You may feel like shouting a triumphant ‘yes!’ when the recruiter offers you the job, but you need to play it cool.

Accepting a job offer is a triumphant moment for any job seeker. After all the work you’ve done researching, applying to jobs on Monster, and interviewing, you’ve finally been offered the position you’ve been aiming for. Go you! You’re understandably psyched. But don’t be so quick to jump on board right away. Knowing how to accept a job offer is a key skill every job seeker must master.

When an employer makes a job offer, they’re effectively laying their cards on the table and they want you to do the same—meaning they want you to also put your cards on the table and accept the position right then and there. Do that and you’re giving up your negotiation power. Bad move.

To understand how to accept a job offer the right way, follow these steps:

1. Express Your Appreciation for the Job Offer
Whether you’re communicating in person, on the phone, or via email, thank the person who made the offer and say how excited and grateful you are before you do anything else.

Whether you’re going to come back with a negotiation or accept the offer without changes, starting off this way sets a good tone for the conversation.

Keep up the enthusiasm as you move forward. Remember that the company is vulnerable—you might not accept their offer—so make them feel less so with your interest in the role. Using words like “excited” and “thrilled” will get the point across, without saying you’re accepting the position.

2. Ask to Get the Offer in Writing
Learning how to accept a job offer means you need to know exactly what you’re saying yes to. Once you’ve thanked the employer, request to have the offer put in writing. An official job offer letter should include, at the very least, the name of the position, a start date, a salary, and details about benefits.
This step does two things:

1. It makes the offer official.
2. It gives you a chance to review the details thoroughly to make sure you completely understand what you’re being offered.

Ask how long you have to give a final answer after receiving the letter. If the employer says they need an immediate answer, that’s a bad sign. Accepting a job offer properly requires due diligence, and a company is very much aware of this. Pressuring you doesn’t give the best impression and tends to be used as a scare tactic. A responsible employer wants prospective employees to have some time to think—usually a day or two—before accepting a job offer.

But if you want to negotiate the terms, respond by saying: “I’ve considered the offer and it’s a wonderful opportunity; I would want to discuss the details more carefully. When can we set up a time to speak or meet?”

Be prepared with the right questions to ask when negotiating salary, and remember that you should take a collaborative, not confrontational, tone in your negotiation. After all, both of you want the same thing—you in that job.

3. Know What to Say When Accepting a Job Offer
When you’re through negotiating and ready to accept, reiterate all the details as you understand them in your acceptance. You can say: “It is my understanding that I will be eligible for X days of vacation, Y amount of bonus payable on Z, the company covers 75% of my health care costs and matches my 401K contributions up to the first 3% of my salary.”

This is especially important if you’ve negotiated up from the initial offer. In fact, you should also ask to get the final, official offer in writing.

If the negotiations took longer than expected, acknowledge that in your acceptance. Negotiation is stressful for both sides and expressing appreciation for your new employer’s time and effort once you finally accept an offer shows you’re ready to move forward.

Finally, ask about the next steps. For example, is there any onboarding paperwork you should get started on after accepting a job offer? Will there be an orientation? And how can you prepare for your first day? This shows your interest, which will reaffirm to the company that they made the right choice in hiring you.

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These days, phone interviews are an unavoidable part of the job interview process, and for good reason: They save everyone involved time and effort. But that doesn’t mean that phoners require zero energy on the part of the candidate. Yes, you should spend more time preparing for an in-person interview, but many companies treat phone screens as the official first round of the hiring process. That means candidates are expected to go into them prepared with as much information about the company, position, and their own skills and strengths as possible.

We asked HR pros about their top phone interview pet peeves, they had no shortage of advice to offer. Apparently, it’s quite easy to mess up your phone interview. But here’s the thing; it’s also not hard to come across well if you keep some key things in mind.

1. Never Take The Interview Somewhere Noisy
It might seem like common sense, but you’d be surprised what interviewers say they can hear in the background of their phone interviews—everything from barking dogs to screaming children. “Prepare for the interview by securing a quiet space in advance, even if it means escaping to your car parked in the garage,” advises Chere Taylor, founder of Fulcrum HR Consulting. “If you can lock your home office door, by all means, do it. We’ve all been there and sometimes things just happen, but the more time spent anticipating what could go wrong, the better prepared and organized you will appear to the interviewer and the greater likelihood of success.” That doesn’t mean that if your washing machine beeps once in the background all hope is lost, but the more effort you put into being in a quiet place, the more focused you’ll be.

2. Don’t Talk About Your Personal Life
…Unless you’re directly asked a question about what you like to do in your off hours. “The point of a phone interview is to focus on getting to know a candidate’s professional experience and goals,” says Mckenzie Roark, campus talent specialist at Lithko Contracting. “A recruiter is trying to qualify them to see if they are the best fit for a role, and learning about their personal life doesn’t help. For example, when asked where you see yourself in five years, we don’t want to know that you hope to be married or that you want to buy a new house. That is nice but that isn’t relative to anything professional.”

3. Resist The Urge to Multitask
It might be tempting to cross something off your to-do list while on a phone interview, but recruiters and hiring managers can easily tell if your attention is elsewhere. “My number one pet peeve is people who decide to multitask while on the phone interview,” says Dan Krupansky, Talent Acquisition Manager at PrimePay. “I have heard candidates washing dishes, making lunch in the microwave, going for walks, letting their dog out, and grocery shopping during the interview. I even had one person use the bathroom and flush the toilet while speaking with me.” Needless to say, this doesn’t reflect well on your level of interest in the position you’re interviewing for.

4. Skip The Money Conversation
To put it bluntly, it’s simply too early in the process for you to be the one who brings up salary expectations. “Chances are if a candidate is participating in a phone interview, this is the first time they have talked with the company, and the first call isn’t the appropriate time to talk about ‘what’s in it for you,’” says Justina Strnad, the Talent Acquisition Manager for Shiftgig. “Trust me, if you are a great candidate and make it to the next steps, the hiring team is going to be very transparent about what’s in it for you later on!”

