Headhunter's View: Negotiating your worth

Barnaby Parker is a director of Project Partners, a City of London search firm. He offers advice to job hunters on how to handle pay negotiations:

There are 15 or so questions between you and that position you so desperately want. Welcome to the "Who wants to be a millionaire" job interview.

Every exam you ever took, all those nights working late to complete a project - even if it was canned through no fault of your own in the last round of cost-cutting - in fact your every

working moment has led to this.

Before you deliver your most brilliant answers and cleverest excuses, take

a moment to congratulate yourself - you already conform to your potential

employer's diversity policy, a head-hunter might even have returned your call (so you must be worth something) and the job has not been identified as one of the two million that are likely to be outsourced from the financial services industry in the next 5 years.

You are almost at 64,000 - how can you make it all the way? At some stage

between question one and receiving the cheque for a million pounds you are likely to be asked how much money you currently earn, and no amount of coughing will

avoid this.

Employers are increasingly wary about what candidates say they are earning

and will almost certainly demand evidence. Some will ask for a detailed

breakdown before they even interview you and the evidence is difficult to fake!

If the question is put in an interview, you must answer it in a

straightforward way. Interviewers are irritated by candidates who give a vague answer or

say they would prefer to discuss it later.

If your past earnings are not quite as impressive as you would like, be

sure to paint a rosy picture of your bonus prospects for the current year. Just be careful

not to sound as though you are exaggerating.

Once that question is out of the way, an even trickier one follows.

How much money are you looking for? Here preparation is vital. As far as possible,

find out the market rate for similar jobs.

Ask headhunters and look at job adverts (only a few give pay details, but you may get a sense of how much demand there is for your kind of skills).

Consider why you are moving in the first place. If money is one of the

main reasons then you must be able to explain why you are worth it in a few

pithy sentences. Prepare your ideas carefully before the interview.

Don't go over the top about how good you are. Remember that companies

don't hire people, people do, and most people don't appreciate arrogance and greed.

Furthermore if you want to work in Cornwall and happen to have found a job

there, keep your eye on benefits other than money - such as flexible hours that

allow you to catch the ocean swells.

You could always phone a friend for advice, at least before your

millionaire' interview starts. One candidate told me she did role plays with friends.

She was offered the job, but turned out to be in the 15% of candidates who

are only looking to get better terms with their current employer.

When a company makes you a pay offer, you will have to play your reaction

by ear. Perhaps they expect you to ask for more; but if they are not in the mood

for playing games their offer may be a fair one in their minds.

Pay negotiations are often conducted through a headhunter, if one

introduced you to the employer. Remember that a headhunter's interest is in closing a deal, like any other businessman.

Make a million or not, if you are the best in your field you stand a good

chance of getting the job. If you don't, consider going to work for your

headhunter.

Many are recruiting at the moment and at least you might help someone else avoid

making the same mistakes that you did.

To summarise:

&#42 Do your research so that you know your market value

&#42 Decide how important your pay is to you

&#42 Prepare to justify your expectations when asked (and you

will be)

&#42 Expect to be asked at least 15 questions in return for a 1

million cheque

&#42 Remember that the average head-hunter negotiates on behalf

of about 25 candidates a year and can help you get the most realistic deal

&#42 Relax, be patient and enjoy the process - there are lots of

exciting opportunities out there.