How to Negotiate Salary for Your Next Career Move

Posted by Ballarat Resume on 10 Aug 2025

Negotiating a salary can be an extremely difficult process, since it requires you to balance what you consider your worth and what your employer believes they’re able to pay. If it’s done right it could be positive for both parties, resulting in a higher salary for the employee as well as greater employee engagement in their work. Here’s how to negotiate your salary confidently.

Important Takeaways

  • Before you make a salary offer make sure you research market rates as well as industry standards to confirm that your salary offer is fair.
  • Get information from networking with colleagues, using online resources like LinkedIn Salary and Glassdoor, and contacting professional networks.
  • Plan your talk points ahead of time, including education & certifications, years of relevant knowledge, accomplishments and achievements with a unique set of skills and abilities, industry expertise, and potential for training.
  • During the negotiation, you must be confident and clear, but be flexible and open. Bring out tangible results you have achieved in previous roles.
  • Maintain a positive mood throughout the conversation, and engage in active listening.

Do your research

Prior to entering any pay negotiation, it’s crucial to conduct a thorough investigation of market rates and industry standards to ensure that your salary request is reasonable. Things that may affect this could include levels of experience degree, size of the company and geographical location. (?). Another great method to gather data is to connect with colleagues and others in your chosen field of work.

Research Online

With the aid of internet-based resources like [LinkedIn Salarywith the help of certain online resources such as [LinkedIn Salary] (https: //www. linkedin. www.linkedin.com/salary) and [GlassdoorGlassdoor (https http://www. glassdoor. com/Salaries/index. http://www.salaries.com/index.html) you can get more substantial approach towards the benchmarking range of salary companies pay for the same job. This gives you an idea of current market rate and a few other facets of a job.

Your Network is Essential

Find out more about your situation by talking with acquaintances who have had similar positions or reaching out through professionally-oriented networks as well doing brainstorming members of professional organizations.

Make Talk points

Time spent preparing for any negotiation is always time well spent. You’ll feel more confident in making your case if you have a clear set of talk points that you have outlined before the deadline.

Here are some examples of what you may want to consider including in your salary negotiation:

  • Education and certification
  • Years of relevant experience
  • Performances and results
  • Unique set of skills and attributes (e.g., bilingualism)
  • Industry knowledge
  • Training potential

The idea of keeping a notepad and/or notes handy could aid in conversations, so that one doesn’t forget any important details.

Be confident & concise

During a salary negotiation it’s crucial to appear confident and articulate. Be clear about your experience, achievements and job expectations. It’s essential to maintain a positive attitude throughout this conversation to ensure that your employer doesn’t feel like you’re appearing to be aggressive.

Highlight the tangible results

Simply saying that you are ambitious, hardworking, and goal-oriented might not be enough to generate an strong appeal. It is important to present clear and precise data regarding how prior roles have made a distinction in businesses or what are the most valuable skills which benefit organisation

Stay flexible

If your employer cannot agree to your salary request or compensation package, remaining flexible and open-minded will allow for discussions. You could ask about alternatives to incentives, such as performance-based bonus structures, instead of Base salary(? ).

Make sure to remain professional throughout the negotiation - regardless of how successfully or badly it’s going fighting too much or imposing unreasonable demands will likely cause a negative result for all parties that is.

Practice active listening

Listening is as crucial as communicating during these kinds of conversations. Pay attention to other party during negotiations hearing requests carefully and clarifying questions if needed, but remaining in the spirit of your their original request. The goal is to achieve satisfactory results.

Take what you have learned from these conversations and incorporate it into any future discussions you’ll probably be involved in. The tips mentioned above will go far in maximizing the chances of achieving positive, mutually beneficial results.

Your Network is Important Have a chat with friends who have held similar roles or reach out via professional networks and brainstorming with members within professional organizations.
Create talking points Certification and education, Years of relevant work experience, results and accomplishments, unique abilities and skills (e.g. bi-lingualism) Knowledge of the industry, Potential for training
Be confident & concise Be clear about your experience accomplishments, job goals and achievements. Highlight Tangible Results.
Keep your mind open Find out about other incentives, such as bonuses based on performance instead of Base salary (?). Keep your professional conduct during the negotiation process.
Practice active listening Listening is as crucial in these types of conversations. Learn away from these conversations and incorporate them into the future conversations you’ll probably be involved in.