5. Never Put Your Interviewer On Hold
Phone interviews don’t take that long, and there probably isn’t anything else going on that is really truly so urgent that you need to pause your interview. “Do not put me on hold to take an important call that just beeped in,” advises Jeremy Payne, head of people operations at Remote Year. “I am your important call. If you are expecting extremely urgent news (like information about a family illness), be sure to preface that in the early minutes of the interview, so the recruiter is aware of the situation and so you can work with them to reschedule if that interruption does occur,” he says.

6. Never Skip The Q&A
“After wrapping up a phone interview, it is typical that the interviewer will ask the candidate if they have any questions. I can’t stress this enough: ALWAYS ask questions,” says Roark. “If we have had a great phone interview and then we wrap up and they don’t have any questions for me, it pretty much ruins the whole interview. It tells me that the candidate is uninterested in the role, which in reality, might not be the case at all,” she notes. But surely, if you’re interested in a job, you can think of something to ask your interviewer.

7. Don’t Be Late
It seems basic, but surprisingly, many people are late to phone interviews. “About a quarter of the people with whom I schedule phone interviews aren’t on time,” says Sophie Cikovsky, who handles the U.S. recruiting for Infinite Global. “While this bothers me personally, it’s also indicative of someone who isn’t very detail-oriented,” she explains. “In order to identify this early in the hiring process, I started asking all candidates a few years ago to call me as opposed to calling them at an agreed-upon time. That way if I hear from them at 1:13 pm or 12:49 pm instead of our planned 1:00 pm interview time, I have an early indicator that they might not be a great fit.”

8. Don’t Assume Reception Is Good
“Make sure you test your headset and connection before dialing in,” recommends Payne. “There is nothing more frustrating for a recruiter who has a structured interview guide in place having to repeatedly ask the same question over and over because they could not understand your answer due to static or dropped signals.” Test call a friend beforehand or even call yourself from a landline if necessary; it will take less than a minute.

9. Never Talk Over The Interviewer
You might be eager to get your point across or talk about your experience, but interrupting the interviewer is awkward and rude when you’re speaking on the phone, even more so than in face-to-face interviews. “Interviewing can be stressful and sometimes that stress manifests itself in speaking too fast, speaking too loud, talking over the interviewer, or attempting to answer the interviewer’s question before they have actually finished asking the question,” says Taylor. “Don’t do this.” There’s a big difference between being assertive and being aggressive, and interviewers can always recognize it.

10. Skip Filler Words
It’s tough not to say things like “um,” “uh,” and “like” in everyday speech, but these verbal habits become much more pronounced when speaking on the phone, says Chris Dardis, a recruiting expert and HR professional with Versique Executive Search. “In face-to-face interviews, they’re not as noticeable because there are other things like your hair, suit, or body language to distract people,” he explains. But in a phone interview, the only thing you have to go on is what you say and how you say it. “That’s why it’s so important to eliminate these words from your speech when doing a phone interview.”

11. Don’t Go In Blind
Not knowing anything about the company or job you’re interviewing for is way more obvious than you’d think. “Many people think that a phone interview means they’re getting away with something, that they don’t have to put as much effort into researching the role or company,” says Steve Pritchard, HR Consultant for giffgaff. And if you have your laptop in front of you during the interview to do a few quick searches, they won’t know the difference, right? Not exactly. “Seasoned interviewers will know whether an interviewee is researching while on the phone; they will take too long to answer the question and punctuate their answers with a lot of ‘ums’ and ‘errs’ as they type. The interviewer can often even hear the typing as they ask the question,” he adds.

12. Nix Long-Winded Answers
“The key to success during a phone interview is clear and concise answers,” says Dardis. “People’s attention spans tend to be shorter over the phone. You don’t want your future employer to lose interest in the conversation.” He recommends practicing answers to questions you know will be asked ahead of time in order to be clear on what you’re going to say. That way, you can prevent rambling before it starts.

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When you sit down for a job interview, it’s perfectly natural to want to know how you’ll be compensated now and in the future. After all, the average job candidate in the United States stays in the job for which they were hired for about four years. After that, it’s time to move up or move on.

But how do you ask about promotions in an interview without making it look like you’re going to move on quickly? Or without coming across like you think you deserve a better job right from the start?

It can be an uncomfortable conversation, but there’s no opting out. In order to choose the opportunity that best fits your career plans, you need to have accurate information about the position. That conversation must involve a glimpse of what promotions and raises might look like if you were to accept a job offer.

Here are three effective questions to help you ask about promotions in an interview without looking presumptuous:

1. Ask, “How do you help good performers grow in this position?”

Companies attract competitive candidates by offering growth opportunities. It’s very likely that the company you’re interviewing with will want to highlight its efforts to help employees grow and evolve through professional development, education, or experience opportunities.

Since “growth” can be a codeword for future promotions, asking this question will give the interviewer an opportunity to talk about people who started out in this position and grew into promotions or raises. If they don’t bring it up, follow up by specifically asking if anyone within the company got started in a similar position.

2. Ask, “Can you tell me how you’d compensate the person in this position if they went above and beyond your expectations?

Start by asking the interviewer to identify what achievements would indicate success in the position. Not only will this give you an idea of what kind of work you’ll be focusing on, but it will also show the interviewer that you understand that each position is part of a bigger picture.

Then, ask what happens if an employee completes all of those milestones and then achieves even more. If it’s a good opportunity, that will naturally lead to a conversation about the company’s compensation structure, including promotions and raises.

3. Say, “Your company culture values X. Can you tell me how that plays out in compensating and promoting employees within your organization?”

