Want to increase your earning power in 2024? Here's how to negotiate a raise or navigate salary discussions ahead of accepting a new job offer

Benchmarking your salary is essential before entering into pay negotiationsWomen are 20 per cent less comfortable discussing salary expectations than menSoft skills are becoming increasingly valuable when assessing how much you should be paid 

Want to earn more money in 2024? As the adage goes, if you don’t ask, you don’t get– and this rings especially true when it comes to salary negotiations.

Talking about money is never easy, especially during the interview process when fears of asking for too much can hold you back. But it’s crucial to learn how to confidently and concisely approach conversations about how much you’re being paid.

If you’re a woman, it’s especially prudent to hone this skill. Recent research has found that women are 20 per cent less comfortable discussing salary expectations than their male counterparts, and a whopping 20 per cent of women have never negotiated their salary during their careers. Conversely, men are 20 per cent more likely to negotiate on pay during an interview.

Want to earn more money in 2024? As the adage goes, if you don’t ask, you don’t get – and this rings especially true when it comes to salary negotiations

While this shouldn’t inform how much women are being paid, with the gender pay gap currently standing at 7.7 per cent on average for full-time employees, women are paying the price for not speaking up, literally and figuratively.

Below we’re detailing the tactics you need to know to effectively tackle salary negotiations.

Know your worth 

Do you know how much someone with your experience and skills is being paid? Do you know what competitors are paying? When it comes to salary negotiations, knowing your value is essential, and the best way to do this is by benchmarking your salary accordingly.

Glassdoor is a great resource if you’re trying to establish similar salaries within your field without speaking directly to a recruiter. It allows you to conduct salary comparisons based on its salary calculator which can provide the average salary for any job title located in the UK.

When it comes to salary negotiations, knowing your value is essential and the best way to do this is by benchmarking your salary accordingly

Sell your skillset

Whether you’re analysing your accomplishments ahead of a performance review that will directly inform your salary at your current role, or are in the negotiation stages before accepting a new job offer, selling your skillset is vital.

Start off by looking at your soft skills in particular—according to the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s recent Future of Jobs report, analytical thinking and creative thinking will be top in-demand skills by 2027. Employers will be seeking out employees that can demonstrate proficiency in these skills, and additional soft skills including leadership, communication, empathy and social influence.

‘There’s more of a focus and an interest in having people with analytical thinking, people with creativity,’ shared Saadia Zahidi, managing director of the WEF in the report.

‘But it’s also become very important to have leadership skills and to have social influence, and the ability to work with other people. The traits that make us human, make us able to relate with each other and to get innovative, creative things done in the workplace.’

Recent research has found that women are 20 per cent less comfortable discussing salary expectations than their male counterparts

Tap into your professional network

Despite the UK government launching a pay transparency scheme in 2022 to address the gender pay gap, the secrecy surrounding salaries remains in many companies, and professional peers don’t often know what their contemporaries are being paid.

One way to side-step this is by tapping into your professional network and asking—privately or publicly—if your contacts would be willing to disclose their current salary to help you decipher what’s really happening within your industry.

However, sometimes, no matter how much evidence you prepare or how proactive you are in selling yourself and your abilities, your current or prospective employer may not be able to match your salary expectations.

If that is the case, exploring your options could be the best solution, and the Mail Jobs Board is the ideal place to focus your search. It features thousands of jobs that are currently hiring, including the three below.

Accelerate your job search today via the Mail Jobs Board