Closing the Book on this Amazing KIT List Adventure!

My dear friends and KIT List Community,

With heartfelt gratitude and a deep appreciation for each of you in this remarkable community, I want to let you know that I’m closing the book on this incredible KIT List adventure this February.

After 25 ½ years, I want to thank you all for being a part of this unique community that grew to over 72,000 top professionals simply by word of mouth and the power of friends helping friends. We estimate that over 135,000 people have been a part of the KIT List community as people unsubscribed as they found jobs, and then returned when they were looking again.

Thanks to you, we’ve been able to share over 176,000 job postings. We’ve also had many free “FriendWorking” events to learn a better way to network by helping others first. I’m grateful to the many hiring experts who generously shared their inside tips both in person and online in our free hiring experts panel events.

I’ll still keep many of the job tips and career management resources up online, as well as parts of the KIT List site. Please see the Resources section below for the links!

I’ve had the honor of meeting many of you in person over the years and connecting by email or phone. I’ve been touched by the quiet courage and heroism of so many who lost their jobs but had families depending upon them – often in very adverse situations like a dying spouse, a sick child, or some special need that made their burden particularly heavy. Yet their spirit of hopefulness, and the desire to do whatever they could to provide for their families kept me inspired to keep the KIT List going during the many times over the years I just wanted to close everything down.

A Time for Something New

Now that there are so many strong job search and career platforms, the KIT List has served its mission and purpose.

I’ve been hoping to dedicate my time to some new things that have been on my heart for a long time. It’ll be involving creativity and kids, who are our hope and future! I’ve also been winding down the KIT List for the past few years since I haven’t had the bandwidth that it demands.

The team at one of the many KIT List Events (Amy, me, Kelly)

I originally planned to close the KIT List in early 2020 – but then COVID hit the whole world. So, I didn’t feel I could close the community in good conscience when so many were out of work during such unprecedented times. That’s when my sister and co-moderator, Kelly, and I created videos to encourage everyone, and provide tips via interviews with hiring experts on how to get a job during a worldwide pandemic. The links to the “The Corona Videos” series are in the Resources section below.

A Bit of Background

In case you don’t know our story, I had no idea what I’d accidentally started in 1997 with my simple “Keep in Touch” email list with my friends at SGI. Had I known what it would entail back in 1997… I would have run for the hills! But I really believe it was God’s idea since I never intended to start anything like this. As friends told other friends about the KIT List, it grew to what I jokingly call “72,000 of my closest friends!” But once it took a life of its own, I just wanted to be a good caretaker of this unique community (that predated LinkedIn and the big job platforms).

It really meant a lot to hear from many of you when you got a job, and how heartening to hear that many of you landed multiple jobs from the KIT List! Someone recently told me that they’d landed four jobs over the years! It was so fantastic to hear from so many recruiters and employers that the KIT List community was their “secret sauce” for finding top candidates.

My Dad was the Real Inspiration for the KIT List

It was actually my Dad who modeled the spirit of helping many friends by keeping in touch over the years through phone calls, helping them find jobs, making hospital visits, or a sending handwritten card of encouragement. I still treasure his many notes to me, and they perk me up whenever I feel down! I wrote a tribute to him in my blog, which I’m SO grateful that I did since he died suddenly just a few weeks later. Here’s the link to “The Man Who Inspired the KIT List.”

Dad before Parkinson’s…he never lost his sense of humor!

Resources for Job Search Will Remain Up!

Over the years, we’ve had many free events with panels of career experts, plus special “FriendWorking” events to learn a warmer and better way of networking where you come with the idea of helping others first. We had hundreds turn out most events!

I’ve also tried to share encouragement and job tips (as well as the life lessons I was learning!) with our community over the years through my email messages to the entire list, and later through the blog posts. I’ll keep the blog up so people can access those tips and resources. Also, I was invited to have a KIT List show on a local TV station a few years back. I’ll keep those shows up since the interviews and inside scoop from the hiring experts remain very relevant. In fact, I received emails from people saying they watched them prior to job interviews – and LANDED THE JOB!

