How to negotiate for the highest salary in a range

I specialize in salary negotiations, and my clients see their salaries increase by an average of USD $8,500. Today, I want to talk about how exactly my clients are able to negotiate these higher salaries.

1. It all starts with the resume. That's where the meat of the negotiation comes from. We begin with the assumption that my client is going to go for the highest salary listed in the range, and then we ask what an employee with that highest salary looks like on paper.

2. We impress from the very beginning with our attention to detail and our thoughtful application answers, even down to the design of the resume and cover letter template. If we're aiming for a middle manager role, we look like a director. If we're aiming for a director role, we look like a VP.

3. We put our entire focus on adding value and increasing ROI. I'll sometimes ask my clients to think about the many ways they've generated revenue for their companies, above and beyond their JD, and how much income they've brought in compared to the salaries they received.

Once we've established how our applications are going to look and sound, and after we've stripped away the emotional energy of the negotiation by showing our value on paper, we declare our salary.

We don't need to prove ourselves further, because our resume and application have already done the heavy lifting for us. And we don't give our power away by saying we'll accept anything within a range. We tell the interviewer exactly what we want, and then we stop talking. We give our interviewer calm, quiet, and unhurried breathing space to make their decision.

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