Don’t Settle
Don’t Settle
Don’t Settle
Sometimes it feels like settling for your compensation package is the easiest thing in the world to do. I mean, they offered the job to YOU. Why would you ask for anything more?
Of course settling for your salary is the easiest thing to do. Settling takes little to no thought. The institution made an offer. All you have to do right now is say: Yes!
But if you just say “yes” without providing some feedback and time to reflect then you could be walking into a big mistake. Settling for the initial offer in the student affairs job search could be highly costly down the line.
This article will cover how settling for an initial salary job offer could be a big mistake. The article also covers the research required to determine what competitive compensation is. Other forms of compensation that you are entitled to is also explored. In addition, how to address salary questions during the interview is provided. Finally, advice and actionable steps are included to aid you in your student affairs job search.
Big mistake
Taking the offer as-is is one of the easiest things to do at the end of a long and grueling student affairs job search. But, failing to negotiate at the very beginning could be a huge mistake if you settle for whatever they give you.
Settling for that lower salary can have some major negative financial consequences. As a result of settling you’ll earn less over time; have smaller raises (or cost of living increases); and be able to contribute less money to your retirement account; 403(b) or pension. This may not seem like a big deal right now – especially when all you want to do is start a new job. But anchoring your knowledge, background, skills, and abilities, to a lower amount early in your career can definitely be a hindrance.
In addition, settling for a lower salary can also have negative emotional complications. Student affairs is already hard and specialized work. It takes a certain type of professional to want to work in this field. That’s why it’s paramount that you earn a salary that accurately reflects your knowledge, skills, and abilities.
This is especially true for both younger job seekers as well as female job seekers. Lack of understanding the negotiation process often hurts these two populations severely. This is further complicated because of dislike, discomfort, and overall aversion to the salary negotiation process.
However, much of those negative effects can be mitigated by arming yourself with knowledge. That starts by doing your research.
Doing your research
Making sure that you enter your job search armed with some knowledge is a great first step to take. That involves getting data. It’s okay to get some estimates on salary and compensation from colleagues; but don’t take it all at face value. Instead, look to higher education as an industry; your particular role; and the geographical area where you’re looking.
In addition, you can also use the following websites to provide some information and insight on compensation:
-Salary Data - HigherEdJobs https://www.higheredjobs.com/salary/
-U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/
-Glassdoor https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/index.htm
-Comparably https://www.comparably.com/
-PayScale https://www.payscale.com/
-Salary.com https://www.salary.com/
-LinkedIn Salary https://www.linkedin.com/salary/
-Indeed.com https://www.indeed.com/salaries
-Salarylist https://www.salarylist.com/
-SalaryExpert https://www.salaryexpert.com/
Getting salary research information is important because it’s harder for an employer to ignore your own research when facing a compensation question. Sometimes that information can come from your own industry research. Sometimes that information can come from your other colleagues and coworkers.
Sometimes it’s a taboo subject to discuss salary and compensation. But if you are open and honest to discussing this sensitive subject; then you can ask around to see what is the average compensation is for your particular role in your particular geographic area.
Other forms of compensation
Of course salary is going to be a big part of your compensation package. Most compensation packages are defined by it. But salary isn’t the only way that you can be paid fairly.
Higher education positions often have very generous benefits packages that can provide for you in other ways. Some of those benefits could include tuition remission; flexible work environments; or professional development funding.
Addressing salary in the interview
Sometimes salary questions might come up earlier than you think. These questions can come up very early in the interview process, often during the first round interview. Because of that, it’s important that you know what to do and how to address these questions early on.
Have you been asked about salary requirements early in the interview? Then, consider turning it back on the interviewer and explain that your requirements are dependent on the role. Then follow up with a request for a range that they’re willing to offer.
This is important because you want to steer the conversation away from the compensation that you’re looking for. Instead, focus on the value that you could bring to the position. That value comes from your knowledge, background, experience, skills and education. You could follow up the interviewer’s questions with: “If I’m not the right candidate for this job, then you shouldn’t make an offer. So first, let’s determine if I’m the right candidate for you.
If the interviewer opens up and gives shares a salary range then you could respond with: “Thanks for letting me know what you’re thinking about in salary. I’d like to make sure that we both think that this is a good arrangement before we decide on a particular number.”