Because company culture influences the work you do and how you do it, it also impacts future earnings. Therefore, be on the lookout for culture fit when you interview for a new job. For example, if you’re really good at specialized, individual work, but you’re interviewing with a company that values teamwork above all else, there might be a fundamental mismatch. if the company flat-out says it values one skill over another, it’s not going to invest promotions and raises in someone with those unvalued skills.

As you learn more about the company, ask follow-up questions to see how the company’s culture impacts compensation and promotion. This question, in particular, will give the interviewer a chance to share examples of skills they value and how they have compensated and promoted individuals with those skills in the past.

Don’t shy away from a conversation about promotions and raises in an interview. It’s important information you need to be able to make an informed decision. But remember: no matter how strategically you ask about promotions in an interview, no promotion is guaranteed. Once you get the job, use these tips to set yourself up to get those promotions.

The post Is It Presumptive to Ask About Raises In a Job Interview? appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

From an employer’s perspective, bonuses are often preferable to raises because they’re generally a self-limiting cost. A company can give out bonuses when it has a year of strong sales, and halt that practice during a year in which sales drop. Raises, by contrast, are generally riskier, because once workers get a boost, companies are essentially locked into paying them more for as long as they remain employed.

Even if a given business decides not to give raises in future years, that business is still required to keep up with preexisting salaries. Furthermore, because certain benefits, like 401(k) matching dollars, are often tied directly to salary, increasing set compensation can cost companies in other ways. But while bonuses may be the safer bet for employers, that doesn’t necessarily hold true from a worker’s perspective. And though you’re better off getting a bonus this year than receiving no boost in compensation whatsoever, here are a few reasons you, as an employee, should push for a raise over a bonus.

1. It Could Pave the Way to a Better Salary in the Future
Have you ever been asked, whether during a phone screen or in-person job interview, how much you’re earning or earned in a given role? It’s a question that’s posed all the time*, but when you answer it, you’re supposed to simply talk salary, because bonuses don’t count. Now, imagine you’re planning to apply for a new job next year and currently earn $60,000. If your company decides to boost your salary by $3,000, you’ll get to tell your next company that you’ve been earning $63,000. But if your company hands out that $3,000 in the form of a bonus instead, that extra money won’t help for the purpose of that conversation.

One thing you must understand about salary is that the amount you make today will most likely dictate what you’re able to command in the future. If you let yourself remain content with a bonus in the absence of a much-deserved raise, you could end up limiting your earning potential for the remainder of your career. *Editor’s note: Depending on where you live, this question may be illegal — learn more here. 

2. You May Be More Inclined to Use That Extra Cash Responsibly
We’re all told we’re supposed to save a percentage of our salaries, whether for emergencies or the future. But the so-called rules surrounding bonuses are less clear-cut. After all, if that cash is really extra money, shouldn’t you get to use it for fun purposes rather than feel compelled to save it? Now here’s the thing: If your finances aren’t great, then the answer is a resounding “no.” No, you shouldn’t blow your bonus money on a fancy gadget or vacation if you’re behind on savings. And incidentally, most Americans are.

An estimated 57 percent of U.S. adults have less than $1,000 in the bank, while 39 percent have no near-term savings to show for at all. Most of us aren’t doing too great in terms of retirement savings, either. Households between the ages of 44 to 49 have just $81,347 stashed away for retirement, on average, while those between 50 and 55 have an average savings of $124,831. And while those numbers are far from impressive, what’s even worse is that nearly half of U.S. households have no retirement savings at all. All of this boils down to the following: If you get a salary boost, you’re more likely to use that money responsibly than if it were to come in the form of a bonus. And that’s the sort of pressure most working Americans need.

3. Bonuses Are Taxed Less Favorably
When you earn money as a salaried employee, you eventually get used to losing a certain portion of your paycheck to taxes. Bonuses, however, are taxed differently. In most cases, you’ll lose 25 percent of your bonus right off the bat because that payment will be considered supplemental, and therefore subject to a higher tax rate. But that 25 percent doesn’t account for Social Security and Medicare taxes, not to mention state taxes. Therefore, by the time you receive that check, you may come to find that your bonus has been whittled down to something in the ballpark of 60 percent of its original figure. And while you may receive some of that back when you file your tax return, it means you could end up waiting a year or more to get that missing money.

Obviously, if given the choice between a bonus or nothing this year, it would be prudent to opt for the former. But if you have a good relationship with your employer, it pays to make the case for giving out raises instead of bonuses if the option for both isn’t on the table. It’s a move that could end up paying off not just at present, but many, many years down the line.

This article was originally published on The Motley Fool. It is reprinted with permission.

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Employee compensation can be an emotional subject, especially if you’re the employee. It is often daintily tiptoed around in interviews and loudly complained about in bars. Personally, I’m a firm believer that compensation is a reflection of an employee’s value to a company. As the value goes up, so does pay. When I express these opinions, however, I often get disgruntled rebuttals like “Yeah, right. Corporations have no concept of loyalty,” “Layoffs are completely arbitrary—it doesn’t matter what you’re worth,” and “The only way to get a raise is to change jobs!” Since these complaints are made to me—the CEO of a company that clearly isn’t so callous—it’s obvious that these stereotypes cannot be universal.

Putting aside this irony, though, even if every company in the world were as ruthless and coldblooded as some believe, value and compensation would still be inextricably connected.

Let’s take a look at why this is the case and how you can increase your value as an employee to get paid what you deserve.

What Happens Behind Closed Doors… Let’s be a fly on the wall in that dim, coffin-shaped room where lanky, black-suited business misers drum their spindly fingers together and cackle over that most evil of subjects: layoffs. When they discuss the customer support floor, they decide they need to lay off one person, and gradually narrow the options down to two employees:

Option 1: “Bill” is an old-and-true company standby. He’s worked at the company for 20 years and has been completely faithful to his job expectations. He clocks in and out on time and delivers his customer support perfectly on script. As a result, he’s accumulated a number of raises over the years and now makes $20 an hour.

