Salary Negotiation Tips for Your Next Job Offer

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Salary Negotiation Tips for Your Next Job Offer

Mission Critical • November 24, 2022

Receiving a job offer is an affirming experience but negotiating your starting salary can make many professionals uncomfortable. You may be worried the employer will find your request unreasonable – or even walk away. But if you avoid negotiating your salary upfront, you will be missing an opportunity to earn more money in the long run.

Talent shortages are acute right now in the Data Centre space. In fact, the number of staff needed to fill Data Centre jobs in Australia, the Asia Pacific and around the world will grow from two million to 2.3 million by 2025, according to research from Uptime Institute Intelligence.

Negotiating your starting salary is a matter of being well-prepared beforehand and understanding the employer’s point of view. Here are the most effective ways to get ready for the conversation.

Know Your Number

When working out how to negotiate your salary, it’s best to avoid winging it and making up a number on the spot. Be clear on the range of pay you’re willing to accept, including your absolute minimum and the figure that you will be most happy with. Keep this information to yourself but be ready to counteroffer if the proposed package falls short of your baseline salary figure.

Recognise What the Market is Paying

As part of your negotiation preparation, do research on the salary trends for the same role to create an informed benchmark. Searching Google for average salaries in your geographic location is a good starting point, along with using websites like PayScale. Factor in points such as seniority and any specialist skills required in the job description.

Justify Your Counteroffer

Negotiating your salary in a new job can be a delicate process. You don’t want to undersell yourself, but you will need to back up your counteroffer with relevant data. Consider all the attributes that make you an ideal candidate for the role – your qualifications, experience and specialised skills.

Perhaps you have led teams through major projects or have gained valuable experience working overseas. Identify your unique selling points and explain to the Hiring Manager how he or she will benefit from hiring you.

Be Confident

Confidence is the core ingredient to a successful salary negotiation. After all, if you don’t back yourself, nobody else will!

Think about the Hiring Manager’s point of view. If they notice you are unsure of yourself or ambivalent, they may be inclined to take you less seriously. Projecting confidence (without being arrogant) will help Managers see you are capable of doing the job well.

Before you initiate a negotiation, practise your talking points. Run a mock negotiation with a friend and get them to throw in a curveball question or two. This can help you build up your confidence and think quickly on your feet.

Don’t Overlook Perks and Benefits

Money is a great motivator – but is it your only need? When you’re planning how to negotiate salary, consider the other factors that will make you happy working for that company. Can the organisation provide flexible working arrangements, car and phone allowance, generous vacation and parental leave, or access to wellbeing programs, for example?

For many people, a lack of career progression is enough to rub the shine off a job offer – research by Seek shows this is one of the top five reasons people leave jobs. Will the company support your professional development, such as reimbursement for training? This type of investment can add up over time and perhaps lead to greater advantages in the long run.

When Not to Negotiate

If you have already accepted the job offer, attempting to renegotiate pay may risk turning the offer sour for the employer. Being clear about your criteria before you sign on the dotted line will help you avoid unnecessary back-and-forth.

If an employer has put forward a salary that ticks all the boxes and is not a lowball offer, there is no need to make a counteroffer. Accept the offer and thank the manager graciously. Tell them you look forward to making a positive impact on their business.

Be aware of the employer’s constraints and budget as well. If they have already presented their best proposal, they may no longer be willing to negotiate when you are asking for more.

Summary

With so many professionals reluctant to negotiate a higher starting salary, knowing when and how to make a counteroffer can pay real dividends. Doing your homework, building up your confidence and understanding the employer’s position can lead to a successful negotiation.

Working with a Data Centre recruitment specialist will give you a solid footing from which to get the best salary possible. Recruiters know the job market intimately and have insight into what a broad range of employers are currently paying, so they can help you build your case for a successful counteroffer.

