Many people are looking for jobs right now because the pandemic has caused companies to lose business, in turn leading them to let their employees go. These are desperate times for a lot of people. Even then, as you go into salary negotiations for a new job, do not let desperation cloud your judgement. Your salary decisions are important life decisions and you cannot let desperation drive these decisions.
Why negotiate your salary?
The salary you earn now, determines your wealth and income several decades from now. If you accept a low salary, it may take a few years before you rise up to the salary expectations for your position and when you do, you will still have lost income for every year you settled for a lower income.
Regardless of how desperate you are – and trust me, I have been there – you need to remember that the employer is not interviewing you because of how desperately you want this job.
They are interviewing you because of what they think you can bring to their team. They are thinking about what value you can add to the company and how well you could perform. They are not hiring you to show you kindness. They are hiring you to perform a service and that is why you have to negotiate. You want to be paid the right rate for your services because you are going to be stuck with that decision for a very long time.
By all means, if you are pleased with the compensation offer, then go ahead and accept it. Do not negotiate just for the sake of it. If your research on how much someone with your education, skills, and experience would be compensated for a similar role shows that your employer has given you a fair compensation package then it will not look good if you go ahead and start negotiating just for fun. If your research shows that you are getting a low-ball offer, then negotiate.
What happens if you accept a low salary?
If you accept a lower salary than you are happy with, you are setting yourself up to lose morale very early on in your new role. When you turn up to work and measure the true weight of your work load, you may start to feel disgruntled and cheated if you are underpaid. You then quickly move from desperate to have a job to disinterested in the new job. It is a lose-lose situation for you and your employer. This is why I believe that negotiating a salary is a good thing for both the new hire and the hiring manager. Who does not want to employ people that are happy to be there?
I have written a guide on how to negotiate your salary, in which I share some of the mistakes I made not so long ago 🤦🏾♀️ so that you don’t fall in to the same trap. Download the guide below and use it to help you navigate the salary negotiation process.
