Salary argument w/ CFO

[goobernoodles]

Long story short:

Prior to Monday, I was part of a 2 man IT dept, handling 95% of all problems, working with my boss/IT director. My boss sent in his 2 weeks on Monday. As of today, after speaking with the CFO today, it's official I'm taking over. We're going to talk about the money tomorrow.

I need some general tips on negotiating the money side of things. My boss was making 70k. I'm making 40k. He thinks I shouldn't take anything under 60k, and has made me an informal job offer at the company he's moving to...

Today the CFO gave me a line that "he'd take care of me" when I brought up the money.

Does anyone have any tips on trying to negotiate salaries as a 1 man IT dept...? My biggest fear is not being paid enough while being thrown into a 24/7 job.

 

[FleshLight]

[ATOT]Let him throw out a number first.[/ATOT]

 

[Farang]

Turn that informal offer into an offer so you have something concrete to consider next to the CFO's offer.

The CFO is desperate, or at least sees you as the easiest/best solution and doesn't want to bother recruiting someone else.

You are definitely in the driver's seat.

 

[a123456]

[ATOT]Let him throw out a number first.[/ATOT]

Pretty much this. The first guy to toss out a number loses most of the time. Not sure how replaceable you are, but it'd obviously be more smooth if you stayed on versus them hiring a new person.

See if you can dig up some comps in the industry in your area and what kind of offer your old boss was thinking of, just to have some ammo to use if they lowball.

You may be surprised if they're desperate. At one point, I was expecting X but the company really wanted someone soon and was making a lot of money, so they offered above market rate at 1.5X. At that point, you just "smooth call" and say that it's sufficient and celebrate privately later on.

 

[DesiPower]

I think what he will do is get you into a meeting and discuss a lot of things like your future and how great a job you are doing and stuff... and then "tell" you how much you will be making. It will all be wrapped in a nice "talk" package. There is nothing you can do, but just to accept it. He will NOT give you a chance to negotiate...

 

[novasatori]

Do you really think they wont be flexible with the only person left doing IT work?

 

[Railgun]

Depends on what exactly he's doing. How large is the company? What exactly is he responsible for? How long have you been with the company? What's your company's revenue look like? What city are you in? How long have you been doing your job (regardless of company)?

Taking Salary.com as an example, the median for an "IT Director" is $161k. $106k for a manager and $91k for a mid-level supervisor. So, it all depends really on your environment.

If he was half of the equation only making 40k, would a 20% bump be (un)realistic? Too many questions that need to be answered.

 

[edro]

How big is the company?
You won't be getting a 50% increase if it is a corporation.
Most corporations limit increases to a percentage, around 20%.
I could see you getting an offer of $50k.

Was your old boss older than you? How old are you and him? Age has a HUGE impact on promotions at most companies.
Bosses are influenced by your age and how much you make. They don't like to pay someone more than they made at that age.

Also, they could easily hire a new IT person with a ton of experience for <$70k, so don't think you have all the cards.

 

[sdifox]

How big is the company?
You won't be getting a 50% increase if it is a corporation.
Most corporations limit increases to a percentage, around 20%.
I could see you getting an offer of $50k.

Was your old boss older than you? How old are you and him? Age has a HUGE impact on promotions at most companies.
Bosses are influenced by your age and how much you make. They don't like to pay someone more than they made at that age.

Also, they could easily hire a new IT person with a ton of experience for <$70k, so don't think you have all the cards.

not a matter of increase, more a matter of changing job.

 

[ultimatebob]

I think what he will do is get you into a meeting and discuss a lot of things like your future and how great a job you are doing and stuff... and then "tell" you how much you will be making. It will all be wrapped in a nice "talk" package. There is nothing you can do, but just to accept it. He will NOT give you a chance to negotiate...

Not true... there is ALWAYS room to negotiate, assuming that you're willing to walk out if you don't get what you want. The problem is that most people are too cowardly to fight for the salary they think they deserve, and just accept the first lowball offer they receive.

Not that I should complain... it keeps labor costs lower.

 

[edro]

not a matter of increase, more a matter of changing job.

It's still inside the same company, so it's an increase.
>20% increase in any corporation is extremely rare.

 

[sdifox]

It's still inside the same company, so it's an increase.
>20&#37; increase in any corporation is extremely rare.

say he is assuming his manager's old job and the starting salary is 20%> than his current job, you are saying he won't get the starting salary of the position?

Assuming he has the qualifications and they want him to be the manager of course.

