How to Win the Job by Communicating with Confidence

Fearless Interviewing

even say them out loud or into a tape recorder. Look at

all you know. Look at what you can do. Look at who you

are.You didn’t just pull this stuff out of thin air. You

really did it! You deserve an exceptional reward for the

value that you bring.

One Job, Two Different Salaries

Let’s have a look at Thomas and Stephan, two men who
approached the issue of salary discussions very differently and
ended up with quite different results.
Thomas is a 34-year-old technical recruiter with 5 years’
experience. He’s been out of work for several months and is get-
ting anxious about finding a job. He’s already gone into debt
after being laid off 3 months ago, and he’d really like to get an
offer from today’s interview. In the back of his mind, he knows
he will accept any reasonable offer. Anything would be better
than continuing to be unemployed.
Thomas figures he already knows about interviewing tech-
niques because in his last job, he interviewed other people. When
Thomas interviewed for this recruiting position in a staffing com-
pany, he walked away with an offer of $30,000 base salary plus
commissions and a full benefits package.
Stephan has only 3 years’ experience in technical recruiting
and is 37 years old. He’s done considerable research on inter-
viewing techniques, salary negotiation, and the company he is
interviewing with. Though his finances have gotten very tight
during a period of 3 months of unemployment, he’s willing to
wait it out for the right job at the right salary. Stephan has an
interview today at the same company that Thomas is interview-
ing with. Although he has less experience than Thomas, Stephan
negotiates for a salary of $60,000 plus commissions with full ben-
efits, a hiring bonus, several perks, stock options, and permission
to telecommute from home two days out of the week.
What happened here?
How did Stephan, with 2 years’ less experience command
$30,000 more in salary, plus extensive benefits, perks, and stock
options? The chart below examines some of the things Thomas
and Stephan did differently.