Why you should negotiate your salary
Why you should negotiate your salary
Why you should negotiate your salary
Salary is the “s” word when I comes to the student affairs job search. It’s the one thing that most candidates are thinking about. But it’s almost never the word that comes up when the offer is finally made.
Why is “salary” considered taboo in the student affairs job search?
This article will cover salary from the candidate’s perspective. Specifically, it’ll address some of the top reasons to negotiate your salary as well some of the most common fears around negotiation. This article includes how knowing your own worth can put you in a powerful bargaining position. It closes by focusing on speaking up at this critical part of the student affairs job search and offers some parting words before embarking on your own negotiation.
Top reasons to negotiate
Perhaps the biggest reason why student affairs job seekers should negotiate their salary is because they have the chance to earn more money. Of course this is a completely personal reason. But, this also spawns some additional reasons why you need to earn as much as you can during your first job.
One of those additional reasons is that your salary at this job will follow you to your next one. That is, if you decide to stay at this institution; then your current compensation will be considered for your next role. Unlike an outside candidate; the institution is well aware of what you’re making now. So they will use your currently salary as an anchor against paying you more.
Another reason to negotiate is that earning as high a salary as you can earlier in your career will net you more income over the long run. This comes in the form of compounding interest through retirement accounts as well as through cost of living increases offered by your institution. By earning as much as you can now; those cost of living increases will provide you with on average about 2% more than what you’re making to keep up with inflation. A higher salary will net you more over time with this compounded 2% increase.
Negotiating your salary also helps to close the pay gap between you and other colleagues with similar backgrounds and experience levels. In addition, this also helps address the gender pay gap by helping women earn a salary that is on par with their male coworkers. Often, just deciding to engage in the negotiation will setup female student affairs professionals to address and close that gap.
Negotiating your salary also demonstrates to the employer that you know your value and won’t simply settle for whatever they offer you. Knowing your value can be determined through some determination and research. But, actually negotiating with your hiring manger at the conclusion of your job search demonstrates that you know your value AND are willing to fight for it.
Lastly, you won’t make as much as your worth if you don’t ask for it. Salary negotiation is about determining that you can earn more from your compensation package by just asking for it. Though, ultimately you won’t know how much you can make unless you put the question out there.
Fears around negotiation
Of course there are also some fears that student affairs professionals have AROUND negotiating their salary. Some of them are internal fears based on how they are perceived. Some fears address “money mindset” and how you perceive compensation in general. Here are some of the top fears that student affairs professionals have about negotiating their salaries.
Most student affairs professionals think that negotiating their salaries will make them look greedy; though this is far from the case. Negotiating salary demonstrates to the hiring manger that you know what your labor is valued at and are willing to work to be paid a fair wage.
Yet, other student affairs professionals want to focus on the job – and that money isn’t that important. But your compensation IS important for your self and your career. Compensation is what the institution provides you in exchange for not only your labor but also your experience, expertise, background, knowledge, skills, and abilities. However you don’t have to get caught up in just the money aspect. You can also negotiate for other fringe benefits such as housing, relocation expenses, and child care.
Student affairs professionals also don’t want to negotiate their salaries because they’re happy with the offer. They are often engaged in a very lengthy job search and just want to be done with it. Why ask for more when you’re already happy? The reason is that the offer (while good) could be much less than what your colleagues, coworkers, and other professionals are making. By avoiding negotiating; you could be setting yourself up to make less over your entire career.
These are some of the top reasons why student affairs professionals don’t negotiate their salary. But you can get over these fears by simply knowing what you’re worth.
Knowing your worth
Student affairs professionals are called on to do many things: everything from academic advising; residential life; student activities; to community standards. We are generalists; we are specialists; and we are professionals through and through.
Yes, there will be a lot that you’re called into do as a student affairs professional. That means that you’re labor and expertise is worth more.
That’s because you often have to take over special tasks and projects at the direction of your supervisor. Your supervisor could be your director. Other times you could be working at the discretion of your dean or vice president. These specials tasks and projects are activities that quantify your skills and make you more valuable.
Student affairs professionals must also represent general management responsibilities. Whether that’s supervising a residence hall of RA’s or a team of orientation leaders, one thing remains the same: you’re in charge of managing them. That management also requires that you be compensated accordingly.
Then of course there are those special duties that you’ve taken over because there has been a vacancy at your institution; your colleagues are busy; or your supervisor needs someone that they can trust. In that case, stepping up and taking over these special projects makes you someone worthy of appropriate compensation.
Speak Up!
Speaking up at the negotiation table means that you will have a voice at it. Not speaking at all means that you are not willing or unable to advocate for yourself. That can be a tough position to be in after engaging in a prolonged job search.
But too often applicants, who are new to searching in student affairs, don’t come to the negotiation table. They are often too happy to accept the offer as is.
But learning how to bargain for a better job can provide so many professional benefits down the line. Negotiating opens you up to professional development funding, housing, relocation benefits, and yes, even a higher salary.
Just because colleges and universities often suffer from setbacks, cutbacks, and austerity programs, doesn’t mean that you don’t deserve to be paid your market worth. Yes, there will be some instances were collective bargaining agreements don’t empower you. But more often than not, you will have the option to negotiate for a better compensation package.
You just need to try.
Parting words
So if you’re still on the fence about negotiating your salary during your job offer then think about these parting thoughts.
Not engaging in an negotiation is going to cost you. It may not seem like it is much money now; but compounded over time and through your career; you’ll end up making much less than your colleagues. That’s controlling for the same experience; credentials; and career level. There is no better time in your career to start negotiating then at the very beginning.
Negotiating also won’t hurt you. Knowing what you’re worth going into the interview is key to knowing how you can negotiate for a fair wage during the interview. This means that you have to make an attempt to make a counter offer. Most student affairs professionals think that they will lose the offer if they attempt to negotiate. On the contrary: your hiring manger expects you to negotiate.
Finally, negotiating is one of those key career development skills that grows with you over time. Learning how to negotiate early helps set you up for a better position later down the road. Negotiating is as important as advising students; managing others; and applying theories. Negotiating is a skill as valuable as any other in the student affairs job search.
Takeaways
This article covered the salary negotiation process from the candidate’s perspective. Specifically, it covered some of the top reasons to negotiate your salary as well as addressed some of the most common fears around negotiation. This article addressed how knowing your worth can put you in a powerful bargaining position. It closed on speaking up at this critical part of the student affairs job search and offered some parting words before embarking on your own negotiation.
I hope that you found this article useful! If you need some additional help on your student affairs job search, then check out the eBook The Student Affairs Job Search: A Comprehensive Guide available here.
Happy searching,
References
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Cite this Article
Eng, D. (2020, March 24). Why you should negotiate your salary. Retrieved MONTH DATE, YEAR, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2020/3/24/why-you-should-negotiate-your-salary
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