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Sell Your Skills First, Negotiate Salary Later

This blog post at Careersolvers provided some helpful information regarding salary negotiation. Being focused on how much you will make in a new job is still something candidates struggle with, despite numerous reminders to treat salary as a less prominent concern during the interview phase.

The Careersolvers post talks about upselling your skills to not only fit a job description, but to exceed the job responsibilities and demonstrate an ability to bring more to the potential employer's table.

Here are a few more suggestions on how to do just that:

- Be positive about what the job can offer. Demonstrate that you understand the responsibilities of the job description and then promote your experience by discussing how you have used your skills to solve an issue or offer a new perspective on how to handle certain responsibilities more efficiently.

- Add on to the job's responsibilities, before getting the job. Oftentimes, we are asked to perform tasks outside of our stated responsibilities. Use this experience to your advantage by describing how you can bring additional skills to the position that may influence how the new position will operate.

- Look into the future. Hiring managers like candidates who are goal-oriented. Sharing with the hiring manager your future goals, while providing information about multiple job skills and experience, demonstrates that you have not only been willing to take on additional responsibilities in the past, but that you are already focused and prepared to take on additional tasks in the future.

Bottom line, if you still are unable to negotiate the salary that you really want, weigh the pros and cons of the company and position. If you see true growth potential and really like the company, it may be worth more than dollar amounts. You can also consider negotiating a salary review within six months of hiring on, so that you have the possibility of getting closer to your desired paycheck.