Money is ALWAYS on our minds in today’s fast-paced world. Everything around us seems to become increasingly more expensive, and, for some, salaries seem to stay the same.
According to one study, when presented with a job offer, about 7% of women attempt to negotiate. On the other hand, when men are presented with a job offer, a whopping 57% proceed to negotiate. Of those women who negotiated, they were able to increase their salary by 7%. This fact alone should make every woman want to ask for a raise! Maybe you aren’t making the salary you want because you aren’t speaking up and asking for it.
We’ve gathered some of the best tips for women that want to ask for a raise and compiled them here for you:
BE PREPARED
Half the battle is knowing what you want and why. Know exactly how much more you want to make and the reasons you deserve it. Next, be able to talk about those reasons persuasively. Know what makes you valuable. This is particularly important when negotiating a salary for a new job. Do research on the traits and skills your potential new company finds valuable and frame your argument around those qualities.
RAISE YOUR EXPECTATIONS
According to strategy consultant Vicki Slavina, “The problem is that women have systematically lower expectations. The problem with having systematically lower expectations is that you get systematically lower outcomes, because expectations drive behavior. So, they get less not because they are women, but because their expectations are lower.”
DO NOT lowball yourself. Present your employer or potential employer with a number greater than the amount you will actually accept. This is a negotiation! Always expect the other party to make a counteroffer. By giving yourself a cushion, you give yourself room to end up where you wanted to be in the first place.
KEEP IT PROFESSIONAL
Don’t air your dirty laundry. Your unpaid bills or problems outside of work are not your boss’s problems. While he or she may be sympathetic, their job is to do what is best for the company. So, tell them what YOU contribute to the company. Present your skills and contributions as something the company wants to invest in. This strategy is far more likely to snag you a raise—not whining about your financial struggles.
DETERMINATION
Be willing to “stay at the table”. Timing is everything. While a raise may not be possible when you initially ask, a lot can change within a company over a short period of time. If you’re confident in yourself and confident in the fact that you deserve a raise, be willing to revisit the issue down the road. Maybe you unknowingly made your request in the middle of budget cuts when it was impossible to give out a raise. Maybe over the course of the last year, you’ve executed a project and really knocked it out of the park. Maybe now you have their attention. Always be willing to go to bat for yourself, no matter what the answer has been in the past.
These were a few of our favorite tips we found here, here, and here. All of these articles are filled with lots of great advice to help you negotiate your way through asking for a raise. We hope you incorporate all of these tips into your negotiation tactics, but more than anything, we just want you to ASK. Remember–if you never ask, you’ll never know.