KIT List Resources to help you find a job you’ll love:

• KIT List Blog – More career resources and job search strategies, how to network better through FriendWorking – plus messages I sent to the KIT List to encourage everyone during tough times and share personal life lessons I learned from my own “bumps in the road!“

• KIT List “Get That Job!” TV Show – The inside tips and best practices from the hiring experts on how to nail your job interviews – and ways to grow your career (we get emails from people who landed their dream job after watching these videos before interviews!).

• KIT List “Corona Videos” – My sister and co-moderator Kelly and I interview recruiters and employers on how to get a job in a pandemic (or any difficult market!)
  

A Heartfelt Thank You

It’s been an honor and privilege to serve this wonderful community. I’m so very grateful to the people who stepped up to volunteer their time to help me when the workload became overwhelming.

As the KIT List grew so quickly, I struggled to work on the KIT List in the late-night hours after I’d finished my own marketing consulting work (my paid job!). Some very special people stepped forward to volunteer their help when I was hitting the proverbial wall.

I want to thank Val Cienega, whom I hadn’t met at the time, but was a member of the KIT List community who came forward to volunteer as a moderator for many years! My dear friend from SGI, Amy Sloniker Plunkett, also pitched in and helped with the sheer volume of work needed to moderate and keep our community free of spammers and protect it from those wanting to exploit this large community. Then my wonderful sister, Kelly Connelly, joined in as well. Each of these gifted people had their own MORE than full time “real jobs” and helped in their spare time. I am deeply grateful to them!

Sometimes the best things in life are the unexpected ones. The KIT List was a surprise to me – and it took a life of its own thanks to each of you spreading the word to help your friends and colleagues.

The spirit of the KIT List is due largely to YOU. Your kindness and helping others will continue and grow in other wonderful ways. Thank you for being a part of the KIT List family!

Although the KIT List is officially closing in February, the power of helping others keeps growing as a force for good as you continue to share your gifts in our world.

Thank you for enriching my life in more ways than you will ever know,

Sue Connelly

Your KIT List Founder

Attention Consultants: Participate in the WIC Best Practices Survey — and Get a Free Copy of the Report

Hello Everyone,

I’ve been a longtime member of Women In Consulting (WIC), which is a terrific organization for consultants and business owners — for women and men.

One of WIC’s many powerful resources is their annual Best Practices Survey.
Over the years, it’s offered excellent insights into the evolution of Bay Area consulting businesses, such as billing trends and rates, consulting expertise and specialties, structure and operations.

Take the Survey and Get a Free Copy of the Report. 

The survey is open March 14 to April 7, 2017 and takes only 10 – 15 minutes to complete at: www.tinyurl.com/wic2017

You do not need to be a member to participate — and participants will receive a free copy of the survey results when it is released in June.

Also, everyone who participates is entered into a drawing for a free WIC workshop or general meeting.

Whether your business continues to expand, has experienced a slowdown or turnaround, or is consistent with last year, please share your experiences.

Feel free to pass the survey link along to other consultants outside of the WIC Community. The more people who complete the survey, the more meaningful the results will be. Male consultants are welcome to participate, too!

Important Details

The survey closes April 7, 2017 and takes 10 – 15 minutes to complete.

All participants who complete the survey receive the results (normally a member only benefit!) and are entered into a drawing to win one of five prizes (whether or not they’re WIC members): a seat in any future WIC workshop (1 winner) or a voucher for one recorded webinar (4 winners).

All information collected in the survey is confidential.

The survey asks some detailed questions about your business for 2016:

• Total revenue for 2016
• Average hourly rate (if applicable)
• Average retainer fee (if applicable)
• Average project fee (if applicable)
• Target hourly rate in project fees (if applicable)
• Number of subcontractors used
• Total amount paid to subcontractors and/or employees

In addition to the report that WIC sends to all participants, they will also present the results at a members-only meeting held at Michaels at Shoreline on Thursday, June 15.

If you’d like to take this opportunity to join WIC as a Premium or Leaders Network member prior to the meeting, you will be able to attend the meeting and benefit from the many other resources and informative meetings WIC provides to consultants.

