Soft Skills - Ask a Wharton MBA
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In part 1 of our talk with Executive Author, Jane Lin, we discussed the Best Secret to Finding Your Dream Job. Assuming you have a job offer, now what? Should you negotiate?
We will have on average seven jobs in our life time. Knowing how to negotiate job offers and initial salary at each new job can means the difference in ten of thousands of dollars in pay and give you a chance to impress our employer before we even start! ...
“Should I negotiate my salary?” This is a question we will ask ourselves every time we get a job offer, especially for a job we want. I recently had to go through this decision-making process, and I want to share my thoughts and what I learned with you.
I think many of us can identify with the reasons why we don’t want to negotiate. What many of us don’t think about are some of the great reasons we should always negotiate. I hope this story will help you better answer the question, “Should I negotiate salary?” on your next job offer. I look forward to your comments. ...
Many job seekers are considering doing contract work as an alternative to full time employment. It sometimes give us more flexibility and an ability to continue working that full time employment may not allow. When you do transition from full time employment to contract work, you will be paid by the hour instead of a salary. Therefore it’s important to know how to convert salary to an hourly rate in order to know what should ask for in a contract situation. ...
In today’s tough job market, many companies are reducing their full time employment job openings which are paid by annual salary in order to save headcount cost and be able to adapt more quickly to changing market conditions. Instead companies are hiring more contractors who are paid by hourly rate and has a defined contract period (e.g. 6 – 18 months). As a result, many job seekers are also seeking contractor positions in addition to full time employment in order to increase their chances. ...
The “what is your salary requirement” question is always a tricky and awkward one to answer. The best way is to avoid answering it tactfully for as long as possible. I recommend the following strategies in address the salary requirement question.
Here are some examples of salary requirement answers that have worked for me or my clients. ...
A true story! A good friend of mine just received a nice offer to a great job. How he got this offer was somewhat unusual. I thought I share it in case it can inspire you to look at opportunities in a new light.
Given the economy, he decided to be more open minded and look for jobs that were below his level (which is Director). He saw a manager job opening on craiglist and applied. When the recruiter talked to him and asked him if it was ok if this job pays around $___ (about 25-30% lower than his last job’s base pay), he decided to say yes. His rationale was if the job is going to be easier and possibly can be done in 35 hours a week, he can always try to get another contract gig for 10-20 hours to make up the difference. He also thought it was another chance to practice his interviewing skills. ...
This is the second post in a series of three based on my interview with Steve Meyers, a Senior Headhunter with 20+ years of experience in executive search. To see my first post on general Job Search Advice from a Senior Headhunter, click here.
I want to write about salary separately since it’s such a sensitive and important topic in the job search effort.Q: When company asks for salary history, can you refuse to provide?
Steve: I recommend every one of my candidate to leave it blank in the application and only provide it when the company insists. Many company do not insist on this information. ...