Negotiating your next job — why?

As a job search strategist, I frequently discuss the topic of negotiating. Which is how I’ve come to prefer the concept of negotiating one’s job, rather than negotiating the salary.

Not that there’s anything wrong with discussing income! But as you know, salary is not always the most important aspect of an offer for any given candidate. Just as frequently, prospective employees want to discuss the flexibility of their schedules, the quality of their work assignments, the availability of training or tuition reimbursement, or the option of telecommuting – among the dozens of things one could negotiate when considering a new job.

By expanding the concept of negotiating, we achieve two objectives: Not only do we enhance the end result for both parties; we also take an essential step towards ensuring the candidate conducts the negotiation in the first place.

As you have probably heard, it turns out that many or most candidates – depending on which survey you follow – never negotiate their offers. The number climbs predictably when parsed by gender, with women being much less likely to request changes to their job offers.

To my mind, this is wrong for several reasons. One is probably obvious: If you believe, as I do, that an offer will almost always improve with negotiation, you have to understand that employers are unlikely to outbid themselves. That is, you’re probably not going to hear an employer improve your offer without being prompted.

But enhancing offers isn’t my only goal for candidates in negotiations. I’m also trying to help them improve the working relationship with employers. In some positions, particularly at the lower levels of an organization, this effort helps candidates establish themselves as full participants in the workplace, while also serving to delineate basic boundaries.

No matter what their level or position, workers who negotiate the offer create communication pathways that become the platform for everything that follows in their tenure with that employer, including conversations during their reviews, discussions around performance, and requests for better assignments and working conditions later on.

The first step, as is the case with most parts of job search, is to organize your thoughts around your own needs and goals. The more you understand these points, the more agile and strategic you’ll be when engaged in conversations with your prospective employer.

To get started, try this two-part exercise. First, identify what matters to you as a condition of employment in your next job. Remember to approach this question from the perspective of your current circumstances. For example, if you have family obligations, flexibility may matter more than salary. Similarly, people who are new to their career path may find that professional advancement is worth negotiating, while someone with a side business may need to ensure they can keep up with clients while working for the new employer.

Here’s a short list of negotiable items to get your ideas flowing:

■ Money – salary or hourly wage, retirement contributions, bonuses, commissions, student loan repayment or tuition reimbursement.

■ Insurance benefits – health, life, dental, vision, short- or long-term disability.

■ Scheduling – flextime, vacation time, hours per day or week, sick leave.

■ Professional development – on-the-job or classroom or online training, membership in professional associations, rapid promotions.

■ Work conditions – level or variety of assignments, availability of support staff, quality of tools or equipment, location where the work is conducted.

Once you’ve noted at least 10 things that are important to you in the next job, the second step is to rank the top three. These are your “make-or-break” conditions of employment – those things that must be right before you’d accept the position.

In making this ranking, be as specific as possible. For example, if health insurance is important, is it enough to be on a plan, or do you need certain coverages? If the plan didn’t include those options, could you assign a dollar value to the salary that would let you make up the difference yourself ?

If you can achieve this level of analysis on your needs, you will be wellpositioned for a productive negotiation. Come back next week for an overview of the three essential parts of a successful job negotiation; the following week, I’ll conclude this series with helpful strategies for framing the conversation with potential employers.