Читать книгу Negotiating Your Salary - Jack Chapman - Страница 18

The best moment to talk salary with Mr. Employer is when he’s reached the judgit stage. Let me show you why.

Employers are always curious about your most recent salary for just one reason: to screen you. When faced with a lot of applicants, they use salary as a quick, shorthand way of assessing the fit and narrowing down the list.

They don’t want to waste interviewing time, so they screen out people they “can’t afford.” They also cross off people who are below their range. They can afford those people, but, since salary is related to degree of responsibility, employers think someone earning less than the budgeted range probably couldn’t handle the job. Restricting interviews according to salary, therefore, is intended to get the most competent help for the least possible money. This is the employer’s budget stage.

While screening for the least expensive capable candidate, however, the boss or personnel officer may scratch you off the list regardless of whether you could really do the work or are even the best person for the job. Even if you passed the screening, you’d be locked into the figure you quoted and would lose the opportunity to get the best market price for your skills.

Is it ever in your interest to be screened? If you’re qualified for the job, no! Don’t talk salary yet. Salary-Making Rule 1 is Postpone salary discussions until you have been offered the job.

Figure 3-3 . In The Judgit Stage anything is possible, even a real-estate office on wheels!

When Mr. Employer offers you the job, he’s either in the judgit stage, or as close to it as he’s going to get. He’s convinced you’re the best candidate. Therefore, he’s more willing to make the pay scale flexible, and even practice creative budget juggling, to get you.

The same applies to raises. There, the rule is “Wait to discuss a raise until after your performance review.” (See Chapter 10, “Raises and Salary Reviews.”) If your performance review has been impressive, your boss will be poised at the judgit stage, ready to be flexible about money. Since you’ve been convincing about your quality, your raise is a new salary—as if you’re being rehired at a new rate.

There’s another reason to postpone salary discussions until the job has been offered. Let’s take an example from your own shopping experience.

If you want to buy a DVD player, you check out several stores. Suppose you get a price quotation from every salesperson except one, who says, “Look, here is what I have. I think it’s the quality you want. So if I’m right, before you buy anywhere else come back and talk to me about price. I’m sure we can make a deal.” Would you at least check in there before buying if you thought he would give you the best price? Of course. But if he had quoted $119, and in your fourth store you saw the equivalent for $125, would you bother to go back for $6.00? Probably not. Keeping a price flexible and open motivates people to check back before deciding.

So if you table salary negotiations until you have a nod from potential employers, they’re likely at least to check back with you before their final round.

But what if the job doesn’t pay in your range, anyway? Aren’t you just wasting your time and theirs by interviewing? Yes. But what in the world are you doing interviewing for a job below your level of responsibility?

You’d better do some homework or hire a good career consultant to get yourself focused on the right kinds of positions. You should be able to screen the job with respect to how much responsibility it requires. If the job challenges you comfortably, the right money should follow.