Thank you in advance for participating, and please forward this to other consultants you know..…the more the merrier!

Thanks, everyone,

Sue

5 Ways to Building Meaningful Connections on LinkedIn

Hi Everyone,

When I saw the “Top Entrepreneurs in the Bay Area on LinkedIn” with my friend Jayne Brodie’s wonderful face on that list, I asked her to share her methods for doubling her network with our KIT List community. Read on!

– Sue

I have actively been using LinkedIn for the last 3 months to grow my business, and have learned very quickly that making strong connections on LinkedIn is very similar to making strong and meaningful connections live.

During these past few months, I’ve doubled the size of my LinkedIn Network, increased the size of my personal sales by 18%, and made some powerful and profitable new connections; and equally important, my sales funnel is full.

Now more than ever with the holidays in full swing, it’s a great time to leverage LinkedIn as a way to solidify connections and keep in touch.

Here are My 5 Steps to Building Meaningful Connections:

1. Clearly identify your target market – who are you looking for?
   Before you start your search using LinkedIn, first create a profile (in Word or Excel) of your ideal connection and then list keywords to search for them.  Be clear about who you’re looking for and what their key traits are…some examples would be entrepreneur, wellness coach, personal trainer, jewelry designer, whoever is a candidate for buying your services, or connecting you to someone who would buy or fill a need that you have in your organization. You can narrow this down by zip code or geographic area as well if your services are local, or go national or international if they are not.

2. Look for people that are active on LinkedIn, with over 500 connections.
   Since you are using this platform to network you want to find others that are doing the same. In both the laptop and mobile devices, this feature is in their profile summary at the top of their profile page.

3. Create “Advanced Search” criteria to narrow your search down and find commonality with your market.
   You can do this by zip code, what college you went to…any key phrase. On a laptop or desktop, this feature is located to the right of the search bar at the top of the page. (At this time, this feature is not available on mobile devices.)

Advanced Tip: You can look for multiple areas in common with connections as well which boosts response rates. Example: If you market to personal trainers, you could look for personal trainers that are also alumni of your college, have a specialty within their profession, or that share another common interest or have a really specific need you could fulfill.  This gives you multiple touch points to begin your connection with. You want to show you’ve done your homework (it’s a fast process) and stand out from the crowd.

4.  Reach out with a personalized message about what you have in common with them and why you want to connect.
   Don’t send out the standard LinkedIn connection message, and don’t pitch your services right away! Your goal is to build rapport, relationship, and create a true connection. Not everyone will respond. It’s truly a numbers game and you have to reach out to enough people to find those true connections.

Advanced Tip: When you hit the “Connect” option a drop down list will come up with options about how you know this person / why you want to connect. I always choose “friend” so LinkedIn doesn’t question that connection. Go down to the “Include a Personal Note” section and type in a personal note.

Example: With the personal trainer example we started with, here’s what I would write if I coached personal trainers and was looking for connections: “Hi Paula! I saw your profile and wanted to connect as we have so much in common. We are both alumni of XXX and I work with Personal Trainers!” That’s it!  You will stand out by creating curiosity and being relevant. By going the extra mile and really creating that relationship (and interest) up front, your acceptance rate will be higher and you’re inviting a conversation right away.

5. When the connection is accepted, reach back out and start a conversation.
   I never say anything about myself until asked, I ask questions about them — what they do and how LinkedIn is working for them, what types of clients do they work with, or how is business going? Whatever seems most relevant to them by what they’ve put out there on their profile. Sometimes this means going back and forth five times, sometimes once. When the conversation gets going, I always take it offline with a phone call or coffee. The chat feature is amazing to start the ball rolling, but it’s not a true conversation tool.  The key is to leverage it to then begin the real conversation offline.

When there is engagement after a few back and forth messages and if it’s a good match, take it offline so you can have a real conversation. The messaging component of LinkedIn has opened up so many doors, but it’s still a messaging platform. Conversation creates connection.

