Two Salary Secrets for Flexible Job Applicants - FlexJobs

Two Salary Secrets for Flexible Job Applicants - FlexJobsTwo Salary Secrets for Flexible Job Applicants 20WorkOptions.com. Online since 1997,WorkOptions has helped thousands of professionals get quick approval of a flexible work arrangement at their current job.You already understand the time and flexibility appeal of a part-time or telecommuting job. But pay is important, too, right?Heres what you need to know to get both flexibility and a ritterlich or even fabulous salary.Salary Secret 1 Negotiate salary based on the job requirements, not the flexibility factor.Job flexibility is not a substitute for a fair wage, even though you put high value on it.Once you have a firm job offer, negotiate your starting salary recognizing that, while flexibility is a desirable part of the job, its not a replacement for a fair wage.Otherwise, if youre not careful, you could fall into the trap that trades money for flex and time freedom.The trap sounds like thisThe pay is lower than average, but I get to work from home two days out of the week.Im not sure what the going rate is for the fleck, but the hours are great.When I worked full-time at a similar job, the hourly pay was 12% higher. But Im okay with less because its a part-time position. Working three days a week is a gift.Sound familiar? You have plenty of company. In a recent survey, close to half of employees said they would be willing to give up some salary for more flexibility at work.But dont do it.No matter your schedule or where you get the work done, the value you bring to your job should be rewarded in wages which reflect the fair market value for the position.Let me explain.If you have a used car to sell, the Kelley Blue Book is the familiar third-party resource that both buyer and seller use to determine the cars fair market value. The dollar range is based on the cars year, make, model, condition and even geographic location. Its not an arbitrary figure theres market demand to support it.Likewise, the job position youre applying for (or currently in) also has a market value, a salary range based on demand, job requirements, training, experience and geographic area.Your particular background and achievements influence where your market value stands within that range. Which brings us to the second salary secret.Salary Secret 2 Know and use the job positions market value range when negotiating your salary.Determining it is one of your critical job interview research tasks. Youll use it when engaging in salary negotiations. The market value serves as a starting point or an anchor for negotiating your total pay package.That pay package may include some attractive employee benefits. Knowing your market value range allows you to be flexible in negotiating to a final salary figure giving due consideration to employee benefits without dropping below the bottom of the range. In other words, you can compromise to a degree without conceding too much.If you dont know your market value, you have virtually no basis from which to negotiate because the anchor point is missing.Why is this so important, especially for women?Women are not socialized to negotiate and are quicker than men to accept the first figure offered without negotiating it to reflect market value.When a starting salary offer is made within the market value range, women have been shown to concede a final figure too early even when their experience would warrant the higher end of the range. This costs them thousands of dollars and impacts their earning power for decadesHiring managers of both genders know this about women and its not unusual for them to extend offers below or at the low end of the market value range. OuchThe remedy? Researchers have found that women can improve their negotiation results substantially when they use third-party market information to set their goals. Thats why its important to know your market value numbers before negotiating Then use the information during your salary negotiation .How to Estimate the Market Value Range of a JobTo get the figures you need, I recommend you use the followingThe Salary Wizard found at Salary.com and other helpful tools found at PayScale, Glassdoor and Job Search IntelligenceMarket value information that might be provided by your professional association. Inquire of the local, regional and national offices for any salary data they haveThe collection of salary surveys provided at the Job Star websiteGot some numbers? Does it match post-recession realities where you live and work? Why not go a few steps further to validate it with current local data? For example, maybe you or a colleague have recently researched or applied for other jobs in your area and learned the salary range being offered.Call the human resources departments of nearby employers which have a similar job position to the one youre applying for. They might not be forthcoming with salary figures, but if you persist and ask for a range, you could surface valuable inf ormation. The salary figures you find generally reflect a full-time position as an employee, with benefits.So if, for example, youre applying for a part-time position of 24 hours a week, first figure the pro-rated 60% amount, or the corresponding hourly rate of the full-time salary, and negotiate from that anchor point.(Note A different set of negotiation guidelines apply if youre a freelancer, contractor, or part-time employee with no or few benefits.)Flexibility is Not a Perk Its a Business StrategyWe are past the days of flexible work arrangements being considered an accommodation or perk for parents. They appeal to all types of people, and savvy employers recognize workplace flexibility as a smart business strategy driving employee recruitment, retention, engagement, productivity and even health improvements.Remember that when negotiating your salary at a flexible job. Focus on the market value of the job position and the merits you bring to it. With that combination, you can ha ve flexibility and a fair wage.