Are you ready for your next career move? Take a look at out Ballarat Resume ‘s services today!

Frequently Answered Questions

What is the concept of salary negotiation?

Negotiating salary is negotiating and deciding on the compensation package for a position. During this process, you can discuss not just your salary base, but also other benefits like health insurance, retirement plans and many more.

Why is it important to discuss salary?

Negotiating your pay can provide you a more secure financial future and also show that you’re aware of what you’re worth. It also helps you not leave money on the table.

How soon should I negotiate my salary?

It is ideal to begin negotiations following the acceptance of an offer to ensure that everyone is aware of the terms being discussed. So, negotiations will be focused on securing perfect terms while avoiding unexpected surprises.

What happens if I am satisfied with the offered package without any negotiation?

If you receive an offer and you are satisfied with the offer, then there’s no reason to negotiate. However, it’s essential to have transparent communication about what the employer will offer with regards to things like performance-based bonuses or career-training reimbursements.

Can I negotiate my salary if switching careers completely?

Salary negotiation when changing career paths may require added training because your previous work experiences might not translate or relate to the new duties. Learn about the salaries similar to those in related fields offer to have a clear knowledge of the realistic expectations you can set for you, based on your particular situation.

Are you ready for your next job shift? Go through the services of our Ballarat Resume ‘s services today!

Excellent friendly service and outstanding results. Thanks Ballarat Resume.
Ian Robinson
I wanted to apply for a last minute job and these guys were so helpful to prioritising my application needs. The results provided were outstanding and achieved a level well above my expectations and what I was capable of writing myself. Quite possibly one of the best investments I have made in my professional career development. I highy recommend their services.
Robert Staff
Very professional and easy to deal with. Im very happy with my new resume.
Flora Johnson
Thank you so much for taking my jumble of documents and turning them into such an excellent resume and cover letter. I am so impressed by the quality and speed of your work while being really responsive to my needs. I feel much more confident in my job search now.
Hilke Legenhausen
Tanja is friendly and helpful. Her reply was quick, and her work is very professional. I would recommend Melbourne Resume.
Jonathan
Got a good paying job because of their resume.
Stalin Sunny
A wonderful team they have there at Ballarat resume - especially Tanya and Jaime. Tanya had made my super outdated resume look wonderful again and Jaime gave me an invaluable session and coaching on going for interviews. I highly recommend not only their resume writing services but also the interview coaching - especially for those who have been out of the workforce for a long time, it’ll definitely help one to be more confident and prepared for their next interview.
Meow Chan
Positive: Professionalism Amazing. Very Happy, looks fantastic :) Thanks so much.
Joe Magnus
I am so pleased to have used Tanja services. She was so responsive and very quick with completing my resume, cover letter and selection criteria. I am so happy that I invested in getting a professional resume. She was also helpful ! After receiving my Resume and cover letter I applied for the position and I ended up landing an interview and than getting the job!
Reagan Grace
A quick turnaround - easy to share my information and I am really happy with my new CV.
L L
Avoid Leaving Money on the Table with These Salary Negotiation Strategies

Resume

We provide professional resume writing services.

Avoid Leaving Money on the Table with These Salary Negotiation Strategies

Cover Letter

We provide professional cover letter writing services.

Avoid Leaving Money on the Table with These Salary Negotiation Strategies

LinkedIn Profile

We provide professional linkedin profile writing services.

Avoid Leaving Money on the Table with These Salary Negotiation Strategies

Contact Us

Click the button below to get in touch.

About Us &

What We Do

We offer expert resume writing services and our highly experienced resume writers will make sure that your resume stands out among the rest.

We’re a team of highly qualified and experienced Recruiters, consultants and HR Professionals who are committed to delivering an exceptional, well-written cover letter or resume.

We pride ourselves on our extensive understanding of best-practice hiring methodologies and Australian recruitment standards. Plus, our expertise in a wide variety of industries and professions means that we can create a high-quality, impactful resume that suits your personal requirements.

Our end goal is to deliver you with an impressive, striking resume that is correctly maximised for success in the competitive Ballarat job market.

We offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all of our writing services, so you can be sure that you will be fully satisfied with your new resume or cover letter.

100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
Make an Enquiry

Request a Quote

Fill out the form below to get in touch or call us today on
1300 615 870