Top Tips to Keep The Momentum Going

1. Set a time on your calendar to work LinkedIn every day.
   15 minutes a day will go a long way. Make a goal to reach out to 5 new people a day and start connecting. If you can make it 30 minutes it will go that much faster. The key is consistency.
2. Over time your messaging folder will be really full. Avoid the temptation to just follow up and stay in the chat feature.
   To keep that sales funnel full, you must be doing two things…adding new people to it AND following up with those with whom you’ve started conversations.
3. Once I started offline conversations, I moved these connections over to my regular CRM system so I could track them and keep everything systematized in terms of follow up.
   The good news is you will build a lot of new connections…and make sure you have a way of tracking them that works for you.

 

About the Author:   

Jayne Brodie is a lifelong entrepreneur. After a long and successful career owning an ad agency, she made a career change after turning 50. You can learn more about Jayne and connect with her on LinkedIn. She was able to reach the “Top Entrepreneurs in the Bay Area on LinkedIn” by the daily activity listed above and continues to leverage LinkedIn in support of her rapidly growing business, coaching women entrepreneurs on how to create residual income streams alongside their busy lives.

An important event for young girls and teens at the Girls’ Festival in San Francisco on 10/15

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share the news about a powerful and fun Girls’ Festival that WorldWide Women is hosting to help thousands of girls of all ages, covering leadership, STEM, career planning, wellness and more.

Come to the first-ever WorldWideWomen Girls’ Festival
Saturday, October 15
in San Francisco!

Tickets are $10 per person, girls under 12 attend free.

Register now at:
http://www.worldwidewomenfestival.com/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=KIT

Join them for a day of fun, exploration and empowerment!

This festival will bring thousands of girls together to help them discover programs and services available just for girls, make new friends and get inspired to become their best. These programs and services will cover 4 important areas of life: future, possibilities, power and body.

There will be plenty of activities for girls of all ages to choose from throughout the day:

– Participate in workshops, such as “find your dream” career speed mentoring session all day long and “map your future” leadership and skill-building activities.

– Enter contests, including the BizWorld Girlpreneur Competition (a.k.a. shark tank for girls) by September 25th for a chance to win and present their ideas in front of Mark Cuban and Tim Draper!

– Visit exhibits, watch performances by girls’ groups and listen to inspirational speakers.

– Learn about education, STEM, career planning, leadership, entrepreneurship, health and wellness, safety and more.

– Check out science, fashion and art projects created by girls in the makers’ space, and enjoy a Super Cool Girls Fashion Show. Then, take your fitness to a new level with expert sports clinics and demonstrations.

Please help spread the word in social media using the #WWWFestival hash tag.

If you have a young women in your life, this is a must-attend event! Help them on their journey to adulthood!

Warmly,

Sue

Job Seekers’ Seminar on “Creating Your Great Elevator Pitch” on 12/3

Hello Everyone,

There is a great Job Seekers’ seminar coming up on Thursday, December 3, 2015.

This seminar is sponsored by CSIX Connect, which is a terrrific job search and networking group for which I have a lot of admiration. CSIX’s founder, Hamid Saadat, was kind enough to share his job search expertise with the KIT List community on one of the TV programs I hosted, called “Get That Job!” If you’d like to see the YouTube video of the show, and hear Hamid’s sage advice along with another HR hiring expert, Tom Brouchoud, Head of Talent Acquisition at EMC and former Director of Global Talent at Sandisk. You can watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHSlVMUbNuE

Please pass this information on to other friends who want to create an effective Elevator Pitch that will attract the right job to them!

Warmly,

Sue

Job Seekers’ Seminar
Your Elevator Pitch: Making Your ’30-second Commercial’ Really Work for You!
Thursday, December 3, 2015
10:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Saratoga Federated Church
Richards Hall, located at 20390 Park Place
Saratoga, CA 95070
The cost to attend this meeting is $10 — cash only, no checks or credit cards. The fee covers program, lunch, tax, and tip.

RSVP at the CSIX Meetup site:
http://www.meetup.com/CSIX-Connect/events/226029593/

Delores Marik Ph.D.

