Even with an MCSE title and plenty of experience in hand, negotiating for a top salary and plenty of perks can be tough. Here are some tips on how to walk away from the table a winner.
You Can Always Get What You Want
Even with an MCSE title and plenty of experience in hand, negotiating for a top salary and plenty of perks can be tough. Here are some tips on how to walk away from the table a winner.
- By Harry Brelsford
- November 01, 1999
Although your MCSE title prepares you for a lot, when
it comes to negotiating, you’re on your own. In fact,
negotiating to get what you want is a street-learned skill
that you begin to acquire when you’re very young. For
example, if you grew up in a large family, from Day One
you learned how to negotiate with your siblings. Many
of those same skills apply to you as an MCSE trying to
get ahead by negotiating—and not only with your employers—to
get what you want.
So what do you want as an MCSE? And why do you need to
negotiate to get it? Often the first thing item on the
list relates to compensation, so I’ll make salary my primary
example. (Don’t overlook the things you might want with
all that new-found MCSE wealth, such as weekend cabins
and ski condos. You can use these same negotiating skills
to acquire more toys!)
So you want the highest salary possible. Many moons ago,
I worked that angle as an oil-spill worker on the Exxon
Valdez project. The money was huge, but so was the trade-off.
Instead of comfortable surroundings and relative autonomy,
I did hard physical labor in bad weather under the constant
watch of a stern supervisor. From that project, I learned
that compensation isn’t everything. I suspect you’ve had
a similar experience: high compensation but poor working
conditions. Perhaps you agree with me that compensation
isn’t everything.
Now that I’ve got you in this enlightened mode, take
a moment to open a new spreadsheet and create a “Wants
Matrix.” Across the columns, list various “want” and “nice
to have” variables, including big salary, lots of vacation
time, short commute, autonomy, friendly boss, plenty of
training, and so on. Try to come up with at least 10.
Now, name a row “Rank” and proceed to rank these variables
from 10 (must have) to 1 (could do without). Only repeat
each score once (that is, there can only be one “10”).
You’ve now ranked your negotiating priorities, which you’ll
need in a moment.
Set Priorities
Now, take that spreadsheet and in the rows below “Rank,”
make row labels for “Top” and “Bottom.” Then proceed to
create top and bottom positions for each ranked item.
For example, if you ranked compensation “10,” then list
the top position of the salary you want, say $70,000 per
year. Now list the bottom position for compensation—that
is, the lowest salary you’ll accept (say, $50,000 per
year). Create these top and bottom positions for your
remaining ranked items.
Once you’ve completed that exercise, you’ll have an idea
of your best-best and worst-worst scenarios. Here’s an
example: If everything went your way, your perfect MCSE-type
job would pay $70,000 per year, provide four weeks vacation,
extensive training, have either no boss or a hands-off
one, offer a commute time under 15 minutes, and allow
you to work at home once a week. The worst-worst scenario
would be a low-paying job with a long commute and a dominating
boss who allows no training and expects to see your face
promptly at 8 a.m. every day. In reality, the attainable
position lies somewhere between the two, as you’ll see.
Another benefit of the spreadsheet exercise is that it
helps you prioritize what’s important. For many experienced
MCSEs, compensation isn’t the primary issue. Having a
short drive to work and extra weeks of vacation time,
often called quality of life variables, are more prized
than an extra $5,000 a year. But you need to remember
that at the negotiating table, so that you don’t become
distracted by a fat salary offer or signing bonus and
forget what you really want.
Wants Matrix: It helps
if you head into a job interview or salary negotiation
with a clear picture of what your priorities are. Then
you can be hard-nosed during the negotiating process about
what you have to have, what you can live without (or with,
as the case may be). First, list 10 job factors that vary
in importance for you. Then, rank each, where 10 means
"most important" and 1 means "whatever."
Take your chart with you on interviews—as you get a clearer
picture of the company, you can decide whether you really
care that, say, you'll be paged around the clock, since
the salary is high and you're allowed to work at home
part of the time. (Note: columns and rows are reversed
here, to fit online column width.)
MCSE
Negotiator |
Rank |
Top |
Bottom
|
Compensation |
8 |
Top salary for your region
of the country, years of experience, and
certification titles. |
Company known for underpaying
its technical people. Turnover is high.
