As a Brit who worked for much of their early career life as an academic in the UK, salary negotiation (rightly or wrongly) was not something I felt was directly applicable to me when accepting a job offer.
Salaries for public sector UK workers are defined on a scale, commonly referred to as the spine point system. The system dictates that post-docs/research assistants are assigned to pre-defined salary scale ‘spine points,’ depending on their level of experience.
Each spine point represents annual pay and falls within a grade range that’s relevant to the experience required for a research position. This means the most wriggle room you have when offered a UK research post, is to negotiate your way towards the top of the allocated advertised range. And you will usually be limited by which spine point your experience affords.
UK research council-funded posts are fixed for a particular grade range and will not fund salaries above this pay scale. In my experience, I have never seen anyone in the UK negotiate themselves above the advertised salary range for early career roles (but please let me know if you’ve witnessed anything to the contrary).
Outside the UK, other academic systems might be more flexible and I’ve heard of instances in the US (as an example) where candidates have effectively negotiated postdoc salaries (at least for a few steps up).
And certainly, later career academics have more flexibility with salary demands on institutions, particularly if they have a strong, internationally-recognised research reputation. At this level, other things aside from salary alone need to be negotiated. In particular institutional support for their research programme (helpful support if you need to negotiate a tenure track start-up package can be found here).
Once I stepped aside from the academia and into the commercial sector however, I found myself in a totally different world, where salary negotiation was commonplace and not to do so, could almost appear as a weakness.
In this world, my previous academic life ill-equipped me for salary negotiation conversations and I had to learn fast (making mistakes along the way)!
Fortunately, I learnt from those mistakes and have now successfully secured positions well-above the original offer on the table. Here are five top tips I’ve learned for securing a package that lands you the best deal you can get:
1. It’s not just about salary
There’s more to life than money, but it’s a necessity to survive and a bit more makes life easier.
You could find yourself in the fortunate position with an exciting offer that you feel is consummate with your level of experience and that you can happily live with (great start). But even if this is the case and you don’t feel inclined to negotiate base salary, there’s always more to play for.
If desired, start negotiations with base pay first, but also consider bringing up flexible working, benefits, performance metrics, holiday allowance, relocation expenses, promotion schedules, and employee ownership (if relevant) to the negotiating table. Consider what’s important to you and haggle for it.
Depending on company policy there might be certain things that can’t be negotiated, but if you have your list of what’s important to you, the employer might feel inclined to rescind on something that represents a lesser pain point for them, but provides you with an advantage. These variables can all add up to make a position a lot more attractive.
Don’t arrive with a huge intimidating list of ‘wants’ though! Raise one topic at a time, deal with it and move on to the next – go in with the mentality that what you might lose on one you could gain on another. Having a list of things to negotiate means that if you dip out on one, you might be able to gain on another, as the employer moves to meet you and secure your recruitment.
2. Don’t say ‘yes’ too fast
When the first offer comes in, more often than not it’s usually constructed to anticipate a counteroffer; i.e. the offer will be lower than the employer is actually willing to pay, anticipating that you will negotiate to secure a higher salary.
If you don’t counter – it’s win, win for the employer as they’ve secured your talent and got you on the cheap! So, if you accept the first offer immediately, it’s more than likely that you’ll be leaving money on the table.
Give yourself time to think it through. When I’ve done this in the past I’ve had a lot more success in the negotiations. Thank them for the offer and say something like:
“Thanks for the offer, I’m very grateful. It’s a lot to take in and I’d appreciate a bit of time to process it. How about we talk again in a day or so?”
This is scary, particularly if it’s your dream job, but it gives you time to get your negotiating tactics in place and distances yourself from the risk of producing an impulse response of saying ‘yes,’ without giving yourself the opportunity to negotiate well.
3. Do the maths
Before any negotiation you must know your market value. This value is the backdrop to every salary negotiation conversation. It represents the monetary value that you bring to the company and your salary should reflect that.
The value will comprise of your talent and personal skills, plus your background (education, work experience, professional qualifications and management responsibility).
On-line data sharing tools like GlassDoor and TransparentCareer help here. Find out what others are earning for similar roles in your region. Consider your level of experience and the size of the company you are applying for (start-ups can’t pay the same as a multinational)!
If you lack direct experience be sure you know what the entry level salaries are for a particular role, and look to negotiate how the transferable skills from your research work command additional remuneration above a regular graduate level role.
Likewise aiming for the top of the salary range is a bit unrealistic without at least a year or two of experience behind you.
Your network will also be extremely helpful when it comes to salary research in your target industry. So, be sure to develop these relationships prior to applying for jobs.
4. Demonstrate your worth
Another crucial aspect of your value is not what you can do today, but what you will be capable of in the future, once you have some experience under your belt.
As a researcher you solve problems for a living, learn constantly, can work independently and are a self-starter. These are the traits of a workforce that can future-proof a company. And from an employer’s point-of-view this is worth paying for.
Companies aren’t often too concerned about problems they’ve already solved, but those that are around the corner – those they haven’t encountered before. Your training has prepared you for that exact situation and this is huge boost for your value.
Demonstrate this well at the interview and again at the negotiation stage, and you increase your chances of and offer and of securing a competitive package.
5. Avoid using round numbers
Once you’ve done your research and you know your market value, it’s time to come up with a figure that you’re aiming for at the negotiation table.
Commonly people come up with round figures for that initial number – thinking “I need to be earning £30/£45/£40/£45/£50k for this position.”
I recommend being more specific, e.g. £41,750. It shows you’ve prepared and done your homework. Back this figure up by demonstrating that you’re taking commuting costs/local house prices/living costs etc. into account and this is the figure you require to make this work.
£1-5k over the national average is unlikely to be a deal breaker for an employer, if they really want you. However, once you’ve disclosed a figure you will need to know at what level below this you’re willing to walk away. Make sure you know this figure prior to negotiations.
Salary negotiations are inherently awkward, you might feel pushy or be worried about losing the offer. But remember the employer made you an offer because they want you and more often than not will expect you to negotiate.
Like most things in life, salary negotiations can be improved with practice – the problem is we don’t get to do them that often. So practicing with a mentor, career coach or even a friend with experience of hiring, can help prepare you for the real thing.
Salary negotiations are worth it. It’s the one chance you have with a commercial sector employer to command the best deal for yourself, don’t let that powerful opportunity slip by. Consider the 5 points above and you’ll do fine.
In Summary
- Commercial sector employers will expect you to negotiate an offer
- Give yourself time to think about it. Don’t be too hasty in accepting
- Know your market value
- You have skills that command a competitive package. Use this to your advantage
- Get specific with the numbers when counter offering
- Ditch any anxieties and enter into the negotiating conversation calm and confident
What’s your experience of salary negotiation? Any successes? Let me know…
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Good to read such tips. Thanks
You’re welcome Naveen – glad you found it helpful!