The Two Most Important Steps You MUST Take Before You Start Negotiating

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

(from the archives)

You’ve been on three interviews and are about to obtain an offer of employment from the company. Hopefully, the offer will be for far more money, prestige and opportunity than you wanted.

And it may not be.

What should you do BEFORE you receive the offer?

Review the factors that went into your decision to leave. What was wrong with the job? With the people? What was the wound that finally brought you to the decision to change jobs? I believe it is important to do this in order to be sure that the factors that went into the decision to leave are resolved. You may never know with certainty but you can know that they are addressed to your satisfaction.

For example, would it be wise to take a job next door to your current employer if your sole reason for changing jobs is to reduce your commute? How about accepting an offer from a company that requires extensive travel and hours if your number one reason for change is to spend more time at home?

You may decide that it is worth your while to accept an offer like this IF (and that’s a big IF) you learn reasons to do that overwhelm the reason why you shouldn’t.

Decide what you must have in the offer without being unreasonable or ridiculous. Donald Trump (before he went into politics) said, “The first step is to know exactly what you want. You have to be clear about your own goals.” What must you absolutely have or walk away from this opportunity? Are you willing to be a little flexible about that? Yes, then what is it you really must have if this isn’t the first answer?

A while ago, I was representing someone for a senior position with a client. Everything was going well until we got to the negotiation, when they gave me a clue that he wasn’t sure what he wanted. I told him, “Cancel your schedule for a day and sit down and figure out what you absolutely must have and what your second tier of requirements are. Otherwise, you will never be sure that you are taking the right job and getting what you want from it.”

So, if you haven’t already done so, sit down and take some notes about why you are looking for another position and save it on your system so that you can look at it later.

And when the negotiation starts, review what you MUST get from it so that you can be sure that you’ve met your objectives.