As part of our periodic Golden Icons Career Tips, we are bringing to you four common mistakes that candidates have been reported to make when negotiating salaries with potential employers during an interview.
According to Nicole Williams, Linkedln career expert and Chief Executive of career consultancy firm “WORK“, the most common mistakes a potential employee may make when interviewing for a job and negotiating for a salary are:
1) Asking about your salary at the beginning of the interview. The consultant suggests that when the interviewer goes straight for the figure you want at the onset of the interview, you should try to learn the art of deflecting the question by asking them the nature of the job and the responsibilities it entails first, while leaving salary negotiation to the end of the interview. By doing so, you impart an impression that you are a responsible employee and not someone that is merely applying for the job just for the sake of money.
2) Accepting their first offer. The consultant recommends that when the employer puts the figure on the table, you should not immediately accept it, even when the figure is higher than what you expect.
“When you immediately accept… you look a little foolish, frankly,” Williams says. Instead, ask if their salary is negotiable. “That’s a great open-ended question that allows for them to state a new figure,” she says.
3) Giving a wrong body language. Most interviewees panick during an interview and they usually fidget with their pen, notepad or any other materials at hand when they are sitting down with an interviewer. The worse thing to fidget with is a mobile phone. It can be interpreted by the interviewer that the person is not serious with the job.
The consultant recommends that the candidate should look the interviewer in the eye confidently and not cast their gaze elsewhere when answering a question.
“You use your eyes to convey a passion and interest. Look directly at them. You can use hand gestures but not … in a way where you’re distracting from the actual words you’re saying.”
4) Dressing inappropriate for the type of job. Dressing formally for a white collar job such as those in the banking industry or legal firm means a three piece suit, but may be interpreted differently by a potential employer in a technological start up firm, where the employees usually dress down in jeans and Tee shirts.
This article was initially published in Yahoo Finance.
Photo Credit: LinkedIn