Option 2: “Shelly” has only worked in customer support for 5 years but has obtained advanced technical certifications, has an excellent interpersonal manner, and routinely turns upset customers into loyal patrons. Clients who get support from her are 30% more likely to purchase additional services and to refer friends. She talks off script a fair amount but keeps track of what she says and how customers react. As a result, she has submitted many helpful modifications to the basic IT script, resulting in a 10% increase in customer satisfaction for the whole floor.

Due to her high performance, Shelly also makes $20 per hour. Which one gets the boot? It’s Bill without question. The company is actually losing money on Bill. If they fired him, a new employee would work for only $12/hour and could read the script just as skillfully as him within 2 weeks. If Shelly were fired, however, the company would lose out on a major source of sales, referrals, customer satisfaction, and an internal system for improving the whole department—they can’t afford to lose her!

Value is Not the Same Thing as “Years on the Job” But what about faithful old Bill? It would be so mean to fire him! Bill’s problem is that he hasn’t really done anything to justify his increased wages. Small raises have accumulated on his paycheck like moss on an old river rock, but his real value is still around $12 an hour. However, since Bill has been working at the company for so many years, he probably “feels” like he’s worth $20 an hour. Never mind the fact that he couldn’t get paid $20 an hour at a different company, he’s “put in his time,” so he’s worth $20 an hour, right? Now, I’m not trying to understate the value of experience and wisdom.

Good employees learn and grow over time, so they provide more value for their employer. As a reward, they get raises. The problem is, that those raises are often based on meeting minimum standards for specified periods of time—not the value an employee brings to the table. As a result—when push comes to shove and a company needs to actually evaluate the worth of an employee— “years on the job” mean far less to the business than added value.

Businesses Pay for Value To be honest, many employees are confused about what their salaries pay for. When people first enter the workforce as teenagers, they usually start with an hourly wage. The equation is simple: The more you work, the more money you get. Unfortunately, after a couple of years, many people begin to translate time into money and begin to think, “I’ve put in a lot of time at this job, so it stands to reason that I should be making a lot of money! I need a raise!” Allow me to burst that bubble. Value isn’t a function of time. There are 24 hours in a day whether a company pays for them or not—it’s what you do with those hours that counts.

Employees are Business Assets Even for hourly employees; businesses aren’t paying for time—they’re paying for value. To put it simply, an employee is a company asset and compensation is an investment in that asset. Let me explain what I mean. If I were to invest $5,000 in a new asset for my business—say an online marketing account—you might think that it would have to make $5000 in sales to justify the expense.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work that way. I won’t get too deep into the math of contribution margin, but in short, since my business expenses aren’t just limited to what I spend on marketing, it turns out that the account would have to make me at least 3 times my investment ($15,000) just to break even. If the asset started producing 4 or 5 times more money than I put into it, then it would really be profitable. In fact, I’d be willing to invest more if I knew my payoff would be that good. The same goes for employees.

If I’m going to invest in people, I need to know that having them around will make my company at least 3 what I’m paying them. The more revenue an employee drives for my business, the greater their value and the more I’m happy to pay to have them as an asset. An employee who produces less value, however, loses me money, and—unless they can become more productive—I can’t afford to keep them in the long run.

How to Increase Your Value Now, I think we’ve looked at things like a ruthless businessman for long enough to show why companies care about the value their employees bring to the table. In most real businesses with real, warmhearted people (like I try to be), the same principles are still at play, but the focus is more on encouraging employees to become more valuable than on eliminating dead weight.

In general, this encouragement comes in the form of salary. The more value an employee brings to the table, the more they deserve to be paid. The question then becomes, how do employees increase their value? There are three basic steps: 1) ensure that you’re meeting the basic expectations of your job, 2) you identify areas where you can add more value, and 3) create and execute a plan to exceed expectations!

Step 1: Meeting Expectations Before you start trying to expand your horizons, it’s a good idea to make sure that you’re at least fulfilling the minimum requirements of your role. Of course, it can sometimes be hard to figure out what those requirements are. A recent Gallup poll revealed that up to half of employees don’t really understand what is expected of them at work. Many companies have very little in the way of formal job descriptions.

Others have long lists of tasks and expectations around hiring time, but when you start the job, you find that half the stuff on the list you never do and half the stuff you do isn’t on the list. So, if you’re not what your job expectations really are, the easiest way to get that question answered is to talk to your manager. Have a discussion about what workplace success looks like. You might even ask how your position adds value to the company. This gives you a target for increasing your value later on. If in this discussion, you discover work expectations that you weren’t aware of or that you haven’t been meeting, your first priority should be to start meeting those expectations.

As Gallup’s poll also suggests, you may also find that some managers are just as confused about your role as you are. If this describes your supervisors, then a sit-down conversation is especially important. Defining together what your core responsibilities are will help them to know when you are exceeding expectations.

Step 2: Find Areas to Excel As part of your conversation, you should also determine a list of projects which could add extra value to the company that falls within the scope of your job. It’s important to choose these projects in conjunction with your manager because you need to be sure that when you go above and beyond, it’s in areas that your company finds important. What’s more, you want your extra efforts to be recognized for what they are. It’s helpful at this stage to come up with a way to document your performance. Remember Shelly—how she increased customer satisfaction by 10% and got 30% more referrals than average? These numbers make her value pretty undeniable, but they wouldn’t exist if she or her managers weren’t keeping track of them. If you work in an area like sales, it’s pretty easy to document your performance with hard figures, but for many other jobs, performance is less easy to quantify. Documentation is still important in these cases, but it may look a little different.

