How can I win in a salary negotiation with my future boss and not sacrifice our relationship?

When negotiating your construction salary, remember that a win-win outcome for you and your employer is essential. You do not want to win the negotiation and lose the employer relationship by not being fair minded. An initial victory may gain you a few extra dollars, but not worth the price it could costs you in the end - a possible relationship loss with your boss may have a damaging effect that will cost you far more than respect. Sometimes employers set unrealistic expectations for new hires that they feel were over paid. Often when an employer loses and/or feels manipulated into paying more than desired, the employer wins back a victory by limiting your next promotion or discretionary bonus. You can’t be a winner if your boss feels like a loser.

Remember that negotiating a pay increase, based on your personal economic need, is not a good position to take with an employer. To get the most from a salary negotiation, it is important to conduct adequate research on the job position to find out what the position is worth in your area (i.e. fair market value). You can do this research on the Internet, at the library, or through your professional trade association. The architectural, engineering and construction industries have several good compensation consultants who can help assist you with your research. Once you understand what the true value is for the position, you should bring your results to the negotiation table as a basis to work from.