Negotiate your pay before you take a job

Here's how to find out the current pay rate for a job so you know what to ask for:

• talk to recruiters to get an idea of pay for similar roles and skillsets
• check pay rates in job advertisements
• talk to your workmates or people you know in the industry
• check pay information in the job profiles on careers.govt.nz.

• View job profiles for over 400 jobs

Most employers expect you to negotiate pay and conditions when they offer you a job. They may be able to pay more based on your research.

You may also be able to negotiate:

• flexible hours
• staff benefits like higher contributions to KiwiSaver
• extended parental leave
• training opportunities.

Sorted’s KiwiSaver calculator lets you see the benefit of your employer contributing 6% compared to 3% to your Kiwisaver.

• Sorted website - KiwiSaver calculator

Many women find pay conversations uncomfortable and as a result miss out on pay increases that their employers could have been happy to give them.

Once you know what the salary band is you can then negotiate the best deal possible once you get a job offer. Pay negotiation should be a standard part of the recruitment process.

A top recruiter says, "In my experience as a manager, men don’t think twice about asking for more money, but frustratingly women just aren’t asking. I've seen plenty of times where women are happy to accept an offer for the same role at a lower salary to a male candidate.”

Dr Jo Cribb, co-author of Take Your Space: Successful Women Share Their Secrets, says that "Talking about pay is uncomfortable. But we all have the right to ask. Once you know what you’re worth, have the confidence to highlight this to your prospective employer."

• Job offers and employment agreements 
• Mind the Gap website – New Zealand’s pay gap registry
• Sorted website – Get paid what you’re worth

Based on Sorted’s “Get paid what you’re worth” and reused with permission.