Step 3: Make a Plan and Execute It Finally, you need to put everything you’ve learned into action. If your goal is to increase your compensation at work, you can start by deciding how much more you would like to be making. Take your current job expectations and salary as the baseline for what you’re worth to the company. Then realize that for every $1 you hope to get in increased pay, you need to bring in $3-5 to the business for your raise to make sense. Pick from your “above and beyond” list some projects that would add this kind of value to the company. Make a plan to complete these goals in addition to your regular tasks and present the plan to your manager. Trust me, this will go over A LOT better than the old, “I’m getting married so I need a raise” conversation. Your manager may not agree with every detail of your plan, but you will definitely come off as a motivated employee who really gets it. And, even if your managers don’t buy in right away, it will be a great opportunity to discuss their priorities again and work together to come up with a plan that accomplishes things that really matter.

Don’t skip this important conversation. I’d hate to get a comment on this article saying, “I wasted six months doing what you said only to find out that nobody cared about my contribution.” If you haven’t figured it out by now, communication with your superiors is going to be a critical part of this whole process. Unfortunately, business plans are rarely static and you may have to chase a moving target, but if you’re willing to be flexible, you should be able to keep moving forward toward your goals.

Reaching Your Goals Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “This all sounds great, Jacob, but it also sounds a little too ideal. It would never work at my business.” Maybe not. I can’t predict every circumstance and there’s a chance that yours is an exception. But isn’t it worth a try? The relationship between employee value and compensation holds just as true in “big ruthless corporations” as it does in more supportive ones.

For example, one of my employees recently related to me his experience at a prior company. This was one of those stingier jobs and had a high turnover rate for entry-level employees. However, he applied the principles I’ve described. He developed a number of specialized skills and got deeply involved in some really important projects. The miserly company was happy to be getting more out of him for the same pay…until the day he started looking at taking his skills elsewhere. His value was so great by then that the company would be set back months or years if he left, so when he suggested that he would need a 40% pay increase to stay, they felt like it was a worthwhile investment.

Despite the money-grubbing attitude of this company, he was providing so much value that he had become an asset they couldn’t afford to lose. As a result, he was able to negotiate a much better situation for himself.

Conclusion The moral of the story? If you feel that you deserve a raise, don’t get drunk and holler about it every Friday night. Take inventory of your worth, talk with your managers and start working to become a more valuable asset. Jacob Baadsgaard is the Founder & CEO of Disruptive Advertising and a passionate entrepreneur on a mission to help businesses achieve online marketing success. 

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These seven phrases can cost you money—or even a job offer. Choose your words wisely.

Finally, after making it through a grueling interview process you receive that job offer you’ve been gunning for all along. Still, there’s one more hurdle to cross, and that’s salary negotiation.
Though salary isn’t the only factor to consider when weighing a job offer—other incentives, such as a signing bonus, flexible work schedule, or relocation assistance, may help sweeten the deal—getting a fatter paycheck would certainly be nice.

To get a higher salary, however, you’ll have to do some negotiating. Now, here’s a lesson that may surprise you: What you don’t say is just as (or potentially even more) important than what you do say.
Don’t want to put your foot in your mouth? Here are seven phrases to avoid uttering when negotiating salary.

“The original offer works for me.”
According to a survey by global staffing firm Robert Half, 55% of workers tried to negotiate a higher salary during their last job offer, which means nearly half of job seekers still don’t negotiate their salary. By not negotiating, you could very well be leaving money on the table; after all, the poll also found that 70% of hiring managers don’t expect job candidates to accept their initial salary offer.
Sure, asking for money can be uncomfortable. However, if you don’t ask, you don’t get.

“My current salary is…”
Revealing what you’re earning at your current job can hurt you. Don’t volunteer that information. When you’re changing jobs, you want to get paid based on your market value—not what you’re earning at the moment.

In fact, it’s even illegal today in some cities and states for employers to ask job candidates about their salary history. Still, if a hiring manager asks you what you’re currently making, Vicki Salemi, Monster’s career expert, recommends this pivot: “Could you tell me what the range for this position is?” Once they answer, state what salary range you’re looking for. “This way, you avoid setting the bar too low based on your current pay,” Salemi says.

“I want more than that.”
Don’t just ask for more money—name a specific dollar amount you’re looking for based on market research you’ve done (i.e., how much the average worker, with your level of experience, makes in your region). A better approach would be to say, “You offered me X. If you can offer me Y, I would accept the job, and here’s why I’m worth that number.”

“I need more money because I have student loans to pay.”
We all have living expenses—rent, car payments, student debt—which is why they shouldn’t be your basis for requesting a higher salary. Hang your negotiation strategy on the value that you’d bring to the company.

“I hate to ask for more, but…”
Never apologize for asking for more money—it makes it seem like you don’t actually think you deserve what you’re asking for.
Similarly, don’t make the mistake of saying, “I don’t know if you have room in the budget, but I could really use more money.” That makes it easy for the hiring manager to deny you.

“I’m a top performer, and I expect to be paid at the top of your salary scale.”
If you want to sound rude and abrasive, this will do the trick. Nobody will want to work with you. Plus, just stating that you’re a “top performer” isn’t compelling—you have to show why you’re among the top talent in your industry.

“I have a lot of other companies trying to recruit me.”
Being courted by another employer? Having another job offer can make you a more attractive job candidate, but says there’s a better way to leverage your position: “I have a competing offer that will pay me X, but I think this job would be a better fit.”
Moreover, this tactic can give the hiring manager a reason to nudge their boss to offer you a higher salary.

Get smart
This isn’t the only time you’ll need to be persuasive in the workplace. Having strong communication skills is critical at every stage of your career.

The post Negotiating Pay? Keep These Phrases Out of Your Mouth appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

You’re in the home stretch. You have an offer on the table from a potential employer (or even your current employer) and you are at a three-way crossroads between accepting an offer, declining or submitting a counteroffer. Anxiety builds, doubt may creep in, and palms get sweaty. “Just don’t blow it” comes to mind flashing like a giant neon sign. Breathe. Keep calm. Don’t panic.

