Salary Negotiation Strategies
After successful interviews, the job seeker seeks advice on how to effectively negotiate salary, benefits, and start date, discussing common pitfalls and best practices.
Dialogue
Listen and follow along with the conversation
Vocabulary
Essential words and phrases from the dialogue
negotiation
The process of discussing terms to reach an agreement, like salary or benefits in a job offer. Use it when talking about bargaining in business or personal deals.
offer
A proposal from an employer, such as a job with a specific salary. It's common in job contexts to refer to what the company proposes first.
counter-offer
Your response to an initial offer, suggesting different terms like a higher salary. Use this when you want to propose an alternative during talks.
greedy
Wanting more money or things than is fair or reasonable. Avoid sounding greedy in negotiations by basing requests on facts like market value.
benefits
Extra perks from a job besides salary, like health insurance or vacation time. Negotiate these if salary can't increase.
pitfalls
Common mistakes or traps to avoid. In interviews, watch for pitfalls like accepting an offer too quickly.
budge
To make a small change or compromise, like slightly increasing salary. Use it to describe if someone is willing to adjust their position.
Key Sentences
Important phrases to remember and practice
Never accept the first offer immediately.
This imperative sentence gives strong advice using 'never' for emphasis. It's useful in negotiations to show patience; the structure 'never + verb' is common for rules or warnings.
Always ask for time to consider it, even if it seems good.
Uses 'always' for ongoing advice and 'even if' for concessions. Helpful for job seekers to buy time; practice this conditional structure to express exceptions.
Based on my research and the value I can add, I was looking for something closer to X amount.
A polite way to make a counter-offer with 'based on' for reasons and past continuous 'was looking' for suggestions. Use this in professional talks to sound confident and justified.
Everything is negotiable to some extent.
Emphasizes flexibility with 'everything is + adjective' and 'to some extent' for moderation. Great for discussing job terms; it shows grammar of general truths with quantifiers.
Let them make the first offer.
An imperative using 'let' for permission or suggestion. Useful strategy in negotiations to avoid stating numbers first; simple command form for advice.
Negotiate only if you genuinely feel the offer is below your worth.
Conditional advice with 'only if' for specific conditions and 'genuinely' for sincerity. Apply this to decide when to bargain; highlights adverb use for emphasis.