There you are all brimming with a smile that you have only the salary discussion with the Abra Cadabra Corp – You take that calculator, look up all the spread sheets, information from the world wide web and come up with “the number”.
And, when the question comes “What is the salary you are expecting?”. And like many, when the discussion is about you, for you, and only you the blood flows at a rapid pace, heart beats jump, emotions boil up, scenarios run in those tiny brain cells and you take that rehearsed script, saying “Thank you, I’m looking for 40% increase to my current net pay”.
And without a blink of an eyelid, you hear “40% yes that is definitely possible”. You will be like wow is that it!.
Sipping over that hot cup of chai or filter coffee, you could be thinking should I be doing it differently? The world can say “It depends”. Indeed “It depends”, it depends on how you answer that very question.
There are articles which do inform “Use these words and voila, it will come your way”. You could use them and at the same moment remember, the person who you interact with will have the checklist titled “What are ten questions the candidate will ask and how should you respond?” on their desk. Organization’s recruitment teams recruit employees daily for their organization, while you do it once in few years!. The situation can turn unstable as your reaction will be in nano seconds and not in seconds.
Preparation with practice for the (verbal) punches.
Have you not shadow practiced that dance move or the front foot drive or kicking a football, the what has stopped you to not practice the interview?. Do you remember the flowcharts, the ones with “If yes, do Step A, if no do step Y”, prepare one for yourself – which depicts what your key decision boxes with the respective boundary conditions. Role play with yourself or get a friend, your trusted colleague or your better half (minimum three days) before the interview. Players across different sports shadow practice their moves and put a mental map how to react to different situations. When they can do it, what is stopping you to not doing it for key event in your career?
Accepting the 40% offer
If your first ask reached your stretch target/goal which is 40%, accepting that offer or stretching that is on you.
When your goal is reached, it saves time for both sides as it reaches each other’s target much faster than going back and forth. Human beings are social animals and will never be satisfied, even when one gets double their pay from what they currently earn we will never be satisfied.
You could tell in defense “I was told never, never, never and never to accept the first offer”, and now what is the person saying. For this you must go back to your process flow mapping your stretch target based on your needs and research.
This solution, if you want to use it, you should use it when pay is your key value driver and nothing more. Your needs and wants will be different from the colleague sitting next to you or the recruiter on the call. If salary is not the key, revisit the process flow diagram
And even when 60% would have been a Yes
Getting to know that your pay could have been higher, after you have accepted an offer, hindsight will be behind you with an ironic smile. It could mean that there was one single data point missing or this or that or even that.
So, irrespective of the situation you better be prepared for that upcoming negotiation. Unless you tell, that you have got what you wanted without any form of preparation.
Prepare and what you asked, it shall be given.
Perhaps or maybe?