The Job Seekers’ seminar will be part of CSIX Connect’s regular weekly meeting. It will be presented by another great friend of mine, Delores (Dee) Marik Ph.D., with whom I had the pleasure of working when I was consulting at Hewlett-Packard. Dee now has her own coaching practice — and I can tell you from personal experience how great she is in career coaching and resume advice since she gave me excellent feedback on my own resume! You can find out more about Dee and her coaching work at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marik

This seminar will focus on your Elevator Pitch, also known as “Your 30-second commercial.” Dee will discuss what an elevator pitch is, why you need one, and when you should use it, and how to make it work best. Plus, there will be an opportunity for you to create and practice your elevator pitch during the meeting.

The CSIX weekly meeting agenda is as follows:

10:00 – 10:30   Arrival of attendees, check-in, open networking
10:30 – 10:40   Meeting starts, new member introductions
10:40 – 10:55   Job leads, contact requests, announcements, etc.
10:55 – 11:10   Open networking
11:10 – 12:00   Speaker presentation
12:00 – 1:00     Lunch and table networking

CSIX Connect is a Silicon Valley job searchers’ networking and support group that meets every Thursday at 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM.  If you are actively looking for a job, it’s a smart idea to join them on a regular basis!

For further information about CSIX Connect, including information about parking restrictions and future programs, please visit http://www.csix.org.

Job Fair in San Jose next Wednesday, November 4th

Hi Everyone,

I want to share news about job fairs, networking events, and other free career resources that are available in the greater Bay Area and beyond. If you hear of something, please email me and I will share it with our KIT List community!

It’s really worth it to go to job fairs, since I can speak from personal experience — I found a job myself early in my career at a job fair. Meeting the HR teams personally is a tremendous advantage. 

So, put on your best professional attire, print out a bunch of resumes, give yourself a positive pep talk for confidence building, put a smile on your face and…GO!!!

There are a series of job fairs coming up through HIREevent in San Jose (11/4), San Francisco (12/7), Modesto (11/17), and Sacramento (12/8). The full list can be found at www.hirevents.com.

Here are the details for the San Jose job fair:

Silicon Valley HIREevent

Wednesday, November 4th

Noon – 4:00 PM
Biltmore Hotel
2151 Laurelwood Road

Santa Clara, CA 95054

Even if you think you may be too senior to go to some of these events, I always think it’s worth it to just get out and interact with new groups of people with whom you’d never have exposure. Also, the companies there have jobs all levels, so you just never know what might be the perfect fit for you!

If you aren’t an extroverted type of person (and even extroverts feel uncomfortable at these types of events, by the way!) grab a friend for mutual moral support and make the effort to go.

Half the advantage of doing this is simply getting out of the house. If you are in between opportunities, it’s always important to just…get…out!

Take advantage of the many opportunities for networking groups and professional organizations to get exposure to people in your particular field. It’s worth it to go to the lunch or dinner for your local professional business organization.

A different way to look at networking 

I firmly believe in the concept of what I call “Friendworking” since I am not fond of the word networking. Like most people, I feel uncomfortable with usual way of networking, even though most people would consider me an extrovert. In truth, everyone feels uncomfortable and awkward at these types of events, and I somehow felt that it seemed self-serving.

I found a way to turn it around in my own mind so that I could feel authentic and really tap into the true power of helping people. It creates this magical momentum that actually ends up attracting good things for yourself as well.

The idea of Friendworking is to go instead with an attitude of “I’m going to go there to help and connect others.” It puts you in a stronger role of a host, looking out for others and making THEM feel more comfortable, introducing them to other people at the event, and having a “What can I do to help YOU?” attitude. This actually changes your demeanor and body language, and you’ll actually feel more relaxed! I wrote more about it in a previous blog post:

https://kitlist.wordpress.com/2009/06/06/it%E2%80%99s-your-%E2%80%9Cfriendwork%E2%80%9D-not-a-network/

Try out the concept of Friendworking yourself, and remember that even in a room full of strangers…that a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet!

Have some fun with the process, go with an attitude of helping others, and see what happens!

