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And another thing, I don't think I've ever received
an offer letter *without* some kind of haggling,
whether I did it myself or the headhunter did it
for me.
An offer letter is a written record of the details it
took you six meetings to iron out, *not* the
company's first salvo into the negotiating fray.
I agree with Kate totally. If you don't know how
to negotiate, aren't comfortable doing it, whatever,
get comfortable. It seems to me that women
generally are especially weak in this area.
My women friends *boggle* at the things I've
said and done during salary negotiations, or
when I was asking for a raise. Please. I can't
count the number of women I've sent copies of
"Games Mother Never Taught You" and "Knowing
the Score", two books by Betty Lehan Harrigan,
who should write more books.
Haggling over salary, asking for a raise... I
see these things as a win-win. The company
knows that you're confident enough in your
skills and experience to put a price tag on
them. Even if you don't get what you're asking
for this time, you can often get other things that
are pretty good too, extra vacation or a salary
review in six months when the usual period is
a year, or whatever.
It's hard the first few times you have to play
hardball in a salary negotiation. After that it's fun!
***********************************************
Anne Robotti
Technical Writer
RadiSys Corporation
7 Clarke Drive, Cranbury NJ 08512
(609) 655-3111 x-326
Meddle not in the affairs of technical writers, for the box contains three
jacks and the board only has two plugs...
Glenn Maxey wrote:
> [...] Any haggling over salary is seen as un-team-like
> and argumentative and can result in no offer letter making its way out
> of the laser printer.
I respectfully disagree. "Haggling" over salary is seen
by most hiring managers and HR professionals as a natural
stage in the hiring process. They're not scared to do it,
believe me.
Those of us who don't feel confident about our negotiation
skills should take a class or read a book -- or read a lot
of books -- to hone those skills. Few other skills pay off
quite as handsomely as negotiation skills do.
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