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So last night we got 'the call' The job that my husband has dreamed out.. they way I explain to people how big of a deal it is to him is 'If you were a devout Catholic, and the Pope called you and asked you to be his personal assistant, that would be close...'/
We asked for X amount of dollars, with 7k below X being what we had decided in private was our bottom number for it to be more than a lateral move from here money wise.
They offered 8k below OUR bottom number.
To be fair, we get 400 fully vested stocks, a complete relocation package, 3k cash, a couple trips down there, housing for a while, and he will recieve a 15% of salary bonus each year if the company meets projections, plus a few extras.
We recrunched numbers last night, and we are still on the fence. How do we negotiate this? We have always been offered more than what we were hoping for previously.
Okay, he was offered the "dream job"...and you are crunching numbers? Deciding on whether or not to take the offer? What is the disconnect in that entire scenario?
I did that same thing several years ago, took a huge pay cut...but since then have doubled my pay at this employer...by working my way up. So, look at the big picture.
These days...salary negotiation is tricky...because it used to be that $20,000 in sign on bonus was common...now, folks are lucky to get thrown a bone of $5000. Don't annoy this employer, or try to play hard ball...because the truth is, you ain't the only one out there, with your skills, looking for work...don't think you are too unique or awesome.
Last edited by jasper12; 03-22-2012 at 08:20 AM..
Reason: edit.
What did they do, call up and speak to both of you via speaker phone? Did you send a joint resume, and go the interview together?
Here is a tip about negotiating salary. If they offered X....go back to them verbally and nicely and simply say, 'Can the salary be increased to Y? Then stay silent and wait for then to answer. they will likely say they will check into it and get back with you. You really don't want them to promise and increase in 6 months or a year. This often does not happen and you want to get in on day 1.
Do NOT say "I won't take it with X, I must have Y". Your key situation here is that you are trying to get more salary. However, if they are unable to give the higher salary, you want to be able to take the original salary if you choose.
Okay, he was offered the "dream job"...and you are crunching numbers? Deciding on whether or not to take the offer? What is the disconnect in that entire scenario?
It's 15k below what they expected. Their absolute bottom number was 7k below what they expected. The employer offered 8k below that number. That's 15k less total. Maybe losing almost 1k per month take home pay is too huge of a cut for them to take.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jasper12
Don't annoy this employer, or try to play hard ball...because the truth is, you ain't the only one out there, with your skills, looking for work...don't think you are too unique or awesome.
If they think they might accept this offer, they should tread carefully, but if they plan to turn down the offer, they have nothing to lose by trying to negotiate.
Okay, he was offered the "dream job"...and you are crunching numbers? Deciding on whether or not to take the offer? What is the disconnect in that entire scenario?
.
There is no disconnect, just common sense.
We have 3 children, I am only 4 months in remission from cancer so I am not working for a while, and we don't want to over extend ourselves.
Dreams are wonderful, they are what keeps us going. This is a job my husband has wanted since he was a teenager, but in reality we have 3 kids, and sometimes you have to step back from YOUR dreams to take care of your responsabilities.
What did they do, call up and speak to both of you via speaker phone? Did you send a joint resume, and go the interview together?
.
I'm assuming you aren't married because in a partnership, everything is WE. They specifically offered him a 'full family relocation package' so, yes, WE is relevant here.
As to you other advice, noted. We weren't planning on body slamming them and holding a knife to their throat. Although that might work.....
Congratulations on getting the job offer. When you crunched your bottom line number, did you take into consideration the cost of living where you will move to? When I moved from the Northeast to the South for a job, the COL differential was 15%. So you should take your bottom number (if you are calculating that against the COL where you are currently) and subtract the COL differential. For example, if you need $100K there and your're moving to an area of 15% less COL, you only need $85K. There are websites out there that give you this information. I just don't have it on hand at the moment. You might be surprised that you are actually ahead of the game!
Last edited by BagongBuhay; 03-22-2012 at 08:56 AM..
Reason: correction
It's 15k below what they expected. Their absolute bottom number was 7k below what they expected. The employer offered 8k below that number. That's 15k less total. Maybe losing almost 1k per month take home pay is too huge of a cut for them to take.
If they think they might accept this offer, they should tread carefully, but if they plan to turn down the offer, they have nothing to lose by trying to negotiate.
You hit the nail on the head. 15k is a lot of money. a thousand a month is a car note, groceries, and whatever lesson the kids get into. Its the difference between paying your bills month to month sometimes and putting something away.
We don't want to sound nit-picky, or whiney. We are greatful for the job opportunity, but we also don't want to be lowballed and then be in the same money tight situation we are in now.
Congratulations on getting the job offer. When you crunched your bottom line number, did you take into consideration the cost of living where you will move to? When I moved from the Northeast to the South for a job, the COL differential was 15%. So you should take your bottom number (if you are calculating that against the COL where you are currently) and divide that by the COL differential. There are websites out there that give you this information. I just don't have it on hand at the moment. You might be surprised that you are actually ahead of the game!
We looked at COL calculators, however, we used those when we moved from the South to DC and they were ALL wrong. We ended up in a more tight situation here than we have ever been in .
So what we did was we extensively researched costs. Got an approx amortized mortgage calculation, asked realtors for approx energy costs, figured in property taxes, 401K contribution, how much we spend on groceries, car, school lunches, gas, insurance, healthcare,etc. Then we added an an amount equal to kids lessons and a 2 meals out a month for our family.
Then on top of that we figured in we will need a second car, and will want to put at least 500 away a month because our nest egg was totally depleated here.
That all came out to our bottom number. They offered us 8k less than that.
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