Warmly,

Sue

Free Phone Interview Preparation for Women on 9/16

Hello Everyone,

The Silicon Valley and Bay Area are quite robust with free and low-cost career and job resources.

One upcoming event is worth attending since so much of the job search process depends on successful phone interviews before you ever meet the team in person. It’s always a smart idea to keep those skills fresh, especially if it’s been a while since your last search, or to pick up some essential tips if you don’t feel you project your best over the phone.

This event is being conducted free-of-charge by the experts at CareerGenerations in a unique spot in Palo Alto called Deborah’s Palm Women’s Center.

The details are below and feel free to share this with other women who’d benefit from this free training!

Warmly,

Sue

Free Phone Interview Training for Women

Wednesday, Sept. 16

5:30 – 7:00pm

Deborah’s Palm Women’s Center 

555 Lytton Avenue

Palo Alto, CA  94301

Parking is available behind the house (cross streets are Webster & Cowper) at 555 Everett Court.

Employers are starting the interview process with the often challenging “phone screen.” Come and find out how you can best prepare yourself for these meetings so you can move on in the interview process as smoothly and quickly as possible!

The session is free, but pre-registration is required. Light refreshments provided.

Join this fun, interactive session where you’ll learn how to leverage your strengths, distinguish yourself, and be more comfortable during phone interviews.

No cost. Pre-registration is required.

Please note this session is for women only.

To Register, please click here. 

If you have problems with the link, below is the full URL:

http://careergenerations.com/events/free-phone-screen-interview-prep-for-women-sept-16/

About Deborah’s Palm:

www.DeborahsPalm.com

Deborah’s Palm is a non-profit organization offering all women a place to unwind, connect with others, discover new options, and restore a sense of well-being. In a warm and welcoming environment, women can find encouragement and support via professional counseling, access to resources, activities, classes, mentoring and community service projects.

Meeting this Saturday: “Getting a Job in the Digital Age: The Anti-Advice Talk” by Noted Anthropologist

Hi Everyone,

There’s a great event coming up this Saturday by our friends with the Career Actions Network, which is a remarkable organization through MPPC (Menlo Park Presbyterian Church), that provides free services to help get people connected into jobs.

Presented by an anthropologist, Ilana Gershon, who was a visiting professor at Stanford, this is relevant information to those who want to change jobs (not only people who lost their jobs, but also the employed 50% who want to change jobs).

As a visiting professor at Stanford, Ilana spent last year researching job transition in Silicon Valley. She collaborated with the Career Actions Network while she was doing her research, and she is currently on their Advisory Board.

This is worth attending. Pass
the word and bring a friend!

Warmly,

Sue

MPPC Career Actions Meeting 5/16:
“Getting a Job in the Digital Age: The Anti-Advice Talk” by Noted Anthropologist

New Attendees pre-register here (its free): www.careeractions.org

Saturday, May 16

ODCMV Fellowship Hall at 1667 Miramonte Ave., Mountain View, CA

Agenda:

9:30am: Coffee/networking

9:55am Topic: Getting a Job in the Digital Age: The Anti-Advice Talk

Guest Speaker: Ilana Gershon

About the presentation:

What do you need to do to get a job in this digital age? Do you need a LinkedIn profile? Are hiring managers looking for your personal brand? Ilana Gershon is an anthropology professor at Indiana University who thought asking job seekers, hiring managers, recruiters and HR how hiring works might shed some insights into what is actually going on in contemporary US as hiring and the nature of work changes. She did a year of fieldwork in the Bay Area, trying to figure out what has changed about hiring since the 1980s. Find out what an anthropologist has to say about hiring these days.

About the speaker:

Ilana Gershon is a cultural anthropologist at Indiana University interested in how new media transforms highly-charged social tasks, such as breaking up or hiring in the United States. She has written about how people use new media to end romantic relationships in The Breakup 2.0: Disconnecting over New Media. Her current research addresses how new media shapes hiring in post-recession U.S. companies.

