Money Talk: The 5 Smartest Questions to Get the Salary You Deserve

April 17, 2017 in Career and Job Search Tips

 

 

The deck is stacked in their favor.

Most food & beverage employers are experts at salary negotiations (because they do it all the time) and won’t give you their best salary offer right out of the gate.

Want to level the playing field?

You don’t have to be an expert negotiator to land the salary you deserve; you just need to ask the right questions. Below, Kinsa Group shares five smart questions you should be prepared to ask, so that you don’t leave thousands of dollars on the table:

  1. Are you open to discussing salary? For most people, salary is a somewhat sensitive topic. Phrasing your initial question this way (as opposed to “Is the salary up for negotiation?”) is less confrontational. By taking a softer approach, you’re less likely to make the hiring manager defensive.
  2. How frequently would my pay be reviewed? Most established food & beverage organizations have well-defined parameters for performance and salary reviews. If reviews are infrequent, or if the employer can’t tell you exactly when you’ll get a pay review, you may be stuck with your starting salary for longer – and want to drive a harder initial bargain.
  3. What percentage raise do you award your highest performing employees? This is a smart question for several reasons: it psychologically puts you in the same category as high performers; it indicates that you understand the value of your contributions; and it gives you an inkling of the kind of raise you could expect if you excelled in your new position.
  4. Do you offer performance bonuses or profit sharing? If so, what was last year’s average amount for someone at my salary level? Job descriptions often contain vague promises of “available” bonuses or profit sharing. But what matters most is what employees actually receive. If there’s a big discrepancy between what you were initially led to believe and what employees truly earned, you may need to secure a higher base salary.
  5. Would you be prepared to offer something in lieu of a higher starting salary? If the employer has no wiggle room with initial salary, find out if there are other ways to increase your total compensation. Possibilities include a signing bonus, relocation compensation, higher benefit contributions, additional paid time off, schedule flexibility and telecommuting.

Solid negotiation skills are critical to your career success.

Uncomfortable with salary negotiations? Use the tips from this earlier post, “Negotiation Strategies: Tactics to Get the Salary You Deserve” to increase your confidence. If you’re currently employed, test out your newly honed skills to negotiate a raise at your next performance review. And if you’re looking for your next executive food & beverage career opportunity, connect with Kinsa today.

Related Posts:

The Big Payoff: Which Food & Beverage Categories See the Highest Pay Increases?

The Big Move: Relocation Package Offerings