At Mission Critical, we link talented people to the best design, build and operate jobs in Data Centres across Australia and the Asia Pacific. Learn more about your salary by participating in our latest salary survey! Get in touch with our knowledgeable team today to access our specialist advice and land your next Data Centre role.

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Are you paying your team enough? Money talks regardless of market conditions, and with the cost of living increasing, you can bet that salary is now the primary consideration for candidates and employees. As data centre recruitment in Australia is a niche and highly competitive market at the best of times, this is a question every employer must pay attention to. Several factors are placing upward pressure on construction salaries: the economic environment, record employment growth in the sector, and a strong pipeline for data centre projects that require specialist skill sets. Approximately 183,000 square kilometres of data centre construction is currently underway in Australia, according to CBRE data , with future growth linked to the rise of AI applications and gaming clouds. General inflation is also starting to bite. In 2023, the Avdiev Report forecasts salary increases between 1-5% slated for 70% of roles in the property sectors (including construction and project management), with pay rises of 6% and above for 30% of jobs. We’ll highlight the significant signs you’re not paying your team enough and what steps to take to avoid underpaying your employees. The Company Is Frequently Out Bid on Job Offers Does your organisation often find itself about to bring a candidate over the line with a shiny new job offer, only to find out at the eleventh hour that the candidate has chosen another role? Whether or not the candidate cites salary as the reason for turning down the offer, chances are that salary was the deciding factor. This proper preparation can help you avoid stumbling into this trap. Before recruitment starts, run a benchmarking exercise to compare the company’s salaries to the market average (or median), and what competitors are likely paying. If you need to argue for increasing salary budgets for critical roles, being armed with this data will help you make it. To access more in-depth salary trends that aren’t online, engaging an agency specialising in data centre recruitment in Australia will help. Recruiters are regularly privy to a range of relevant job descriptions, along with job offers and counteroffers, all of which are rich sources of market intelligence. Low Interest In Advertised Positions One of the common signs that you’re not paying your team enough appears at the front end of the recruitment process. While not all talent attraction challenges are linked to salary, pay does become critical wherever demand for specific skills or positions is high, and supply is limited. If your company would like more applicants for roles but isn’t finding them, consider whether your job ads have enough detail. Including the salary range in job ads can encourage more qualified people to apply while acting as an effective screening tool. Emphasising other perks, such as bonuses and non-salary benefits, is also essential for attracting good talent. Overall, it’s sensible to highlight the company’s generous remuneration and other great reasons to work there. Candidates will always compare positions based on competitive compensation and opportunities for growth. Staff Retention Is Poor Has the front door started to swing so much that it’s revolving? Poor retention can have more than one cause, but any uptick in resignations is a warning light that usually calls for evaluating current salaries. If employees are exiting the business within months of starting a new role or are being headhunted, these could be signs you’re not paying your team enough. Have your employees' roles and responsibilities evolved since their initial hiring? If their duties have expanded significantly without a corresponding salary increase, they are likelier to embrace a new role and score an instant pay rise. Word Is Getting Around If gossip about the company’s apparent stinginess is reaching the ears of management, that’s a vital clue that remuneration may be misaligned with the market. Rather than allowing negative talk to start driving away employees, getting in front of these concerns as quickly as possible is better. Listening to employee concerns and taking notes is a wise place to start addressing this issue. Employee satisfaction surveys and one-on-one conversations will help you gauge sentiment about salaries. These conversations can support pay reviews and help you take necessary steps to avoid losing valuable employees. Summary So, are you paying your team enough? While the answer can make managers uncomfortable, it’s always worth asking! Regularly reviewing pay and understanding trends influencing construction salaries will help you build loyal teams and spend less time on recruitment. For expert help with finding the right talent, salary advice and retention strategies, you may contact the friendly team at Mission Critical. As leading specialists in data centre recruitment in Australia, we can help you solve your talent problems and devise a pay strategy that ticks all the boxes. Check out our latest report here for in-depth salary trends relevant to data centre hiring.