In May or June, she will have a new edited collection of imagined career advice for real jobs around the world. If you want to know how to be a professional wrestler in Mexico or a magician in Paris, pick up a copy of A World of Work: Imagined Manuals for Real Jobs (Cornell University Press, 2015).

Project Management Bootcamp sign ups for classes starting 4/7

Missed it last time? Due to its popularity TechSF, a service of BAVC, theBay Area Video Coalition, is offering another free intensive Project Management Bootcamp (with job connections included) starting April 7th!

Many people from the KIT List signed up for the last Bootcamp and they’ve asked us to post this to our community again. This is an excellent opportunity to get some key training to open doors for you in the world of project management!

Project Management Bootcamp

Do you excel at managing projects? There are over 12,000 project management jobs in the Bay Area starting at $50K annually and nearly 10,000 jobs starting at $70K a year.

Get certified and get paid to do what you do best. Plus, you’ll have your own personal job coach for up to one year who will connect you with employers looking for project management candidates.

When: April 7th-May 28th, Tues/Thurs 6pm-9pm
Where: AcademyX, downtown San Francisco

Apply here (http://bavc.tfaforms.net/320905) if:
– You have some project management experience
– You are passionate about organization
– You love making order out of chaos
– You have a High School Diploma
– You are at least 18 years old
you are a U.S. citizen or have permission to work in the U.S.
– You have been laid off, are unemployed or underemployed

Questions?

Email admissions@bavc.org

Salary Negotiations: An Art and a Science

By Lisa Stotlar

Negotiating salaries and other benefits can be hard. It’s hard because it involves risk. It’s hard because you don’t do it very often.

I love making this process easier for people. There are some tricks of the trade I’ve picked up that I hope can help demystify the whole thing for you. Let’s start with why you might not do it. Fear. It is a powerful emotion and can be very useful in this situation. Distinguishing whether the fear you’re feeling is a warning to prepare well for the negotiation or a sign to avoid the whole thing altogether is a good first step.

I’ve had lots of clients who negotiate successfully and some who don’t. The difference is in the preparation, understanding/managing fear, and reading the employer’s signals during the negotiation. I call all this the “Art and Science” of negotiating. The “Science” is the formal prep you do beforehand and the “Art” is the tap-dancing you will need to do in the moment because you never know what they’ll throw at you in a conversation.

The “Science”

Books, web articles, and/or a good career counselor/coach can teach you the science of negotiating – the concrete how-to’s, the math of it, the “if this happens, then do this” scenarios, i.e., all the “homework” you need to do to prepare for the negotiation as well as how to handle your fears. But if you don’t work on your Art too, things can go badly, quickly.

The “Art”

Be sure and pay attention to the subtle clues you can collect during the whole interview process. By the time the offer arrives, you ideally will have a sense of whether the hiring manager/company is flexible, has some wiggle room in the budget, has rigid HR restrictions, really wants/needs you for the role, etc.

All these things give you an idea of how much you can ask for and how carefully you need to tread during the meeting. Remember to be fully present, listen carefully, and assess where the delicate balance/threshold is in the conversation. For example, if the person says his/her “hands are tied” and can’t give you X, then you need to hear that and thank them for letting you know rather than push the issue. Trying to stay on some script (the Science) would be a bad move at this moment.

Here are some real examples of how these things can play out well when you mix Art and Science:

Real Stories as Examples

One of my clients was offered $20K more than the fair market value for her type of job. She didn’t ask for more money, but she did negotiate other things. She had done her homework and was fully ready to negotiate, but the Art of this was to recognize that they were already going above and beyond for her and so it would have seemed odd/out of touch not to recognize that. She happily accepted the offer after a little back & forth about the start date. She wanted a real vacation before starting and was able to get that.

Another was offered a position at a major university. It was a very good offer, but he was coming from the corporate world and had been used to negotiating fairly hard. I recommended that he soften his tune for this if he really wanted the job. Universities often have clear guidelines about what they will and won’t offer. So gently asking if there was any flexibility in the salary was going to be a much better approach than assuming there was more money and simply throwing out a higher number. It turned out well. The hiring manager went back to HR to negotiate on my client’s behalf. The manager and my client were in a sense already a team – bonding over this issue. He ended up with just $2K more, but the positive relationship with this manager was worth its weight in gold. And he did get some other perks including the ability to work from home fairly regularly and to attend at least 2 national conferences every year.

