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Salary negotiation is an art which can be mastered quite easily. If you keep some simple points in mind during salary negotiation you can get that dream salary. Most of the companies have a well defined system for increasing employee compensation but more often than not employees need to do salary negotiation with management. Here is how you should do salary negotiation:

Step 1
Talk directly to your manager for salary negotiation. Don’t email, don’t talk on the phone but talk with your manager in person when doing salary negotiation. This will put across the point that you are really serious about salary negotiation.

Step 2
Explain why your employee compensation should be hiked. Saying that you have been working too long at same salary is no good during salary negotiation. Start salary negotiation by talking about how your performance has not been appreciated, Keep your salary negotiation centered around how you have always excelled at your job, how your peers with similar responsibilites have been rewarded etc.

Step 3
Be specific during salary negotiation. Give specific examples of where you out performed and exceeded expectations when you negotiate salary. Good examples help you to put your point across during salary negotiation. Read the rest of this entry »

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Many times while looking for a new job, working professionals need to write job emails to prospective employers. Not knowing how to write these job emails can kill your employment prospects even before they started materializing. Writing job email is the first step towards getting your dream job. Following steps if followed in the sequence can help you write job email which will get you the job.

Step 1:

Introduce yourself in the job email. Getting a job email from a complete stranger can be a shock to even the most seasoned recruiters. So introduce yourself in the very beginning of the job email. Example, I am <your name> working as Marketing manager in Infosys.

Step 2:

Give references in job email. After introduction in the job email you should give the names of the references who have directed you to the prospective employer. Example, I am a close friend of <your friend’s name>, who also happens to be your close acquaintance. Even better is to ask your reference to write an introductory mail before you send your job email to the prospective employer. Read the rest of this entry »

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Let’s face it;  employee layoff sometimes becomes necessary for survival of the company, especially during bad times. Layoff is definitely not a pleasant experience for either of the involved parties. But layoff can definitely be made less painful for the fired employees.

Step 1:

Explain why  layoff is done for select group. Employer should base his explanation on the fact that the people who have escaped layoff are the bare minimum set the company needs to keep running. At any time do not blame the employees who were part of the layoff for the misfortunes of the company. A promise that the employees who have to bear layoff may be hired when company is in better shape also helps to restore the self esteem of the employees who face layoff.

Step 2:

Offer help in finding new jobs to employees who face layoff. An employer typically knows lot of other companies in the same domain and can easily refer employees who face layoff to its competitors. It may seem that you are giving away your intellectual property to your competitors by doing this. But the employee who bears the layoff can anyhow join any of your competitors. By referring him / her to a particular competitor you can actually minimize the damage that such a move could have otherwise done.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Downsizing is a harsh reality which majority of professionals face sometimes during their work life. But the way you look at downsizing makes all the difference. Downsizing can either demotivate you or downsizing can make you stronger. Know how to handle downsizing:

Step 1:

Don’t let downsizing dishearten you. The fact that you were part of downsizing does not mean that you are no good. It just means that company and you were a misfit. If you delve deeper you will invariably find reasons that have made you part of the downsizing. In most of the cases you would have also taken the same downsizing decision had you been on the other side of the table.

Step 2:

Look at the economic reason behind the downsizing. In a majority of cases the decision of downsizing is driven by economic reasons. So if you try to see the economic rationale behind the downsizing you will feel better. Read the rest of this entry »

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Experience resume is the single most important document which determines the next job that an experienced professional will get. All working professionals switch jobs a couple of times during the course of their career and experience resumes should highlight their strengths and accomplishments. Here are some pointers to be kept in mind while preparing an experience resume:

Step 1:

Follow reverse chronological order in experience resume. Put your latest job at the top of experience resume, followed by the one before that and so on with your education details at the end. Last section in an experience resume can be related to extracurricular.

Step 2:

Experience resume should have details of measurable performance in the past. Nothing speaks louder than numbers in an experience resume, so back all your achievements in past jobs with numbers. For example the experience resume can have: Achieved sales target of USD 4 million in a short span of 3 months. This conveys the idea more strongly than just saying, ‘Successfully completed the sales target’ in an experience resume Read the rest of this entry »