salary negotiation

[dimple]

I am trying to apply for a web designer post in London. They have asked me to give a salary expectation in the covering letter. I would like to have some help on how much i should be asking how do i put it in politely..

[Kymmy]

Thread moved to a forum where you're likely to get better answers. Welcome to the forum

[Mr_love_monkey]

ask for lots, settle for less..

the best thing to do, would be to go on a job search site, find some jobs of a similar type, and location - and see what they are offering, either upping or downing the amount depening on your levels of experience compared to their requirements... and then add 10 to 15 percent more on top of that to give you some room to negotiate.

Then in your letter say something along the lines of "... looking at similar level jobs being advertised, I would expect a salar in the region of x"

[Russ]

Please do not post your thread in more than one forum area, thanks.

Which part of London, and what business area?

Salaries differ on location (City/Docklands/West London, and LOB, PR/Investment Banks/etc).

[Osem]

That's a very difficult question with the very limited information you've given. You could put down a figure/range but then you might just be under or overpricing yourself unless, of course, you're fairly certain you've established what the going rate is for that sort of post with that type of company in that area as already mentioned. I certainly wouldn't ignore the question but supposing this is a very decent job with a good company, I'd want to appear positive/confident so would probably mention some rough numbers (see caveat above) but also give the impression that you'd also be expecting your performance and contribution to be suitably recognised when it can be established that you've met/exceeded their expectations and are worthy of progression. If/when you get an interview then you can possibly enter into more detailed negotiations about such things but the key is always to appear confident in your abilities and your worth. Whatever your situation is, appearing desperate for a job is one of the quickest ways I know of to be rejected and one of the best means by which a potential employer can guage your confidence/self belief is to ask you to put some sort of value on it before they've even met you.

HTH

Also, your experience will have a large bearing on your salary - 10 years experience will get you (usually) more pay than one year's.

So, in summary, you probably need to give us some more information to enable us to help you.

[dimple]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Which part of London, and what business area?

Salaries differ on location (City/Docklands/West London, and LOB, PR/Investment Banks/etc).

it is near mornington crescent tube station. and they havn't actually asked for a lot of skill set or experience. am a recently graduated pg student and have no actual work experience.

[Waldo Pepper]

Reading your last sentence...I wouldn't pay you in washers.

Not very nice or helpful, WP - everybody has to have a first job - the OP's degree or PG may have involved web design. For instance, I would rather hire a trainee/junior with positive personal attributes than an experienced person who has the personal interaction skills of a baboon with piles.

Anyhoo, dimple, this does put you at a disadvantage - if I were you, take the advice above about checking out job ads for similar jobs/location (jobserve for example), but then, having stated a figure, put "willing to discuss".

As this is your first PG job, are you willing to work for the low pay that first jobs often have?

Some Web Design companies are absurd with their salary offers. It really depends where you end up, I have known people offered criminally low wages which amount to exploitation. The companies themselves are either incompetent or looking to take advantage. So be careful.

[Mr_love_monkey]

Originally Posted by dimple

it is near mornington crescent tube station. and they havn't actually asked for a lot of skill set or experience. am a recently graduated pg student and have no actual work experience.

is your degree related to web design?

Quick scan on jobserve, with the parameters of "web designer junior" - hope these help.

Link

It would appear the range is £16k - £25k (but I would assume the top of that range expects some practical experience).

The question you have to ask yourself is what can you afford to live on, to get the experience that will help you move up in the company/move on to a better paid job.

[Waldo Pepper]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Not very nice or helpful, WP - everybody has to have a first job - the OP's degree or PG may have involved web design. For instance, I would rather hire a trainee/junior with positive personal attributes than an experienced person who has the personal interaction skills of a baboon with piles.

Anyhoo, dimple, this does put you at a disadvantage - if I were you, take the advice above about checking out job ads for similar jobs/location (jobserve for example), but then, having stated a figure, put "willing to discuss".

As this is your first PG job, are you willing to work for the low pay that first jobs often have?

Being involved in web design often involves communicating with the public world wide. Crap English as shown in the above will likely leak into the public domain.

I personally wouldn't take the risk.

Originally Posted by Waldo Pepper

Being involved in web design often involves communicating with the public world wide. Crap English as shown in the above will likely leak into the public domain.

I personally wouldn't take the risk.

You may be right, but you could have also advised on those points, rather than being insulting - socialisation and appropriate communication skills are also important.