The reason you want your interviewer to give you a range is because it gives you (the candidate) the power in the interview and negotiation process. If YOU were to give out the range then it could anchor you to the lower number on the scale. After all, what incentive does the institution have but to pay you the minimum amount you indicated?
Advice and actionable steps
Of course salary negotiation is going to be a touchy subject for most student affairs professionals. However you are not alone. Talking about compensation is one of the thorniest subjects that you’ll address in your career. But it is important.
It’s important in addressing the gender pay gap where women are often left earning less than men performing the same work. Part of this can be attributed to female candidates not engaging in the negotiation process during their job search.
The first step in addressing this is understanding that salary negotiation is PART of the job search and preparing yourself accordingly. Part of that preparation includes documenting and presenting what value you provide to the institution in your role. A good way to do this is to have a happy student, professor, or administrator email your current supervisor (cc’ing you) about the great work that you’ve done. Keep a PDF copy of those compliments and use this as reason for why you would be valuable in the role.
In addition, you should also emphasize aspects that the institution, hiring manager and office care about in the position. If your role as an area coordinator in residential life means that you should address residential issues that your RD’s cannot handle then include that in your salary negotiation. It’s important to demonstrate how hiring you for a role will help your hiring manger do LESS work and REDUCE their stress rather than adding additional tasks to their plate.
Remember: don’t settle
Settling is the biggest mistake that a new student affairs professional can make: particularly when it comes to the first search. Institutions know this, particularly when it comes to younger and less experienced job seekers.
Other than being taken advantage of by a more experienced administrator, settling for a lower salary can also have longer lasting professional consequences. Those include smaller raises over time (based on your current base salary), smaller contributions to a pension, 403(b), or other retirement packages.
There are also the added negatives that settling for less could have. They could manifest themselves in your day to day responsibilities. Knowing that you could be doing the same stellar and enthusiastic work for more money, will eventually gnaw away at you.
Takeaways
This article covered how settling for an initial salary offer could be a big mistake. The article reviewed the importance of conducting your own research to determine what makes a competitive offer. Other forms of compensation were also covered. How to acknowledge salary questions during the interview was also addressed. Finally, advice and actionable steps were provided to aid you in your student affairs job search.
I hope that you found this article useful! If you need some additional help on your student affairs job search, then check out the eBook The Student Affairs Job Search: A Comprehensive Guide available here.
Happy searching,
References
Avoiding Salary Negotiation Mistakes: Job Offers: How-to Articles: Career & Co-op Center. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2020, from https://www.uml.edu/student-services/Career-Services/How-to-Articles/Job-Offers/Avoiding-Salary-Negotiation-Mistakes.aspx
Eng, D. (2018, October 19). Why does the student affairs job search take so long? - Job Hakr: Student Affairs Job Search. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2018/10/19/why-does-the-student-affairs-job-search-take-so-long
Eng, D. (2019, May 13). Mastering Your Student Affairs Career - Job Hakr: Student Affairs Job Search. Retrieved April 1, 2020, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2019/5/8/mastering-your-student-affairs-career
Eng, D. (2019, October 28). Beginning the Search - Job Hakr: Student Affairs Job Search. Retrieved April 2, 2020, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2019/10/28/beginning-the-search
Fertig, A. (2016, August 9). 4 Ways You Might Be Settling for Less Than You Are Worth. Retrieved March 24, 2020, from https://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/articles/2016-08-09/4-ways-you-might-be-settling-for-less-than-you-are-worth
Lloyd, G. (2019, February 4). Don't settle for the first offer - how to negotiate your salary properly. Retrieved March 24, 2020, from https://www.talentedladiesclub.com/articles/dont-settle-for-the-first-offer-how-to-negotiate-your-salary-properly/
O'Connell, B. (2016, August 21). Don't settle for a low salary on your first job. Retrieved March 24, 2020, from https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/don-t-settle-for-a-low-salary-on-your-first-job-13677802
Pay Equity – Don't Settle for Less. (2017, March 21). Retrieved March 24, 2020, from https://career.du.edu/blog/2017/03/21/pay-equity-dont-settle-for-less/
Cite this Article
Eng, D. (2020, April 07). Don't Settle. Retrieved MONTH DATE, YEAR, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2020/4/7/dont-settle
Internal Ref: JHKR48MQ46XN7