already convinced the employer that you are a viable candidate who is potentially a strong fit for the company.

Stay positive - you are working towards a win-win situation!
Continue to be as courteous, enthusiastic and confident as you have been to get to this point. You do not want your salary negotiations to become adversarial. Instead, you want to keep negotiations as an open, friendly dialogue allowing you to show your genuine interest in arriving at a mutually satisfactory solution.