There can’t be many people who positively enjoy negotiating with prospective employers – candidates can often feel powerless when discussing an offer with an employer or uncomfortable asserting their own merits and value. How can you feel empowered and in control when negotiating with an employer?

Understand the parameters

With job offers, sometimes everything happens very fast and understanding the details can be challenging, especially where remuneration is partly made through stock options or bonuses linked to performance. This makes it harder to compare multiple offers. It’s essential to know where there is wriggle room to negotiate – or where an offer is made on more of a take-it-or-leave-it basis.

Stay on friendly terms

Negotiation is about persuading another party of your viewpoint and reaching an agreement. If you rub people up the wrong way by being rude, pushy, or petty, you could dry up the reserve of goodwill and find the opposing negotiator becoming more inflexible. Negotiation might be a bit tense, but it shouldn’t be hostile.

Have evidence to back yourself up

You need to know your worth to negotiate well – what do you have that others don’t? Whatever stage you are at in your career, you should have a mental list of achievements you are proud of and critical skills you can offer. Then, if you can explain what you have delivered and why that benefits your employer, you’re in a better position than simply asking for more money.

Don’t bluff

Employers will be turned off a candidate if they think they are playing games for the sake of it. You must show you’re prepared to accept the right offer and would be willing to work for this company. If you have an inflated sense of your employability and could have your head turned by the next employer, the negotiator might begin to question their decision.

Know what matters to the person you’re negotiating with

Whom are you dealing with, and what are their priorities? If you’re talking with the CFO, their “objectives” may differ from someone from HR, who will have a different perspective. Pre-set rules and procedures might bind a more junior person, whereas someone senior could be free to respond to anything you ask.

Prepare your responses

You need to have a confident answer for tricky questions you might be asked – for example, are we your top choice of employer? You might not want to give the unvarnished truth in response, but you don’t want to lie. Preparing a diplomatic answer will mean not blurting out something you later regret.

Think about timings

There are occasions in life when timing matters. For example, relocating to a new city might mean you make lots of applications and have lots of interviews simultaneously. This can lead to the classic problem of having responded to an offer without knowing if a better one might be achieved with another employer. You can address this by working out timings and trying to receive offers in roughly the same time window, enabling you to compare and make informed choices. In addition, suppose an external firm is supporting you; open communication lines will allow the consultant to manage processes accordingly. Hence, you find yourself in the ideal situation of being able to consider multiple offers at the same time.

If you’re put under pressure – walk away

If an employer presents you with a request or tries to put you under heavy pressure to accept an offer – it may be a red flag that means you should look elsewhere. Of course, you can try politely ignoring the request and continuing to negotiate. Still, ultimately if an employer is belligerent in opening negotiations, they may prove stressful to work for.

Consider the overall package

It’s easy to become fixated on one part of an offer, but you need to retain perspective about the overall package and whether it moves your career in the direction you want.

Leave the door open

Think in the long term and about this negotiation: you might be sitting in front of this same person five or ten years later in your career. Or you might miss this opportunity, but if the chosen candidate doesn’t work out, the employer might contact you with an offer.

Have a sense of your place in the broader scheme of things

It can be easy for job negotiations to feel highly personal and that your self-worth is damaged if you come up against too many negative responses. However, there might be constraints you don’t know about in most cases or other candidates with different talents.

Professionalism goes a long way

Negotiating with an employer can be challenging because it feels so personal, but ensuring high professionalism levels can help make the process smoother. In this context, being professional means being polite, constructive, and objective about your own merits, being able to assert your worth as an employee without feeling that the negotiation is about your value as a person.

These guidelines should help you to approach work negotiations with the right mindset and deliver positive outcomes.