When it comes to expressing their needs, many job applicants tend to be very reserved. They fear being excluded from the recruitment process if they bring up their own ideas about how a position should be structured. I often hear from coachees that the most important thing right now is just to get the job. They plan to renegotiate certain aspects after they’ve started. But by then, it’s usually too late!
Even if it may seem irrational at first glance: once applicants have accepted a job, there’s usually not much they can change. This does have a certain logic to it. After all, managers rightly wonder why employees suddenly start making demands they never mentioned during the interviews.
So, out of fear of rejection, many job seekers sell themselves short during the application process. It would be much better to enter the conversations with their ideal vision of the job and the work environment – at least to negotiate part of it. For more on this, read my article «What you can learn from a professional negotiator for your application».
Companies are often open to discussion
That companies can unexpectedly be willing to compromise is shown by the following example: A client had resigned from his leadership role because inefficiencies in the company were hindering his work. While he was working with me on a personal and professional assessment, his former employer offered him a position as a project manager. The goal of the transformation projects was to optimize the very departments he had often criticized for their lack of professionalism. He showed no interest. Since I suspected, he wasn’t completely opposed to the idea, I invited him to play a little game.
Employee needs are valued
I asked him to define under what conditions he would find the offered role interesting. The only rule of the game was that he should focus solely on his own needs and ruthlessly demand everything that was important to him. He listed around ten items. Among other things, he wanted to start at a 20% workload and decide himself when and by how much to increase it. Additionally, he was only interested in some of the projects.
After writing down all his demands, I handed the list back to him and encouraged him to enter negotiations with the company using this catalogue. He thought I was joking and laughed at me. Eventually, though, he accepted the challenge and spoke with his former employer. To his surprise, the company agreed to all his demands – without him even having to fight for them.
Time and again, I see that companies are quite willing to accommodate the needs of their employees – but many employees don’t even know exactly what’s important to them or where they want to go professionally. That’s why more and more companies are choosing to offer their employees a personal and professional assessment with me – a worthwhile investment!
#application #outplacement #jobinterview
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What you can learn from a professional negotiator for your application