Negotiating a salary or compensation package is a stress you can manage.  It’s like an intricate dance learned over time: take one step forward, two steps to the side, spin then come together. Keep in mind, however, negotiations are no spin on the Dancing With the Stars ballroom floor—no extravagant or wild displays, no improv. Simply stick to the steps.

To teach us the negotiation dance, we turned to Deepak Malhotra, the Eli Goldston Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the author of Negotiating the Impossible. Not only does he teach MBA students the 15 rules of negotiation, he also warns of the pitfalls that we all may face as we seek to get an ideal package from employers. And one point he is sure to make is that salary negotiations are about more than just base pay or the zeros on a check. They’re about the whole package.

“At many companies, compensation increasingly comes in the form of stock, options, and bonuses linked to both personal and group performance,” said Malhotra. These factors plus benefits, time off, location (such as working from home) and title are all on the table during negotiations. And now, perhaps more than ever before, in many industries negotiating the finer details is par for the course.

“Job market complexity creates opportunities for people who can skillfully negotiate the terms and conditions of employment. After all, negotiation matters most when there is a broad range of possible outcomes.”

Now that you have an offer in hand, it may be time to negotiate. Malhotra shares his best advice for how to handle a salary counter offer like a pro.

1. Be firm and persuasive.
“Don’t just state your desire (a 15% higher salary, say, or permission to work from home one day a week); explain precisely why it’s justified (the reasons you deserve more money than others they may have hired, or that your children come home from school early on Fridays). If you have no justification for a demand, it may be unwise to make it.”

2. Be serious.
“If you intend to negotiate for a better package, make it clear that you’re serious about working for this employer.”

3. Consider both sides.
“They may like you. They may think you deserve everything you want. But they still may not give it to you. Why? Because they may have certain ironclad constraints, such as salary caps, that no amount of negotiation can loosen. Your job is to figure out where they’re flexible and where they’re not. If, for example, you’re talking to a large company that’s hiring 20 similar people at the same time, it probably can’t give you a higher salary than everyone else. But it may be flexible on start dates, vacation time, and signing bonuses. On the other hand, if you’re negotiating with a smaller company that has never hired someone in your role, there may be room to adjust the initial salary offer or job title but not other things. The better you understand the constraints, the more likely it is that you’ll be able to propose options that solve both sides’ problems.”

4. Be honest.
“My advice is to never lie in a negotiation. It frequently comes back to harm you, but even if it doesn’t, it’s unethical.”

5. Think beyond the cash.
“Don’t get fixated on money. Focus on the value of the entire deal: responsibilities, location, travel, flexibility in work hours, opportunities for growth and promotion, perks, support for continued education, and so forth.”

6. Submit your counter all at once, not piecemeal.
“If someone makes you an offer and you’re legitimately concerned about parts of it, you’re usually better off proposing all your changes at once. Don’t say, ‘The salary is a bit low. Could you do something about it?’ and then, once she’s worked on it, come back with ‘Thanks. Now here are two other things I’d like…’ If you ask for only one thing initially, she may assume that getting it will make you ready to accept the offer (or at least to make a decision). If you keep saying ‘and one more thing…,’ she is unlikely to remain in a generous or understanding mood.”

7. Remember this is not reality television—you are not on Shark Tank.
“Resist the temptation to prove that you are a great negotiator. Fighting to get just a bit more can rub people the wrong way—and can limit your ability to negotiate with the company later in your career, when it may matter more.”

8. Avoid giving ultimatums.
“Sometimes we do so inadvertently—we’re just trying to show strength, or we’re frustrated, and it comes off the wrong way. Your counterpart may do the same. My personal approach when at the receiving end of an ultimatum is to simply ignore it, because at some point the person who gave it might realize that it could scuttle the deal and will want to take it back. He can do that much more easily without losing face if it’s never been discussed. If someone tells you, ‘We’ll never do this,’ don’t dwell on it or make her repeat it. Instead, you might say, ‘I can see how that might be difficult, given where we are today. Perhaps we can talk about X, Y, and Z.’ Pretend the ultimatum was never given and keep her from becoming wedded to it. If it’s real, she’ll make that clear over time.”

The post How to Handle a Salary Counter Offer appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

Going into your boss’s office can often be hot or cold: You could be getting a pat on the back for a job well done—or a tough dose of constructive criticism. Your boss may want to assign you an awesome new project—or ask you for the report that’s due today (wait, what report?). But how often do you stop by your manager’s office just to chat?

Turns out, there are several things you should be addressing with your boss on a regular basis. When you take the time to talk about these important issues, you’ll find that you’re happier with your career and better positioned in the eyes of your boss, your team, and the company as a whole. So, the next time you pass by your boss’s office, stop in and start talking about these five things.

1. Where You See Yourself in Five Years
Whether you hope to be in a different role or a different department, it’s OK—and it can actually be very beneficial—to talk to your current boss about your career goals. And yes, it can be intimidating to bring this up for the first time (especially if you’re hoping to make a big career switch at some point), but it can actually help create more opportunities for you in the long run.

Why would your boss be open to your ambition to move up or out of your current role? In many cases, he or she truly does want to see you achieve your goals. As a manager myself, I constantly ask my employees “Where do you see yourself in five years?”—because if there’s a way I can help them along, I’ll do it. Whether that means putting in a good word for them in a different department at my current company or assigning them specials projects that will help them build new skill sets for a different role, I want to help.

Of course, there’s definitely a right and wrong way to phrase your goals (i.e., you don’t want to blatantly announce to your boss that you’re hoping to jump ship ASAP or that you want to take over your boss’s position). Start small by mentioning where you see yourself eventually: “I’d love to move up to a management position someday.” If it’s received well, move on to specify how you can reach those goals—even if it would eventually require a move to a different department or company.

2. Your Ideas for the Company
When you’re entrenched in your work, it’s a common and familiar mumble: “This would be so much easier if we did it my way.” But, how often do you actually present that idea to your boss as a serious solution to a problem?

