Human beings are wired to be emotional. When we’re born, the very first thing we do is ugly-cry. And as we get older, our emotions grow stronger. We laugh until we cry. We get angry until we blow up. And when we are afraid, we tend to take a step back. It’s only human nature to be emotional, but don’t let your emotions hinder you from negotiating a higher salary.
When humans are afraid, we’re afraid because of the unknown. We don’t know what’s inside the box, so we don’t open it out of fear of what could be in there. It’s the exact same when we go into a job interview. Most of us, 43 percent to be precise, don’t even attempt to negotiate our salary because we are afraid of what will happen if it doesn’t go the way we want.
So if you’re in the process of interviewing with a company and you’re nervous about negotiating your salary for the first time, don’t succumb to your fears. Now is the perfect time to push past it all and find out what could be. Here’s one simple, foolproof way to do it.
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The Secret? Ask For a Higher Salary Based On Data, Not Feelings.
First things first. You can’t go into a salary negotiation situation without knowing how much you should be asking for. The worst thing you can do is to take wild guesses as to how much you should be earning. Not only will this make you come off as unprofessional, but you won’t give yourself a real shot at getting a higher salary.
Instead, try using a resource like PayScale to see how much money you should actually be negotiating for. PayScale’s data is crowd-sourced and always up to date, so you know the salary listed for your location, skills, and experience is the salary you should be earning.
Showing up to a salary negotiation situation with a number you feel confident about simply removes the emotion factor. That makes it easier for you to streamline your negotiation process without any fear.
