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The Internet has many places to ask questions about anything imaginable and find past answers on almost everything.
When asked about your salary, either your requirements or history, use these steps to help you craft an effective answer:
Salary requirements can be included in your cover letter with sentences such as “My salary requirement is negotiable based upon the job responsibilities and the total compensation package,” or “My salary requirement is in the $40,000 to $45,000+ range.”
Express your salary range and include the disclosure that the range was based on research. For example, you could write, _“_You asked for my salary requirements. Based on my industry research, my acceptable salary range would be $50,000 to $55,000 per year, excluding benefits.”
You’ll find that one retirement-savings benchmark gets the most airtime: It comes from Fidelity Investments and says you should have an amount equal to your annual salary saved by age 30.
How much to ask for: 15-20% above your current salary, or reasonable market rate for the position. This is your opportunity to get the biggest salary increase. It’s also a chance to reset if you feel you were being underpaid at your last job.
A raise as high as 10 percent is generally reserved for employees whose salary is not competitive with the market. Or, you might expect a 10 percent increase if you have done an exceptional job during the past year and the company would like to reward you for your work.
The average pay raise is 3%. Depending on the reasons you cited for a pay raise and the length of time since your last raise, it’s acceptable to request a raise in the 10% to 20% range. However, the higher the percentage you request, the better your reason should be.
Dr. Malia Mason and Dr. Daniel Ames found that a useful technique is to offer a range of options, rather than one fixed amount. They also found that asking for between 5% and 25% pay increases yielded the most successful negotiations.
4 tips for negotiating your first salary when you have zero industry experience
Monster’s Negotiation Expert Paul Barada on the Salary & Negotiation Tips forum says you should take the first offer if you’re happy with it. Never negotiate just for the sake of negotiating. Some career experts agree with that position; others don’t.
How to negotiate your starting salary (tips and examples)