Many people feel anxious and uncomfortable when the time comes to negotiate salaries and benefits. When looking for work try to leave any serious talk about salary until as late in the recruitment process as possible. You will be in a much stronger position if the employer is keen to employ you.

How negotiable are graduate and entry level salaries?
Salary negotiation can depend upon numerous factors including the position, the hiring person, the organisation or company, your perceived value and your experience.

• Entry Level and Graduate Positions have salaries that are either set or have defined salary ranges. The range may be as much as $3000 – $5,000
• Mid-level Positions typically have salary ranges and benefits that are more open to negotiation.
• Higher-level Management and Executive Positions offer the greatest negotiation opportunities, and may build in benefits like company cars, share options, etc.
• Government Positions have relatively set salary scales that are based upon education and experience. Often salaries are negotiated collectively, for example through an Enterprise Agreement.

What to Research?
Market Trends
Information about salaries can be gathered from a variety of sources:

• Job advertisements
• People who work in the industry
• Other job seekers and people you know
• Recruitment agencies and recruitment professionals
• Professional associations
• Internet resources, for example Graduate Careers Starting Salaries

What You Think You Are Worth
There are a variety of factors that influence what you are worth:

• Your aptitudes, skills and experience
• The value you can add to an employer in terms of objective criteria
• Your needs in terms of living requirements
• Your ambition

Use this information to determine an acceptable salary range. For a graduate position a range of $5000 would be suitable, eg. $43K to $37K.

Remuneration
Remuneration takes into account both salary and other benefits. Consider the complete package in the salary negotiation process. Some examples of benefits include:

• Flexible hours
• Company vehicle
• Share options
• Study support in pay and or leave
• Payment of professional memberships
• Additional superannuation contributions

Salary Negotiation Tips

• Show confidence and be prepared to support your worth
• Do your research before you negotiate
• Be honest about your skills and experience
• Let the employer mention the salary first
• Only discuss salary when you know the employer wants to hire you
• Request time to consider a salary offer, ask for a day to think about it
• Remember to look at the complete remuneration and opportunities the employer has to offer
• Once you have agreed on salary, ask for it in writing

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