Another client was afraid to negotiate, but was determined to do it and really worked hard on preparing. But … in the end, I actually recommended that he not negotiate salary or a signing bonus. I could sense the offer was a bit precarious and he was desperate for the job. He wasn’t able to fully recognize important nuances in conversation partly because English was his second language. Every time we role-played, he was very forceful in his language and tone. He ended up negotiating a later start date, plus 2 weeks off for a pre-planned vacation, and some tools he needed for the position like a laptop and cell phone. He’s been in the job for about 6 months now and loves it. He feels he negotiated well and I agree.

Win-Win

If you decide you want to negotiate the salary, remember the whole exchange needs to be a Win-Win. You want to get something (Win), but they need something too (Win). So if for example, you’re offered a salary of $100K and their range is $95-115K, then you need to ask for more than you ultimately want to end up with in order to bring their final offer amount up.

For example, let’s say you want to bring the offer up by at least $5K – then nicely ask if there’s some flexibility with the salary because you were “hoping to get something in the $110s, if possible.” This will hopefully get you a final offer of $105-110K. That would be more money for you (Win), but still less money than the high end of their range (Win). You both get something out of the deal.

Note: If you had just said directly – I’d like $105K, the middle ground (Win-Win) would have yielded you about $103K. So know going into the discussion where you want that final number to be and then plan your strategy accordingly.

Lots of things to potentially ask for …

When thinking about negotiating, think about all the things you might want to negotiate for. By expanding your options, you will have the overall Win-Win results you want. Consider …

1. Title

• Title can affect money and future titles

2. Money

• Base Salary
• Salary increase at 3 or 6 months if meet specific criteria
• Bonus (annual, at 3 months, signing bonus, etc.)
• Commission
• Profit sharing
• Stock options
• Overtime $ or Comp time
• If not being given medical, etc., ask for additional $ (up to 30%)

3. Time

• Request time off for a scheduled vacation, surgery, etc.
• Request a specific start date so you can have a real break before starting

4. Schedule

• Work remotely X days/week
• Work off-site
• Flexible work schedule
• Later or earlier starting (or ending) time every day or on specific days
• Longer lunches when you want them – or the ability to skip lunch and leave earlier
• 4-day work week (10 hours/day) or some other variation you need/want
• Work part-time or work part-time at particular times (for example, summers)

5. Benefits

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Disability/Life Insurance
• Vacation days, comp time, wellness/personal days, doctor appointment & sick time, other?
• Pension, 401K
• Matching investment program
• Parking costs/train pass
• Childcare subsidy
• Gym membership

6. Training

• Conferences
• Association dues
• Tuition Reimbursement for you, your children

7. Equipment

• Cell phone, laptop, car, etc.
• Equipment for your home office if you’ll be doing work from home

8. Relocation

• Moving expenses
• Mortgage assistance

By thinking about negotiations in a much larger context than just salary, and remembering to aim for the Win-Win, you can end up with a much more robust offer.

Remember, no matter how it all plays out, end the negotiations on a high note. Be grateful that they tried to get you a good salary, even if they ultimately aren’t able to offer you what you exactly want. Being gracious about the process and giving them a final “Yes, I happily accept” answer will start you on a very positive path.

I wish you all the best in your next negotiations!

About the Author:
Lisa Stotlar, MA is a career counselor/coach for CareerGenerations in Palo Alto, a career services firm she co-founded with Ellen Shulman, MA in 2010. She has successfully helped thousands of people discover and celebrate their gifts and find meaningful work – and negotiate all sorts of Win-Win packages. For questions about negotiating or other career topics, you’re welcome to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation with Lisa or her colleague Ellen at www.careergenerations.com and if you’d like to know more about negotiating and gain some invaluable practice, sign up for their March 11 $mart Negotiations Workshop.