It is estimated that 85% of employers expect job candidates to negotiate salary. The reality is that only 37% to 44% of candidates enter into some type of negotiation. The lack of salary negotiating in your career can cost an average of $500,000 in lifetime lost earnings. In addition, women are much less likely to negotiate than men. Not negotiating is a primary contributor to the female gender pay gap where women make 77 cents of every dollar a man earns.

Let's explore some salary myths and common beliefs.

Myth 1. Salary negotiations begin after interviews when the offer is made.

In the past, salary negotiations were the final step in the hiring process or, for existing employees, a part of the performance review. Now salary negotiations often begin at the point of application to a job.

The following list presents the five points where a salary negotiation may occur:

1. At the time of application,
2. During the phone screen,
3. In the first in-person interview,
4. At the point of a job offer, and
5. During a performance review.

When “Desired Salary” is used early in the process, the question is essentially turns into the “Guess What the Job Pays” Game.

Here are the rules of the game:

Negotiations don’t even happen if you cannot guess what the employer has decided the job is worth.

Myth 2. Salary is not used to screen out a candidate.

When applying for a job, the employers may elect to create pre-programmed fields inside the applicant tracking systems to eliminate candidates that do not meet a certain range of salary amounts. These same questions may also be asked during an initial telephone screen or first in-person interview. If salary is discussed this early, the employer is using this information as a way to screen candidates

Myth 3. Once the employer makes the offer the interview process is complete.

Actually no. When the employer is ready to make an offer, the salary negotiation process is used as the final interview in the process. It is important to know that you are still being evaluated for the job based on how you perform the salary negotiation.

Myth 4. The candidate will lose out if they throw the first number.
As long as the candidate knows the value of the job, understands the prevailing wages in the professional category, and demonstrates the ability to state their value, a candidate should be in a better position even if they state a range early on.

Guessing what an employer is willing to pay is a critical skill set in income growth.

Please join me in learning what to put for ‘desired salary’ and how to successfully negotiate salary.