Women@Forbes Boss Moves Event: Career Expert Vicki Salemi on Salary Negotiation

Women@Forbes' mission is to help all women take their next steps forward in business. In fostering this mission, they have been partnering with the Rebecca Minkoff store in NYC holding events to discuss topics for women in business who need practical advice. (And let’s face it, who doesn’t love handbags?)

On February 8th, such an event was held at the Greene St store featuring Monster’s career expert, Vicki Salemi.   Having known her for a decade, Salemi is also an author, journalist (for the New York Post and Forbes, among others), entrepreneur and all around amazing woman.  For this event, Vicki tapped into her experience as a professional recruiter for Deloitte and KPMG to spill some secrets from the other side of the desk when it comes to interviewing and negotiating your next job.

Here are some informative Do’s & Don’ts:

1) Learn to talk about money.  Salemi said that women are less likely to negotiate when offered a job whereas men almost always ask for more.  This is due to discomfort around discussing money.  To start conversations with peers about money, don’t start by asking female friends what they earn but start small by talking about what you paid for things like vacations or handbags to get comfortable and create a dialogue.  This can pave the way to talking about raises, salaries and other financial issues.

2) Find out your worth.  Online sites like salary.com and glassdoor.com are good places to start but Salemi advises joining professional organizations and forge relationships with board members and others and ask advice about what you are worth.

3) When applying online for a job, make sure you tailor your resume to the job description.  Reorder your resume bullets to tailor to their requirements and remember that the top bullets are the most important skills.  Also, remove your address from your resume, so recruiters don’t make judgements on your commute.  You don’t want to give the recruiter a reason to dismiss your application!

4) When interviewing for a new job, ask when the fiscal year starts.  This is important to know in terms of scheduling annual salary reviews.  If you are hired in May and the company’s FY starts in June, you probably won’t have a review for 13 months!  Salemi says it’s imperative to negotiate as much as you can upfront if you’ll need to wait over a year for a raise!

5) Know what to ask for.  When negotiating a new job, asking for things like flexible hours, stock options or more paid time off is easier for a hiring manager to approve than a signing bonus or larger salary.  Of course, you should ask for these things, too but be aware what authority the hiring manager has in responding to your wants.  Also, try to get the employer to name their number first.  If you can't get around that, use a wide range, such as $100-$120K, using the research done in tip number two.

6) Create a “kudos file.”  It’s important to start keeping testimonials from colleagues praising your work, as well as keeping your own records of accomplishments, such as ways you positively impact the bottom line.  So, when you ask for that raise, you have solid reasons to back up your ask.

7) Have the “I deserve a raise” conversation with your manager BEFORE your annual review.  It’s important to have this discussion in advance due to budgeting, so set up time with your manager.   By the time reviews are had, raise increases are decided and harder to negotiate.  Practice your pitch and expect that you may not get the response you want right away.  Schedule follow up sessions as needed and get it in writing.

8) Don’t stay at one company for too long.  Salemi says that moving to a new job at a new company is the best way to increase your salary.  As long as you are at one company for at least 1-2 years, it’s no longer frowned upon by recruiters or seen as “job hopping.”

To close out the evening, Salemi talked about an endeavor she is starting for caregivers.  Called Uncaregiver, she is leveraging the experience she has had in taking care of her own mother to offer tips and advice to help with the stress.  This is something that all women will face or are currently facing in their lives.

I'd love to know your thoughts below or reach out to me on Twitter @nydigitalmarket.

Andrea Goldstein is a digital marketing
professional with a passion for business and pop culture.
@nydigitalmarket on Twitter


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