From the course: A Career Strategist's Guide to Getting a Job

How to negotiate benefits

From the course: A Career Strategist's Guide to Getting a Job

How to negotiate benefits

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- So what happens if you get a job offer that's a bit light on salary, but you know from the recruiter there's very little room to move on that number. Well, you can turn down the offer if it just doesn't pencil, but before you do that, realize that salary isn't the only thing that you can negotiate and often, it's those extra things that are easier to get approved. So what are some of the non-salary items that you could consider asking for? Here are a few. Number one, extra vacation time. Okay, they're coming in ten grand short on your desired compensation, but maybe having four weeks of vacation time versus two would help soften the blow. Ask for it. Or how about a signing bonus? Signing bonuses typically come out of a different cost center than compensation, so it may be a lot easier to say yes to this than to a salary bump. And on a similar note, maybe you can negotiate a guaranteed pay bump after X amount of time, if you're delivering to plan. Now, if you propose this, just make sure it's spelled out very clearly in advance what those metrics are and what the timing will be. Also, maybe you ask for a car or cellphone allowance or tuition reimbursement or for your certification renewal to be company funded. Heck, you might even ask to work from home a day or two a week. While this won't pay you more per se, you'll likely save a reasonable amount of money on transportation costs and have a better work/life balance. And you can not put a price tag on a great work/life balance. Now, you want to be strategic on how you ask for some of these value adds. Don't just come barf up a laundry list of everything you want. Just as you would when negotiating salary, I would approach with a thoughtful pitch that makes it really easy for your recruiter or your next employer to understand what's in it for them if they say yes to your request.

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