Negotiating salaries and benefits packages

In order to place yourself in a good position further down the line when negotiations may occur, you must ensure from the outset your CV, covering letter and the skills you sell yourself around during interview match to the particular job specification you are targeting. This will help establish consistent confidence from your employer so that when the time for negotiation arrives you will be better positioned in the mind of the interviewer. 

To help you achieve this, it’s advisable to request a job specification for the specific role you’re applying for and analyse each aspect of the requirements. Think about examples of when you have applied yourself and how you were successful with a particular skill in relation to each criterion. You can then use these examples to mould your CV and highlight the specific areas of interest to a client. This way they will not need to work too hard to match you to the job criteria - you will communicate your suitability to the role very clearly at the first stage of application, which will hopefully lead to an interview offer. 

Utilising a recruitment consultancy helps with this process. A recruitment consultant will liaise with a client to discover the exact requirements for a candidate - and can then combine this knowledge with background experience of the type of person they may have accepted previously. This knowledge can be used to advise a candidate on how to sell themselves effectively to the company’s brand, culture and history. 

Success using either method should lead to a company inviting you to interview and hopefully the offer of a job. However, before accepting there are the (salary) negotiation hurdles to overcome.  

Graduate level - where to begin

Intermediate level - getting the best deal 

Senior level - knowing your worth in the marketplace