Employment Negotiations

Employment Negotiations are Unique.

Employment negotiations are different from other types of negotiations. They are not a one shot deal like buying a house or car. When the employment negotiations are over, you will have to work with these people on a daily basis. More important, your career success may depend on the person with whom you have just finished negotiating. Therefore, even though you want to negotiate the best possible deal, you need to proceed in a way that doesn't tarnish your image.

By the same token, your future boss will want you to feel good about joining the company. Once an employer has decided that you are the person for the job, the primary concern will not be to negotiate the least expensive compensation package the company can get away with. Rather, the main focus will be on getting you to accept the job. As a result, employment negotiations are unusual in that both sides share the same basic goal.

Understand Your Needs and Those of Your Prospective Employer.

Any employment negotiation will involve trade-offs. To be successful you need to examine your own priorities. Understanding your needs will help you determine what type of company you may want to work for. An example is a larger company may offer a larger salary than a start up company, but that same start up company may offer stock options that a larger company may not.

Regardless of the type of company you are considering, an employer may not be able to give you exactly what you want. There are numerous institutional constraints on how much a company can pay for a given position or what kinds of benefits it can offer.

Never Lie.

Honesty is important. If you lie during the negotiations, sooner or later you are likely to be caught. Once you are caught lying, you lose all credibility. Even if you don't lose the job, you will be placed at a tremendous disadvantage, and your future credibility on the job will be undermined.

Know When to Quit Bargaining.

There comes a point in every negotiation when you have achieved everything that you could have expected to achieve. If you don't recognize when to stop negotiating, you run the risk of having the company decide that it made a mistake by offering you the job in the first place. Most companies will want to treat you fairly and make you happy, but few companies want to hire a prima dona.