Salary Negotiation Tips

 A retired teacher friend of mine is thinking about returning to the workforce but as an educational consultant. The company is flying her our for an interview today and she will spend a few days with them at a convention and also at their office. There are a lot of questions surrounding this new position and I think that they really want her to join their team. 

We talked about preparing for the interview, especially salary negotiation. In the state where my friend lives, salaries for teachers are based upon education and years of service. When she started teaching the salaries for entry level teachers were pretty much set. Now that she is interviewing for a business, the rules for salary are different.

The new position is for a company that sells a product and collaborates with schools. Preparing for salary negotiation is just as important as preparing for all other parts of the interview (understanding the position, learning about the company including products and services, preparing specific examples of past positive performance and projects, preparing responses to common interviewing questions, coming up with questions for the interviewer, etc). So what did we do to prepare for salary discussions?

1. We looked up salaries for similar positions in the community and within the state.

2. We settled on a salary range that my friend would find appealing.

3. We prepared a statement that would introduce the salary range when the timing was proper.

4. We looked at other job benefits that were positive and that might allow her to negotiate the salary. Some of these areas included benefits, working from home, community service and vacation time.

 5. We talked about her value and what she brings to the organization.

Today I texted my friend wishing her well on her interview. She said that she felt prepared for all aspects of the interview including the salary discussions.

Don't go in blind to an interview. Do your research and come up with a salary range that you are comfortable sharing with the interviewer. So many people forget this step and it's easy to remedy. Google "Salaries for a (position and location)". Look up some salary calculator tools including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Glassdoor, Salary.com. and Salaryexpert.

A Yoga Drishti and Your Job Search

 If you've been following this blog long enough, you'll know that I practice yoga. I also write how certain yoga techniques can be used universally; especially in a job search. Today, while in  a yoga class, we focused on a drishti while doing the tree pose. I focused hard on the pattern of the curtain at the front of the room and stopped listening to those chatty voices in my head that were telling me that I would fall. The more I focused, the taller I stood.

To backtrack, a drishti is a yoga technique that uses a focused gaze to enhance concentration. It's usually used in balancing. It's a Sanskrit word defined as "focused gaze". Using my example from class today, the drishti directed my attention to my inner concentration. When gazing at a fixed point (the curtain) while trying to balance on my one leg, it helped to shoo out the negative words in my head and concentrate on completing the balance.

In your job search, don't let the negative voices in your head tell you that you you're not good enough to apply for a better position. Don't tell yourself that you're not smart enough, not loud enough, don't have the skills or are generally not worth it to go after that position.

Calm yourself, turn inward, focus on self care and eliminate those chattering negative voices. You ARE smart enough, you ARE good enough, you DO have the skills and mindset to go after that job. You ARE worth it. If you can, focus inwardly on something or somewhere that brings you joy and focus on the positive. You WILL succeed.