Negotiating terms and conditions of contracts following a hiring offer can be a daunting experience for everyone. It has been noted by many observers, including women, that women have not been as savvy as men in negotiating compensation packages. This has resulted in depressed wages for comparable work being performed by men. Breaking that mold has been hard. In many ways “business” has been set up to be a man’s world with male behaviors dominating the way business is conducted. 

One of the biggest impediments for women has been the inclination to not cause what they perceive as conflict. By asking for optimal compensation, they too often feel they are rocking the boat and making waves. Throughout much of their lives they are making peace and taking care of others, which does not necessarily prepare them for the give and take and struggle of compensation negotiations. 

Here are some tips that I think will help to balance the situation and benefit women in their career development. 

1. Negotiating is a combination of art and science. Doing your research prior to negotiating is very important (which I will get into more below), but the art is equally important and has to do with body language, eye contact, authoritative voice, and the general vibes you give. I believe one’s interview and negotiating stance is enhanced by accepting that both domains deserve attention.
2. When being given a job it is expected that you will be thrilled about being offered the position. I would caution against letting exhilaration dictate too much of your negotiating posture. Try for a little detachment internally and in negotiations with the new employer, such that you do not lose sight of a degree of objectivity which can strengthen your hand.
3. Be clear on what you want as components of your overall compensation package. In addition to salary try placing an emotional and financial value on things like vacation, personal leave, and sick time; a telecommuting option; a degree of work autonomy; bonuses; a desire for a results-only-work-environment; appraisal methods; etc. You may be willing to dial salary down to ratchet some of these other benefits up.
4. You are in a better negotiating position the clearer you are about “internal equity”, i.e., what the employment market supports regarding your position. Many mention going to Glassdoor.com and Salary.com, which is fine. But I would expand the search to include Vault. com; The Occupational Outlook Handbook on bls.gov; onetcenter.com; and most importantly Pay Scale. Pay Scale does a great job of providing detailed salary reports for a variety of positions. They offer a free customized one for people who are starting to check them out. I recommend ordering one of these. You will feel better armed with data.
5. Yes, ask for relatively high compensation but without eliminating you from consideration or causing them to rescind the offer. Support the request with as many examples of transferable and related accomplishments from current and past experiences as possible in addition to tactfully communicating that you want to be lured away from your current compensation package where you now work. This is your “value add” pitch.
6. You may want to consider asking for performance benchmarks, perhaps in six months, communicating to them you would like the entertain the notion of a “raise” in the near term, if it is looking like their final offer may come in a bit low for you.
7. Keep in mind the long-term career benefit when negotiating the short-term details. This job may mark a turn that can lead to career development benefits in your chosen field far into the future. This development potential may outweigh some “lost” benefits you may experience over the next year or two.

Women are already making significant gains in education and employment in this fast-growing and knowledge-based economy. It only makes sense that compensation should follow.