Discussing your ideas with your boss helps you in several ways. First, you’re showing him or her that you take initiative, that you’re committed to improving the company, and that you truly want to make contributions to the team. Second, you might actually get to see your idea put in action—and assuming it’s as effective and efficient as you think it is, that’s great news for you and your team.

To make the most out of the conversation, come prepared with a plan in mind. Try something like, “I’ve noticed that our new hires aren’t picking up on the new CRM program very easily. I’d love to put together some training documentation to help learn it a little quicker. Here’s a quick outline I threw together—what do you think?”

3. Advice for Tough Work Situations
When you view your boss only as the person who hands out assignments and performance reviews, you’ll miss out on some great advice. Remember, your boss is a boss for a reason—he or she has been around the block a time or two. So, take advantage of that to further your own career.

For example, before my boss was in his current position as a department manager, he was in my position—a team supervisor. So, whenever I come across a challenge that I haven’t faced before, I drop by his office to talk through the situation. Most times, he’s been through a similar situation and is able to give me valuable advice about how he handled it and what he learned to do (and not to do).

No, you shouldn’t lean on your boss for every problem that pops up, but if you can’t figure something out on your own, why not use the valuable resource right in front of you?

4. Company and Industry Insight
Of course, your boss has to manage your day-to-day tasks, but he or she can provide insight into a lot more than just your upcoming deadlines and company values—especially if he or she has been with the company or in the industry for several years.

This can range from unfamiliar company processes (“what’s the standard process to change a position title?”) to company history (“what it was like when the company was acquired by an equity firm a few years ago?”) to your overall industry (“how has the healthcare industry changed since you first entered it eight years ago?”).

Whether it stems from pure curiosity or strategizing for the future, don’t be afraid to ask questions about the inner workings of the company or industry as a whole. You’ll gain some valuable information—and prove that you’re there for more than just a paycheck.

5. Your Life Outside of Work
If your boss follows you on social media, you’d probably rather figure out a way for her to know less about your personal life. But, getting a little personal with your boss isn’t a bad thing—in fact, it can help solidify your professional relationship.

So, spill a few details about your family, your childhood, or even just what you did over the weekend—and ask questions about her life in return. You’ll likely find something you have in common, share a laugh, or at the very least relax for a few moments instead of worrying about the status of your current project.
You don’t have to go into any extreme details or spend hours telling each other your life stories, but connecting with your boss on a personal level can help you feel more comfortable coming to him or her about serious issues. You may never hang out outside of work, but that doesn’t mean you have to avoid any sort of personal connection.

It may not feel natural at first, but try striking up a conversation with your boss about these important issues. In the end (when you’re happier in your current job and that much closer to your career goals), I promise, it’ll be worth it.

The post 5 Things You Should be Talking to Your Boss About appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

You’re 96% sure that you are ready to schedule a meeting with your boss to ask for a raise. Or perhaps you’re nearing the end of the job interview process and an offer is in sight. However, if you’re like me, you have definitely put your foot in your mouth a time or two saying the wrong thing at the absolute worst moment. Doh!

Don’t mess up.

Don’t mess up.

No matter how many times you rehearse what to say, there’s always that risk of fumbling right at the five-yard line. Instead of panicking, get prepared.

To coach us along in the salary negotiation process, we turned to Josh Doody, author of Fearless Salary Negotiation. “A salary negotiation is a collaboration, and a key ingredient of a successful collaboration is good communication,” says Doody. “It’s important to be very clear with what you communicate to avoid ambiguity, which could complicate things and slow the negotiation process.”

Instead of Doody simply sharing the things you should say, he’s here to warn you about the potential negotiation landmines to avoid when angling for the salary you deserve. Here are 9 things to never say in a salary negotiation:

1. “Currently,” as in “I’m currently making…”
The most common question recruiters will ask a candidate is something like, “So where are you right now in terms of salary, and what are you looking for if you make this move?” Don’t fall for it.

“I call this The Dreaded Salary Question and it’s tricky because it usually comes up early in the interview process, and most candidates don’t think of it as part of a salary negotiation even though it is,” says Doody. “Answering this question by disclosing numbers can make it very difficult to negotiate effectively later on because it can box the candidate in. Once they disclose current or desired salary, the offers they get are very likely to be tied to those numbers. That can be very expensive if the company might have offered them a much higher salary than they disclosed.”

2. “Desired,” as in “My desired salary is…”
Don’t disclose your current or desired salary! “Recovering from this mistake can be tricky and each situation is unique. But one way to untether from those original numbers is to review the benefits package for deficiencies,” says Doody. “If the health insurance offering, paid vacation, target bonus or other aspects of the benefits package are underwhelming, the candidate can use those as reasons to ask for a higher salary to compensate.”

Instead, try something like :

I’m not comfortable sharing my current salary. I would prefer to focus on the value I can add to this company rather than what I’m paid at my current job. I don’t have a specific number in mind for a desired salary, and you know better than I do what value my skill set and experience could bring to your company. I want this move to be a big step forward for me in terms of both responsibility and compensation.

3. “Sorry”
According to Doody, “negotiating is uncomfortable, and our natural tendency is to try to smooth the edges on a difficult conversation. Saying sorry could signal to the recruiter or hiring manager that you might be willing to back down, and that could be expensive. Don’t apologize for negotiating.”

4. “No” and other negative words
“You want to continuously improve your situation throughout the negotiation and you do that by avoiding negative language and focusing on positive language. Instead of “No, that doesn’t work for me.” (two negative words) you can say, “I would be more comfortable with…” (positive words). Negative words slow things down and may put up walls that make collaboration difficult. Using only positive words is difficult at first, but you’ll get better with practice.”

