Salary negotiation can be one of the trickiest aspects of interviewing for a job.

If you do it properly, your salary negotiation can be as much as 25% more than if you negotiate salary poorly. If you’re in the job for years or decades, that 25% can really add up.

On the other hand, bringing up pay at the wrong time or in the wrong way may actually reduce your chances of getting the job in the first place.

When should you bring up pay in an interview?

And how do you go about salary negotiation once the topic is on the table?

The Timing: Wait for Them to Love You

If you were considering buying a house, would you talk about price before you’ve decided you’re interested? Probably not.

You’ll want to see as many houses as you can first, until you find one you fall in love with. Then you negotiate for the best deal you can on that house. You’ll likely be willing to pay quite a bit more for the home you fell in love with than a house that you were just kicking the tires on.

The same is true when an employer is thinking about hiring you. They may ask questions like “What kind of salary are you looking for?” before they’re actually serious.

But the best time for you, the interviewee, to really answer these questions is once the employer has already decided they want you on their team.

Once they’ve decided that, you have much more leverage. You’ll be able to negotiate a much better deal.

In other words, try not to address pay at all until everything else has been discussed and it seems like there’s a good fit.

Tips for Negotiating the Best Salary

Before you even walk into the room, do your research.

What does this company pay other people on their staff?

For large companies, you may be able to find out by doing some in-depth searching online.

For smaller companies, you’ll likely have to try to find out by talking to people. If you don’t know anyone in the company, you’ll have to gauge by getting a sense of the overall industry.

For example, if you’re interviewing for a small solar company and can’t find out how much they pay, instead try to find out the average salary for other people in your position in the solar industry.

Know what value you bring to the company.

Know what problems you’re solving for them that other people can’t solve. This will give you a good idea of what you’re worth to the company.

Be willing to say no.

Have several options so you can create the impression that you can walk away if they don’t present you with a great offer.

Negotiating salary is both an art and a science. Be prepared when you walk into the interview and only talk about salary in concrete terms once they’ve already decided they want to work with you.

What do you think? What other “salary negotiation” strategies would you include? Leave your questions and comments in the box below.

Savvy Salary Negotiation Tips is an article from: Business Etiquette Basics. We invite you to stop by, we have more articles on career change and advancement.

Great job interviewing skills include being able to highlight your experience and strengths.  However, accomplishing this without sounding like you’re boasting can be a bit of a challenge.

Your goal in an interview should be to convince the interviewer that you’re competent and that you’re the right person for the job. To do that, you can’t be afraid of showing off your strengths. However, being too boastful is also a big turnoff for employers.

So, how do you walk this delicate balance?

Stick With the Facts

If you increased your last company’s website traffic by 77%, stick to that fact. Talk about how you did it in a systematic way.

Leave out your personal opinions. Don’t tell them how nobody else could have done it or how your co-workers thought you were a hero.

If what you’ve done in the past is impressive, the facts will speak for themselves.

In fact, a person who achieves impressive results while being slightly self-deprecating is often more impressive than someone who’s full of themselves.

Be Assertive on Important Points, Back Off on the Rest

If your job is to increase website traffic, don’t be afraid to let your interviewers know that you can’t program and can’t build websites.

Always be assertive on the most important points in your job description. For example, if your job is to improve manufacturing efficiency, that’s the one area where you simply can’t afford to be overly modest.

However, in any other area, don’t be afraid to back down and be a little more modest.

Nobody can be good at everything. Anyone who tries to sound like they’re great at everything is more likely to raise disbelief than garner respect.

Be Detailed in Your Weaknesses

One question that’s often asked in job interviews is,

“What do you think are your 3 greatest strengths and your 3 greatest weaknesses?”

Many interviewees try to answer this question in a way that doesn’t really shed any light on their real weaknesses.

However, a much better approach to this question is to be very honest with your weaknesses. This allows you to in turn be very honest with your strengths.

