Job Search Guide: START YOUR CAREER
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AND NEGOTIATING ESTABLISH A TARGET SALARY RANGE
Now that we know what a realistic salary expectation is for our ideal job, we need to make sure we are able to live on that salary. Use resources found on aub.ie/money to help identity what it costs to live the lifestyle to which you are accustomed. Are we accounting for taxes and automatic deductions from the paycheck? Does the salary we found fit the lifestyle we envision? If not, we need to adjust our spending to not overextend OR look for jobs that may be less ideal but pay more...the choice is yours. TIP: Establish a sustainable budget for yourself using the tools at aub.ie/ money to ensure you are setting yourself up for financial success. Once we establish a salary number that is in line with the research we conducted and we can live with, you can use that number as the base of your target salary range. Now, go up no more than 20% to establish a range that we can offer as our ideal range or use for negotiation. For example, if I establish that $40,000 is a realistic salary for a position, I will state my target range as $40,000-$48,000.
Craft a Value Statement
A value statement is your way of expressing an evidence-based statement to support your target salary. This might be used when asked about your desired salary, when counter offering a salary offer, or when requesting a promotion or raise. You will always begin with expressing a value you give to an organization or evidence of your worth prior to mentioning any numbers. For example: “Based on my experience increasing social media followers by 25% at my last internship and my research of other new graduates with degrees in public relations are making, I am looking to earn between $40,000-$48,000.” OR “As a result of my effort to increase the number of social media followers during my internship, I created an innovative marketing plan and launched a campaign on Instagram and TikTok. This effort increased followers by 25% and resulted in an increase in sales by $10,000 last quarter. I know I can make an impact for your organization and am looking to earn $40,000-$48,000.” Resist the temptation of pitting offers against each other or making it a comparison to another person.
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