5. “Yes”
While this may sound like the exact word to use when speaking to a recruiter, Doody insists it should be used with caution. “You’ll often get a job offer that seems really appealing, and it might be far more than you expected. Your instinct, in that case, might be to just accept the offer because it’s so good.”

But is it too good?

“It’s possible you underestimated your value in this situation. Instead of “Yes”, formulate a counter offer to see how much you can improve it. The negotiation should end with the company saying “Yes” to you. Once they say “Yes” to you, or you run out of things to ask for, then you are finished negotiating.”

6. “Later,” as in “I can deal with that after I start.”
Procrastinators, this one is for you. “Sometimes it’s easier to avoid uncomfortable parts of a negotiation by deferring those parts of the conversation until after you’re hired. That can be a very expensive mistake because you won’t have the same latitude to negotiate and improve your position once you’re in the door. Push through the discomfort and get the best possible result now,” Doody advises.

7. Try, as in “Can we try…?”
“Try is a passive word that leaves a lot of wiggle room, and you don’t want that,” insists Doody.  “It’s easy for someone to say — honestly or not — “We’ll try…” and reply with, “We tried and it just didn’t work out.” Don’t ask them to “try” to do something. Instead, use more positive language like “I would be more comfortable with.”

8. More, as in “I want more…”
While this word seems counter-intuitive because you are negotiating to get more, it’s a word that is too general for a successful negotiation. Instead of asking for “more” salary or “more” vacation, this is your time to get specific.

“Don’t leave things to the imagination once you’re negotiating. Instead of “Could you budge on the salary?”, say, ‘I would be more comfortable with a base salary of $105,000.’”

9. Want
Lastly, the word “want” can tank negotiations. Using it can undercut the entire premise of your argument that you deserve to be paid more and you deserve a more competitive salary. Go into a negotiation with facts and figures, making a compelling case. Start with printing out the results of your personal salary estimator, Know Your Worth. See what you base salary should be and see what the industry norms are.

“You could talk about what you want, which just isn’t all that important. Or you could talk about what the company wants, which is not as potent as talking about what the company needs, which are the most important thing,” adds Doody. “Focus on the company’s needs and how you can help meet those needs so they can easily see your value and work to compensate you for it.”Moving to a new city for work? Check out Bankrate.com’s new Cost of Living Calculator to determine what you’ll need to earn!

The post 9 Things to Never Say in a Salary Negotiation appeared first on Résumé Writing and Career Services.

No, no, no — yes! You’ve scanned through what feels like millions of job posts and have finally found one that’s worthy of further investigation.

But the frustration ensues as you begin reading.

From qualifications to company descriptions, it becomes overwhelming. So, you exit the window and miss out on what could’ve been the perfect opportunity.

While job descriptions can be tough to decipher, there are ways to answer your own questions and ease the decision on whether or not to apply.

Here’s how to get the answers you need:

1. Can I grow at this company?

Looking closely at the job you’re applying to is obviously important, but so is knowing where you can go from there. In fact, 82 percent of candidates feel seeing the team structure and where the job fits into the organization is important, according to a recent report of 4,505 job seekers.

Knowing where the positions fits within the organization will help you decide if there’s room to grow. If room for growth isn’t explained in the job description, using the job title is the best place to start. Go to the company website and look for the “About Us” page to see where your job title fits into the hierarchy.

Sometimes the best place to find information about a company’s opportunities is from current and former employees. Glassdoor has options for job seekers to not only find jobs, but see comments, reviews, and salaries.

2. Does this fulfill my passions?

Finding a job you’re passionate about is an opportunity you shouldn’t pass up. While half of the previously mentioned CareerBuilder survey respondents are wondering, “Are they looking for someone like me?” you should be asking, “Am I looking for someone like them?”

Go directly to the position’s main duties and line them up with the company’s mission statement. Are you able to see how the everyday tasks lineup with the overall progress of the company and customers?

It isn’t just your position that affects your passion for a career—it’s the company as a whole. Look to the website for the organization’s values and compare them to the impact you hope to have on customers—or even the world.

3. Is the salary worth my career move?

Asking yourself this question can be tricky because sometimes a career move is worth a drop in pay. Before applying, decide what amount you’re willing to sacrifice for a career you’re happier with—or what amount will encourage you to leave your current position.

When a listed salary doesn’t quite fit your needs or career goals, don’t rule the position out just yet. Many companies are willing to negotiate on salary if they feel you’re the perfect candidate for the job.

However, if a salary isn’t listed, Glassdoor offers ways to see what others in similar positions are making.

4. Do my skills fulfill the requirements?

Understanding what skills a company is willing, or not willing, to negotiate on is difficult. It’s important to never look at a job description in basic black and white—be creative.

Listing the number of years of experience a qualified candidate needs is a great example of where companies might have wiggle room. Think beyond typical work experience and consider volunteer opportunities, education, or even skills you acquired from previous positions.

Certain areas of knowledge are set in stone, but there are some skills you may be able to work around. For example, if you’re applying to a sales position, but have no sales experience—it’s time to move on. However, lacking certain software or computer skills could be overlooked if you’re a quick learner.

When considering skills and requirements, it’s important to be honest with yourself and the company. Overselling your skills or ability to learn new things quickly could set you up for a stressful start — or worse, failure.

5. Will I fit into the company culture?

Companies are putting more focus on employer branding, so many are openly sharing values, beliefs, and benefits within job descriptions. A job post that explains what a potential candidate might love about the company points to an employee-centric environment and deserves a closer look.  

Make a list of what you’re looking for in an employer. For example, flexibility options, location, company size, a fun office culture, or even a transparent leadership system. Once you have your list, compare it to the job description. Checking off most of your needs might mean you’ll fit right in with this company and its employees.

Networking is a great way to get into the heart of a company. Connect with current employees through social media to get a feel for a company’s passions and perks. You’ll find some employees are posting fun co-worker activities, while others have pictures of their favorite pet sitting next to them in their home office.

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