If your job is to improve mechanical efficiency for example, you can “brag” a lot more about your strengths and your results if you’re not afraid that you have trouble managing larger teams of people.

Your strengths just seem more believable when offset by weaknesses. Again however, your weaknesses should be in areas that are not in the core job description of the job you’re applying for. Don’t say you can’t manage people if you’re interviewing for a project management position.

If you follow these tips on job interviewing skills, you’ll be able to share your strengths and experiences much more powerfully without sounding overly boastful.

Job Interviewing Skills: How to Highlight Your Experience is an article from: Business Etiquette Basics. We invite you to stop by, we have more articles on career change and advancement.

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“It can be overwhelming to think about how much work it actually entails to find a job in today’s web 2.0 world.

If you are very serious about it, you have likely educated yourself in all the various facets of a job search and become well-equipped to go out and tackle the task. But, so have many others.

Once a company narrows down the candidate pool to a group of people they want to meet, and you are one of them, it’s time to start thinking about your next steps. Only one person can be chosen in the end. When all things are equal, what makes you stand out?”

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“When preparing your resume, you might find yourself coming face to face with some issues from your past.

Perhaps you will then find yourself trying to figure out how to fix those issues to make your resume look a bit cleaner and more professional. It’s just a resume to help you get a job interview. It’s not a legal document of any sort, right?

Maybe you are eight credits short of graduating from college but you dropped out for some reason. What are eight little credits? It probably would just look better if you go ahead and say you have a degree.

Even better, what if you have an associates degree but the job requires a bachelors degree? A degree is a degree, it doesn’t really matter which kind of a degree, does it?”

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“You’ve read the job description, but the interview is the time to read between the lines. Find out as much as you can about the company you may work for before you take the job. It could save you time and frustration down the line.

We all know to have questions prepared when we head into an interview. It makes us look interested and on the ball. But the list of questions you ask a potential employer should be as much about you interviewing them, as them interviewing you.

Before you sign on the dotted line, be sure you know what you’re getting in to.”

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“As a job applicant, there are benefits and disadvantages to a phone interview. Some people are well-spoken and are great on the phone, but in person, their nervousness gets to them. Some are more comfortable speaking in-person and lack personality on the phone. Under both situations, it can be a challenge when you don’t have feedback that may typically appear through face-to-face contact.

Regardless of the situation, you need to put your best voice forward to leave the employer with a good impression. This may be the only shot you have at getting a step closer to securing a job offer with them. Remember that the employer may change their mind about inviting you in for an interview if you fall short of their expectations or leave a negative impression on the phone.”

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“Consider the first step to entering an interview – the handshake. While it may take less than 10 seconds to complete a handshake, in that time, the interviewer has already developed an impression of your character based on eye contact and the firmness of your shake. A weak handshake and lack of eye contact can leave the impression you are timid and insecure. A sincere and firm handshake with eye contact expresses professionalism and confidence. An overpowering handshake with a fixed gaze may come across as overconfident and arrogant. So, be cautious with your next handshake and start the interview off with a positive impression.”

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Preparing for a phone interview is a mental exercise, and something that takes a little common sense.  It is the second impression that you will make on a hiring decision maker – the first impression was obviously already made by your resume and cover letter, and must have been positive, or you would not have this interview appointment.  That being the case, it is worth while to prepare for it and be ready to put your best foot forward.

Follow these 10 steps for success:

1. Do your homework on the company before your phone interview

Do a search on the Internet using Yahoo, Google, Bing (MSN) or any of the major search engines. Look them up in an online database like Dun and Bradstreet or InfoUSA.

If you don’t have easy access to these online tools, go to your local library and tell the reference librarian what you are doing. She will be glad to provide you with information sources that will help you seem knowledgeable when having your phone interview.

2. Get yourself mentally prepared – rehearse

Practice in front of the mirror, or with a friend or your spouse listening to you, asking questions and playing the part of the interviewer.  Make a list of questions you expect the interviewer to ask and have good answers prepared, but have them on the top of your head in general and not memorized.  Memorized answers can sound canned and not real, and will not help you.  You need to appear genuine and real. Be yourself, and be comfortable.  Mock trials help lawyers, and rehearsals help musicians. It only makes sense that a practice interview will help an interviewee.

