“Show me the money!” is evidently NOT something a lot of job seekers are saying. According to new CareerBuilder research, a majority of employers in the U.S. (73 percent) say they would be willing to negotiate salary on an initial job offer. Still, more than half of workers (55 percent) do not even ask for a higher salary when offered a new position.
Employees who avoid the salary negotiation say they don’t even attempt it because they don’t feel comfortable asking for more money (53 percent), they are afraid the employer will decide not to hire them (48 percent), or they don’t want to appear greedy (38 percent).
In case you’re curious about the demographic breakdown, 48 percent of men said they would attempt salary negotiations with an employer versus 42 percent of women.
What Does This Mean For You?
Employers, don’t be afraid to have conversations about salary during a job interview — even if it can be a bit awkward at times. Get comfortable with it! You don’t want to lose a great candidate because the topic of salary only came up at the last minute and you were nowhere near meeting their expectations.
Now, our survey showed that there are some occupations with notoriously higher turnover rates that rely on more part-time workers and are therefore less willing to negotiate than those that may require more education or experience. So for employers who are genuinely not in a position to offer a higher bid to the winning candidate, get creative about what else you can offer to round out the package.
For instance, you could consider offering one or more of the following perks or incentives in lieu of a higher salary to help you meet a candidate in the middle: vacation time, flexible work schedule, transportation allowance, tuition reimbursement, daycare reimbursement, a better title, a nicer office, etc.
