If the thought of negotiating a higher salary makes you anxious, you are not alone. Most people just don’t feel comfortable negotiating that raise, and women especially have a hard time arranging their starting salary—a measly 7% of women will negotiate their starting salary, as opposed to 57% of men. To get the salary you deserve, there are several important things to do and ways to plan before presenting your case.
To begin, make sure you are in the salary negotiation mindset. It’s up to you to ask, so be confident. Evaluate yourself so you know just what your company will see and what you can say about yourself. You can do this by keeping score of your accomplishments—just make sure to highlight them during review! Present yourself memorably and favorably by demonstrating what you’ve done to earn that pay bump.
As for salary trends, in 2013, the average salary in America will increase by 3%, compared with last year’s 2.7%. Employees in the energy sector will get the biggest bumps, while educators and government employees will get the smallest. To learn more about how to negotiate your salary, check out the infographic below.
Image compliments of Grad School Hub