how-to-negotiate-a-job-offer

Congratulations! You’ve been offered a job. Now what? Are you going to be able to get the salary and perks you want?

While you should never bring up compensation in a job interview, you’ll be in a better position to negotiate what you want once a job is offered if you use the interview to learn as much you can about the practice. In other words, when it’s your turn for questions, ask:

  • What goals must the new hire accomplish in the first 30, 60, and 90 days in this position?
  • What projects could the new hire help you with during the first 3 months?
  • Are there any constraints under which the new hire will have to work?

If you have the answers to these questions and have done research ahead of time on salaries in your geographic area, you’ll have a starting point for negotiating your compensation package. One place to research salaries is the website of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Just type the title of the position your seeking-for example, dental assistant or office manager-into the site’s search box, and you’ll get some helpful figures.

Don’t start negotiating as soon as a job is offered. Ask for a few days to think over the compensation package. You know that the people interviewing you, probably the practice’s dentists, must have liked you or you wouldn’t have been offered the job, but the person with whom you’ll be discussing compensation might not have been involved in the interview at all. This person might be meeting you for the first time, so when you return with your counteroffer, you have to make this person like you too. Be polite, professional, and confident.

Salary is not the only feature on which you can negotiate. A one-time signing bonus, insurance, start date, vacation days, parking, fitness club membership, commissions for bringing in new patients, and registration and course fees for continuing education are other items that can be negotiated. But don’t haggle over every little detail, as that can have negative consequences. Instead, signal what’s most important to you. This allows the employer to be flexible in rewarding you,

If you reach an impasse in the negotiations but this is a position you really want, ask if you can sit down together again after 90 days on the job to evaluate your performance and re-evaluate your compensation. Get that promise in writing.

If you’re asked whether or not you’ve been offered another job, don’t lie, but if you are indeed weighing two positions, remember that the one with the higher salary might not be the best fit for you. Consider factors like office culture and environment, commuting distance and cost, and job flexibility, responsibilities, and autonomy. Your happiness is most important, so choose the position that’s going to provide that.

Share:
DentalPost is the dental industry’s premier and largest online and mobile job board.
We connect and educate more than 900,000 job seekers in the U.S. and Canada to build better places to work through teams that excel.
Featured Posts
love your dental job

JOB SEEKING

Fall Back In Love With Your Dental Career

A career in the dental field can be highly rewarding; however, like other careers, it can have its highs and lows that can challenge our decision to forgo a career […]

Allie Morgan, RDH
Allie Morgan, RDH

Posted October 04, 2022

dentalpost employer features

EMPLOYERS

7 Features of the Best Dental Hiring and Recruiting Platform

The hiring process can often feel like a balancing act. Potential candidates should be skilled enough to tick all the job requirements while also being a good fit for the […]

Tonya Lanthier, RDH
Tonya Lanthier, RDH

Posted May 08, 2022

dental job board

JOB SEEKING

7 Features of the Best Dental Career and Job Search Platform

Looking for a new dental job – for whatever reason – can be a complicated, time-consuming, and emotionally draining process. Even when you find an opportunity that appears to be […]

Tonya Lanthier, RDH
Tonya Lanthier, RDH

Posted April 01, 2022

dental holidays

National Dental Holidays to Celebrate at Your Practice

Recognizing your dental team with gratitude for their hard work over the year is quintessential to having a successful practice. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are great examples of appreciation […]

Jennifer Reeves
Jennifer Reeves

Posted March 03, 2021

dental

JOB SEEKING

Which States Have the Highest RDH & Dental Assistant Wages (& the Lowest)?

As the demand for dental hygienists and assistants increases, wages are rising for dental hygienists and assistants. DentalPost’s 2023 Salary Report includes multiple income statistics, including income averages for the […]

Deborah Bush
Deborah Bush

Posted February 12, 2019

Featured Posts
love your dental job

JOB SEEKING

Fall Back In Love With Your Dental Career

A career in the dental field can be highly rewarding; however, like other careers, it can have its highs and lows that can challenge our decision to forgo a career […]

Allie Morgan, RDH
Allie Morgan, RDH

Posted October 04, 2022

dentalpost employer features

EMPLOYERS

7 Features of the Best Dental Hiring and Recruiting Platform

The hiring process can often feel like a balancing act. Potential candidates should be skilled enough to tick all the job requirements while also being a good fit for the […]

Tonya Lanthier, RDH
Tonya Lanthier, RDH

Posted May 08, 2022

dental job board

JOB SEEKING

7 Features of the Best Dental Career and Job Search Platform

Looking for a new dental job – for whatever reason – can be a complicated, time-consuming, and emotionally draining process. Even when you find an opportunity that appears to be […]

Tonya Lanthier, RDH
Tonya Lanthier, RDH

Posted April 01, 2022

dental holidays

National Dental Holidays to Celebrate at Your Practice

Recognizing your dental team with gratitude for their hard work over the year is quintessential to having a successful practice. Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are great examples of appreciation […]

Jennifer Reeves
Jennifer Reeves

Posted March 03, 2021

dental

JOB SEEKING

Which States Have the Highest RDH & Dental Assistant Wages (& the Lowest)?

As the demand for dental hygienists and assistants increases, wages are rising for dental hygienists and assistants. DentalPost’s 2023 Salary Report includes multiple income statistics, including income averages for the […]

Deborah Bush
Deborah Bush

Posted February 12, 2019