"What's an MCSE?" |
Benefits |
7 |
Full with no deductible. |
You're covered, but with
$500 deductible and $10 co-pay. Family
members $100/month. |
Location |
6 |
10 minutes away. |
30 minutes away if you avoid
rush hour. |
Working Conditions |
1 |
View of mountains when you
raise your eyes from your 17" monitor. |
You stare into opposite
cubicle during long waits for a server
connection to your 486. |
Vacation |
9 |
4 weeks. |
2 weeks, and never during
"crunch" periods. |
Management |
5 |
Trustworthy; seems to care
about you and your career. |
Mildly sleazy; cares about
self and own career. |
Atmosphere |
10 |
New ideas accepted eagerly;
little to no micromanagement. |
Management accepts ideas
and passes off as own; Dilbert-like atmosphere. |
Training |
4 |
6 MCSE classes a year. |
Fuggedaboudit! "You'll
just leave for a better job." |
Future Promotions |
22 |
Track for promotion to Principal
within 5 years. |
After 5 years, you no longer
get paged on weekends. |
Flextime |
3 |
Biggest priority is getting
the job done. You can work at home on
occasion. |
"The server went down
Saturday at midnight. Where were you?" |
|
|
Stay Focused
One of the points of completing the above exercise is
to set clear priorities for yourself. Once you’re negotiating,
whether at your existing job or with a potential employer,
that’s not the time to juggle what’s most important to
you—you need to be clear about that going in.
In any negotiation, good preparation on your part will
insure that you avoid poor outcomes. Keep that spreadsheet
you created earlier as a reminder of your goals and priorities.
When you sit down to negotiations, start with the highest
ranked variable—following my example, you’d begin with
salary. During the give and take of negotiations, your
spreadsheet will remind you about which variables you
don’t mind compromising on—the ones you ranked lowest
in importance. I recommend that you take your spreadsheet
with you to the negotiating table. It’s your game plan
and allows you to stay on track and avoid miscues.
Another point to keep in mind is to stay focused. I’ve
been on both sides of the negotiating process (boss and
employee), and I’ve seen the process go different ways.
First, many take it too personally. It’s hard not to when
things like compensation are at stake, since that can
seem in many ways to define your self-worth. But I’ve
seen people flub negotiations by not only taking the process
personally, but also by making personal attacks. Remember,
from a pure negotiations stance, the personality of the
other party doesn’t play into your goal of trying to achieve
your best-best goals. Nor is the negotiating process a
reflection of your worth—it’s just a business process.
Try to keep that in mind as you negotiate.
Also, people can lose focus when they believe in winning
at all costs. MCSEs are a competitive lot, but that competitive
spirit can work against you when winning becomes the end
in and of itself. Remember that by its very nature, negotiations
are exercises in compromises that should leave all parties
feeling empowered. You need to give some as well as take
some to get what you want.
Maybe You Can’t Have It All
Compromise is another way of saying you can’t have it
all. For this example, I’ll return to the toys that the
well-compensated MCSE might acquire. Suppose you find
that ski condo of your dreams—it’s on the top floor corner
with a tremendous view and only an hour from home. Sounds
like the perfect fit. So what’s the compromise you might
have to make here? If you really want it, amenities and
all, it’s highly unlikely that you can also negotiate
a low price. In fact, not only will you pay the buyer’s
asking price, but you might even pay a premium just so
you don’t lose it. You’ve compromised to get what you
want.
At the negotiating table, be ready to give up something
you want in exchange for something else. Say you want
to work at home part of the time because you want to be
there when the kids get home from school. The boss really
wants you around during the work day to handle escalated
support issues. So you negotiate a flex-time agreement
that allows you to come in early and leave early several
times a week. You win, the boss wins, the company wins—everyone
gets something, but no one gets everything.
Everything is on the Table
Remember that everything is negotiable at some level.
If you can’t get the compensation you want from an employer,
see if you can negotiate some additional training or weeks
of vacation. You might come up short on the salary side
but get four weeks of training and 10 weeks of vacation
a year instead. Works for me!
One last tip: Do yourself
a favor during negotiations and buy time if things aren’t
exactly going your way. You’d be surprised how a respite
can provide insights you might not have had initially.
By meeting again at a future date with the other party,
you’ll have time to update your negotiating spreadsheet
and plan some creative alternatives and counter offers.
If you plan correctly and stick with your priorities,
you’ll find that it’s true—everything is negotiable.