What are the most effective ways to open a salary negotiation conversation?

Understanding your market value is imperative when interviewing for a new job. Use tools such as Glassdoor, SalaryExpert, Salary.com and Indeed. These will help you understand a range, but not your value with your experience, the company size, and the location of the role. These all factor into your compensation. In the end, you have to have a target compensation for yourself. It must be within range of your skill and experience but have the number before interviewing. That number is not "This is what I made at my last job" though. Factor in vacation, cost and value of health benefits as well as any other perks the role may have with it. A good hiring manager wants to pay you your worth. They know a happy employee is a productive one.

Know what your top values are for a career. Is it hours worked per week? Is it all about the money? Does travel intrigue you or is it a negative? Benefits, do you have young kids or none? This plays into how much money will leave your pockets throughout the year. You can negotiate relocation (If needed), Paid Time Off, Salary, Sign-on bonuses, and more. If they cannot provide a larger compensation negotiate the other parts of the offer. An extra week or two of PTO is worth as much as a higher salary. If the hiring authority cannot meet your salary demands, but you really want the role. Ask them, are there any other aspects of the offer that we can discuss to bring the total offer more in line with my experience and expectations?

Ty to delay compensation negotiation until you have built enough worth in the interview process to where you know they want you. This gives you leverage in the process. I negotiate offers for veterans weekly. I find the later in the interview process, the more flexibility there is with compensation, vacation, sign-on, and more. Negotiation face-to-face or via video whenever possible. This way you can see the reactions to your questions and demands. Conversations offer just that, a conversation around compensation, career growth, and expectations. Emails will put you against market research and budgets. I have a sales rule. If you want to educate, email. If you want to influence, call. Use this rule in your negotiation process.

This is easy. People hire people they like. The easiest way to be liked in an interview is to know what the company does, its mission statement, and the role expectations. Bringing thought-provoking questions and then following up after each interview is critical. Each follow-up should address something in the previous conversation to show you are an active listener. Do not have their email addresses? Find them on LinkedIn and message them there. This shows your resourcefulness. 20-years in staffing. There is one common denominator to hiring. People who show genuine interest in the company and role will the role.