 

[dabuddha]

If you get the promotion, will they be filling your spot? Cause if so, it's not a 1 man IT dept anymore. If they're not, then I'd ask more than 70k personally.

 

[wwswimming]

It's still inside the same company, so it's an increase.
>20% increase in any corporation is extremely rare.

it depends a lot on the size and culture of the corporation.

once we gave a 30% increase to a mechanical designer that worked for me because he was damn good and it was also about the time we fired one of his co-workers. the guy that got fired was a "favor hire" (he was the son of a manufacturing manager) and he was just not into the job.

i think my own manager was hoping that the guy that got the 30% raise would help to hold down the fort for the duration of our project ... it was a bet-the-company kind of product.

most likely, the IT function is critical to the success of the OP's company. i would say it's not just a good time to insist on a significant raise, but also to ask for some stock options.

it might also be a good idea to "move into the job" - if managers in the company wear ties, start wearing a tie. since they're considering you for the position, that alone tells you something - they know way more about you than some guy with a spiffy resume. some guy can have Microsoft on his resume, or "Microsoft veteran" on his CV, and have done absolutely nothing at Microsoft.

i'd hold on for at least $65K and stock options.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

How many people are in this company?


FYI..... A '1-man' IT department is SIGNIFICANTLY more stressful than 2... All responsibility and accountability is in your hands. Depending on how the company operates, you have to worry about IT being the 'fall guy' for things and that kind of crap..


Personally, I'd rather be running a 2 person team and making 70k than a 1 person team making 80k.


I would address how you take vacations, and at what point it's acceptable for you to hire another person. I would also find a 'part time guy' to come in a day or two a week (depending on how many users you're supporting)

 

[PingSpike]

Do you really think they wont be flexible with the only person left doing IT work?

Seems like a real possibility, yes.

 

[Texashiker]

Regardless of what you want, your going to get what they give you - and your going to be happy about it.

Any raise is a good raise, unless its something like 25 or 50 cents an hour.

Any promotion looks good on future resumes.

Regardless of the money, this could be a real career booster in the long run.

 

[Jeffg010]

How many people are in this company?


FYI..... A '1-man' IT department is SIGNIFICANTLY more stressful than 2... All responsibility and accountability is in your hands. Depending on how the company operates, you have to worry about IT being the 'fall guy' for things and that kind of crap..


Personally, I'd rather be running a 2 person team and making 70k than a 1 person team making 80k.


I would address how you take vacations, and at what point it's acceptable for you to hire another person. I would also find a 'part time guy' to come in a day or two a week (depending on how many users you're supporting)

This x100 I would make sure that a second guy was going to get hire but management will lie like a mother fucker. They say they will hire someone else but the next thing you know you are still the only one. Being understaffed is one the worst things that can happen at a work place. You have them by the balls go high and get what you can.

 

[richardycc]

1 man IT dept? So you are basically on call 24/7, so you put a pricetag on that.

 

[Bignate603]

Regardless of what you want, your going to get what they give you - and your going to be happy about it.

Any raise is a good raise, unless its something like 25 or 50 cents an hour.

Any promotion looks good on future resumes.

Regardless of the money, this could be a real career booster in the long run.

No, no he won't. His workload just jumped up significantly and now his ability to take time off has been seriously affected. If he's the only guy that does IT it means he's ALWAYS on call.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Sounds like your boss who's leaving is on the right track. If he makes 70k, there's no reason you can't make at least 60k. If you're a 1 man IT department, AND you know how everything works there, I don't think that's too much to ask.

 

[sdifox]

And don't be too greedy, remember that before tax income looks a lot better than after tax. Say it's 10k difference, after tax is probably 6k, which is 120 more per week.

 

[ViviTheMage]

more details!!

 

[Aharami]

No, no he won't. His workload just jumped up significantly and now his ability to take time off has been seriously affected. If he's the only guy that does IT it means he's ALWAYS on call.

but there is an upside to that: being a 1 man dept shows leadership and time-management skills to future employers.

 

[Texashiker]

No, no he won't. His workload just jumped up significantly and now his ability to take time off has been seriously affected. If he's the only guy that does IT it means he's ALWAYS on call.

And the average unemployment rate nation wide is close to 9&#37;. Now is not the time to be demanding anything.

Take what they give offer him with some negotiation, then go back 3 - 4 months and discuss things further.

3 - 4 months after the takes the position, if he can say he has improved certain things, then that might give him more leverage room.