The Voice of Job Seekers

Mark Anthony Dyson ★ Career Writer ★ Speaker ★ Thinker ★ Award-winning Blog & Podcast! ★ "The Job Scam Report" on Substack! ★ I hack and reimagine the modern job search!

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by Mark Anthony Dyson

6 Practical Steps to Negotiate a Compensation Package

6 Practical Steps to Negotiate a Compensation Package

Don’t wait until you get an offer to start thinking about compensation negotiation. It’s never too early to plan for salary discussions, even if you aren’t going to leave your current job for at least a few more months.

If you’re strategic about it, negotiating a new compensation package doesn’t have to be scary. What should scare you, though, is only negotiating your paycheck while leaving the rest of your compensation package on the table! Many people settle for the first offer.

Rethink your negotiation strategy, especially if you’re only focused on your annual income.

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Negotiating compensation is stressful when you lack strategy. Anxiety appears when you’re unprepared, and it results in failure and disappointment. Employers are not interested in offering the best salary first. You must pursue it. If you’re unprepared to persuade employers to pay your worth, you’ll lose out.

Read Unemployed? The Voice of Job Seekers Is Here to Help

Kwame Christian, a business attorney and founder of the American Negotiation Institute, says people need to “recognize the opportunity to negotiate.” Kwame and I had quite a robust discussion on my podcast last winter.  Most people need practice in negotiating. Now is the time to prepare – even if you are not conducting a job search.

Here are several ways to ready yourself for a negotiation:

1. Recognize That ‘No’ Is Part of the Growth process

You never get used to hearing “no,” but enough “no” can help you adjust to negative outcomes. Christian suggests what he calls “No” Therapy: “Look for [negotiation] opportunities where the chances of success are minimal. Sometimes it works, and it’s a win-win when you don’t expect to succeed.”

This mindset is especially useful during particularly stressful negotiations. “It’s easier to accept rejection when the stakes are higher,” Christian says.

2. Know Where the Boundaries Are in Compensation Negotiation

Salary is important, but you need to consider the complete compensation package in order to determine the appropriate strategy. You can also get a head start on negotiating with a new employer by upping your salary now before you head onto the job market.

“While you’re working at your old job, ask for a raise, [which you can then] leverage when looking for a new [job],” Christian says. “The ceiling is the new floor.”

I used this strategy years ago while exiting a dissolving startup. Since others were exiting the company early, I had no pushback in getting a 15 percent raise.

Listen to How Can Underemployed Job Seekers Adapt to the New Workplace

3. Keep the Narrative Positive

Many job seekers focus too much on their opportunities for improvement and not enough on their strengths.

It’s especially important to emphasize the positive when negotiating a salary.

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“The impetus is on you to change the narrative,” Christian says.

4. Ask, But Also Show

Confidence comes from the application of your strengths. Strategize and execute a serious dialogue promoting your value. Proving your value will go a long way.

That being said, Christian also notes, “You don’t get what you deserve; you get what you ask for.” Proving your worth is only one part of the equation. You also have to set the terms of the negotiation.

Listen to Giving Women The Courage to Negotiate Salary

5. ‘No’ Can Also Mean ‘Not Yet’

Christian says most people fail because they think of the negotiation as a single conversation. Instead, he suggests approaching negotiation as if it “has no beginning and no end.”

When you have delivered value, you position yourself favorably for follow-up discussions. Even if the first attempt at negotiation doesn’t go your way, you may be able to reignite the conversation when you’ve proven your worth.

6. Defuse the Threat

If you start a negotiation by saying you want more money rather than by trying to establish a mutual value exchange, you’ll be seen as a threat. Negotiations need to be amicable, but you also want to keep your accomplishments top of the manager’s mind.

To help you make negotiation a pleasant experience for all involved, Christian recommends creating a paper trail when good things happen. Send emails with specific details and file them away for when it’s time to negotiate.

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Your job search could take months or longer, and seeing a bump in your compensation now could be leverage for your next job. Some people can get raises based on earned buy-in they’ve already built up with bosses. The rest of us can follow the above steps.

This article was originally published at Recruiter.com. 

