Negotiate your salary when interviewing

[BSClay]

If you’re working through the interview process and you have reached the point of salary negotiations, here are a few tips to help you achieve the best outcome. Get yourself into a positive mind-set. Here’s how:

• Relax and enjoy the process. Keep in mind that you’ve got their attention. You haven’t wrapped up the job yet, but you should gain self-confidence when you realize you are one of the front-runners.

• Think that you will succeed—and it’s likely that you will. Candidates are usually selected based on their experience, skills and enthusiasm. Keep your attitude positive and you’ll likely be the person chosen.

• Show determination. Show your potential employer that you know what you want, and you are deter-mined to get it. Your interviewer will be impressed.

• Inform yourself. Go to your interview with all the information you need. Read up on your field, current salaries and the company.

• Listen to everything the interviewer has to say before opening your mouth. Practice good listening skills. Don’t interrupt with your opinion until the interviewer has finished. You might not have all the information necessary to make an intelligent response otherwise. When the interviewer lets silence fall, then it’s your turn to talk. Pace yourself and let silence be your ally and not your enemy.

• Explain your position clearly and use repetition as a negotiation tool. Even if something is obvious to you, it might not be to your interviewer. And when necessary, repeat yourself to drive home your position. It is, however, important to repeat yourself in a different way each time.