3. Have a good quality telephone

It may seem silly to even mention it, but the better quality phone you use, the better your voice will sound. Years ago everyone rented his or her telephones from the local utility phone company. These days people own their own phones, and while many people use good quality phones, many use the ten and fifteen-dollar phones they’ve found in the local dollar store or discount mart. Those phones are fine for talking to your friends, but for business use make a good business impression, and use a good phone. Add this tip to the mix as well: use a landline with a cord, and not a cell phone or cordless phone. Dead batteries, crackling sounds, bad cell sites, and weather interference can make you sound bad at the other end, and you may not even know it. When doing your phone interview you want to be clear and make a good impression. Take this tip to heart and use a good quality landline.

4. Prepare and practice two or three ideas that you want to get across to the interviewer as to why you are the right person for this job

If you are having trouble thinking of ideas, read your resume again.  Look for the key points, qualifications or accomplishments you have written, and be ready to discuss them. It is also a good idea to have your planner/calendar with you in anticipation of setting up future appointments.

5. Think of what you can do for the company

The hiring manager really doesn’t care why you would like the job; she cares about how you can help her company, if you are hired.

6. On the morning of the interview get dressed

Wear the same clothes when you are on the phone that you would wear if you were in front of the interviewer in person.  Dress for success and your attitude will reflect it.  Dress in your pajamas or an old sweat shirt and your attitude may reflect that as well.

7. Smile

Smiles are contagious, even if they can’t be seen.  Good salesmen know this and practice smiling on the phone.  There is something in your voice and attitude that is conveyed when you smile, and the person on the other end of the phone can sense it.  There is truth in the old saying, ‘Smile and the world smiles with you.’  It is basic human nature.

8. Speak clearly and enunciate

Use a good quality phone, a land line not a cordless.  If at all possible do not use a cellular phone for the interview.   Crackling noises are distractions and bad cell sites, leading to dropped calls, are a negative.  You only want positives during your phone interview.

9. Relax, be yourself and do your best

Offer to provide any other information they might need to make a decision.

10. Convey that you are excited about the position (if you truly are) and ‘close’

The ‘close’ (what it’s called in sales) is crucial – you need to ask to be furthered to the next step in the process.  This takes practice, however the smoothest transitions come naturally when you have have addressed the interviewer’s question thoroughly.

The interviewer will show some excitement for your qualifications if you have done steps 4 and 5. Sometimes she will just come out and tell you that will be receiving a face-to-face interview – then you know steps 1-9 were a success. And remember to thank the interviewer for her time.

Do you have any other tips for those that will be preparing for phone interviews? Please make your suggestions on the comments section below.

Thank you for reading – Theresa.

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A man, interviewing for a Management position, answers the common interview question: Why should we hire you? This is an example of a GOOD way to answer this question.

Created by Fresno, California’s most respected Recruiting, Staffing and Human Resources consulting firm — Denham Resources.

Duration : 0:2:11

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Interview Tips: Why should we hire you? – the GOOD answer is an article from: Business Etiquette Basics. We invite you to stop by, we have more articles on career change and advancement.

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A woman, interviewing for a pharmaceutical sales position, answers the common interview question: Tell me about yourself. This is an example of a GOOD way to answer this question.

When describing yourself, you should give specific examples of your professional and personal qualities. Intertwine those examples with your character traits that make you who you are. Stay relevant to the job position and company culture.

Created by Fresno, California’s most respected Recruiting, Staffing and Human Resources consulting firm — Denham Resources.

Duration : 0:3:14

[youtube qR-IhZJOq3U]

Interview Tips: Tell me about yourself. A GOOD answer / example. is an article from: Business Etiquette Basics. We invite you to stop by, we have more articles on career change and advancement.

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