The Three Legs of a Salary Negotiation
by Marty Nemko
Monster Contributing Writer
Think of a salary negotiation as a three-legged stool: To stay up, you need all three legs.
Leg 1: Provide comparable salaries, written evidence that your desired salary is consistent with the market.
Leg 2: Assertions that you'll be doing more responsible work in the coming months. If you can't say that, renegotiate your job description or postpone asking for a raise until your job tasks justify it.
Leg 3: Plant the idea that without the raise, the employer risks losing you. For example, if it's true, say or get a colleague to leak that another employer is headhunting you.
What You Could Do Today
Many people are simply too chicken to negotiate. If you rationally believe you should, do a dry run by role-playing a negotiation with a friend. Then, go and do the real thing.
