Employers expect you to negotiate your salary so don't settle for less

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More than half (56%) of all prospective employees don't negotiate their pay upon receiving a new job offer according to a survey by the job site Career Builder.

However, the majority of employers (51%) are expecting to negotiate after they present their initial salary offer. In fact, 53% of employers are willing to negotiate salaries on initial job offers for entry-level workers and 52% say when they first make a job offer they usually offer a lower salary than they're willing to pay because they are expecting a counteroffer. Over a quarter (26%) said they are willing to pay 5000$ or more than what they present in their initial offer.

Of the employees who don't negotiate their salaries upon receiving a job offer 51% said they don't feel comfortable asking for money, 47% said they are afraid the employer will decide not to hire them and 36% said they don't want to appear greedy.

Yet this could mean prospective employees are missing out. More than 3 in 5 employers 63%  say they feel they have to pay workers more because the market is getting more competitive for talent but more than half of workers 51% have not asked for a raise. Additionally, more than seven in ten workers (71%) have accepted a job when they knew their skill set and experience were worth more than what they were getting paid.

The national survey conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from May to September 2017 included representative samples of full-time employers and full-time U.S. workers across industries and company sizes in the private sector.

The survey also revealed that 45% of workers aged 35 and older were prepared to negotiate the first job offer, compared with 42% of employees aged between 18 and 34. There was also a disparity between how men and women treat an initial job offer, 47% of men said they negotiate first offers and 42% of women said they do the same.

Across industries, those that work in information technology 59% are the most likely to negotiate salary, followed by those that work in sales (55%), financial services (53%) and healthcare workers (48%).

Despite employees being afraid to negotiate salary offers, money is top of mind for most workers. When asked what motivates workers to do their job, 71% said the ability to provide for themselves and their families, followed by money 63%, the ability to make a difference 38% and the ability to create something meaningful or cool 21%. Moreover, over three quarters (79%) said they don't earn the amount of money they desire and 36% say they don't earn anywhere near it. More than half (58%) said they do not think they are better off financially than their parents.

ALSO READ: Play these mind games to win a salary negotiation

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