Related articles across the web

  • 9 common questions about negotiating salary that will help you get paid what you want

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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Filed Under: Career Management, Negotiations, Salary Negotiation Tagged With: compensation, Negotiations, Salary

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Is a Portfolio Career a Good Choice for You with Mac Prichard

Is a Portfolio Career a Good Choice for You with Mac Prichard
http://traffic.libsyn.com/thevoiceofjobseekers/thevoiceofjobseekers170.mp3

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Perhaps by the end of this show, you’ll consider creating a portfolio career. Welcome back to the last show of the Summer season, and boy is this an informative one! Listen to this great show with Mac Prichard, founder of Mac’s List  (Careers) and President of Prichard Communications (Public Relations firm). Mac recently published a new book, Land Your Dream Job Anywhere: The Complete Mac’s List Guide to Finding Work You Can Love. In our conversation, we discuss the benefits of a portfolio career.

Love to hear your thoughts about how a portfolio career would help you:

  • Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number
  • Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
  • Send email feedback to mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

More about Mac Prichard

Mac loves connection people and passionately loves to help people find jobs they love. Mac’s List has a job board, career advice blog, podcast (in Apple Podcasts), books, and hosts local job events for local Portland Oregon job seekers.

A few highlights from the show:

  • Mac talks about how both his companies are his passions where they both share the common goals of connecting people to opportunities
  • Careers and public relations share the need to communicate effectively through storytelling
  • Mac defines a portfolio career as not relying on just one career
  • You reach the interview because of data, and stories connect you to the employer
  • In the mind of an employer, they are wondering what makes you stand out – good storytelling does
  • “…job seekers need to make the case why they’re the best person for the position and understand employer’s challenges and problems and show the interviewer through effective communication how they can solve the problems…”
  • A portfolio career offers diversity and skill variety and not to rely on one career
  • Job seekers can manage risk better if hobbies, volunteer, side gigs build additional skills
  • The second job or career can energize the primary career

Epilogue

I hope the rest of your summer will be epic! I will be active on the social networks with occasional breaks, and I will be publishing articles on the blog and elsewhere. Please share this show with those who may need it. I will see you Sept 12 with bi-weekly shows. Thanks so much for making this award-winning podcast a joy to produce and publish. By the way, we are entering the fourth year and 170 episodes released!

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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Filed Under: Career, Career Management Tagged With: Careers, Interviews

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Earlier Work and Life Planning With Your Career in Mind

Earlier Work and Life Planning With Your Career in Mind
http://traffic.libsyn.com/thevoiceofjobseekers/thevoiceofjobseekers165.mp3

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Let’s face it, the lines between work and life continue to mesh. Many professionals are trying to separate the two with 24-hour access to work product. According to Scott Behson, even executives are upfront about their need for work-life balance.

In this episode, we discuss his article, A Lesson for Future Working Parents.

If you want to contribute to the discussion, there are three ways you can do so:

  • Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number
  • Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message
  • Send email feedback to mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

This is Scott’s third time on the show.

Here’s more about his background:

Scott Behson is a professor of management at Fairleigh Dickinson University. He has a doctorate in Organizational Studies, and blogs at Fathers, Work and Family. He is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Time, Wall Street Journal. He’s the author of The Working Dad’s Survival Guide: How to Succeed at Work and at Home,

Here are some highlights from our discussion: 

  • Help his students look at their careers with possible family in mind, not just the prospect of a job
  • We need to be flexible and adaptable with our career planning, keeping up with technology trends
  • Important to be lifetime learners, self-learning, and stay relevant best described as future proofing
  • There’s no easy formula but intentional in thinking about time, emotional bandwidth
  • Scott is seeing more high-intensive companies and individuals who are upfront in wanting flexibility

Do you need help with your career direction and career success?

Do you need coaching or instruction? I can help.

Please note, I will be taking a break for three weeks in May returning the first week in June. Then will offer six more shows until my summer break in July until September the week after Labor Day.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

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Filed Under: Career Management, Personal Branding Tagged With: Career Management

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I moderated a panel on Wealth Management for executives by Black Enterprise Magazine in October 2023 in Miami.

I was interviewed on Scripps News show, “The Why!” 4/13/2023

I talked with John Tarnoff and Kerry Hannon of “The Second Act” podcast about job searching after 50 in October 2022.

I was on “The Career Confidante” podcast to talk about “boomerang employees” and “job fishing” in June 2022.

Making Job Search a Lifestyle With “Dr. Dawn Graham on Careers,” SiriusXM Ch. 132, Wharton School of Business May 2021

In May 2020, I talked with LinkedIn’s Senior News Editor Andrew Seaman on “#GetHired” Live.”

Beverly Jones, host of the NPR podcast “Jazzed About Work,” invited me back to talk job scams, job search trends, and AI tools in April 2024

WOUB Digital · Episode 183 : Job search expert Mark Dyson says beware of scams, know AI & keep learning

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