salary negotiation

[joecool]

ok, so i'm in the midst of negotiating salary with a potential new employer. the details have been ironed out and i've got an offer letter in hand - a small raise from my current job and a nice stock option package. my current employer has counter-offered with a pretty sweet deal - ~5% raise over my current salary, plus a one-time bonus (6K), plus some options.

comparing the two jobs, i want the new job. the option offer at the current job is probably not worth much, but the raise plus bonus is tempting - the new job, tho it includes a small raise, will actually wind up being less $ as the 401k match isn't nearly as good. note that the new job offer does not include any kind of signing bonus - kind of surprised me but they weren't willing to negotiate this so maybe that's not so rare given the economy. note they did negotiate the salary - the initial offer was a low-ball, actually below my current salary.

so, my question is, do i try to use the counter offer from my current employer to squeeze a signing bonus out of my new employer, or do i risk pissing off my new employer too much?

ok, cliffs:
- got a job offer, negotiated terms, got a reasonable deal. i want to accept.
- current employer offering a decent retention package
- should i use retention package to try to negotiate further with new employer or will that just backfire?

 

[FreshPrince]

it's too late for the old company, go with the new job

as for squeezing more...it never hurts to ask...the worst they can say is no, then you take it anyways...

the reason you don't want to stay at the old job is that once you go through the motion of them matching someone else, they no longer trust you. They will give you the raise now, but they will also begin looking for your replacement and slowly edge you out. Therefore, it's best to just go with the new job.

Although, if you already have a good job, why switch? money is not everything...

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
it's too late for the old company, go with the new job

why?

 

[tfinch2]

Squeeze everything out of old employer. If they give in, stay with them. If not, who cares? You have a new job anyways?

 

[sygyzy]

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
it's too late for the old company, go with the new job

Do not stay with your current employer. You will regret it. You should never pit companies against each other.

 

[aniepras]

What is the field the economy/job market is actually good for most fields right now

 

[Nightfall]

I know of a lot of people who take counter offers who get canned later. In short, the company knows your loyalty doesn't lie with them since you were out looking. Now, you may not get shafted if you take the counteroffer and stay with your current company, but I wouldn't take the chance.

You have an offer in hand from the new company. You like this new company better. Go with them. Before you leave your current company though, make sure you give them 2 weeks notice and don't burn any bridges.

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Squeeze everything out of old employer. If they give in, stay with them. If not, who cares? You have a new job anyways?

yes, new job offer in hand, but trying to squeeze out of old employer means i'd stay here - which i actually don't want to do, but i'm wondering if i could use the retention offer as leverage to negotiate further with new employer.

note - i'm a chip design engineer

 

[Pepsei]

Originally posted by: joecool

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
it's too late for the old company, go with the new job

why?

in theory they could remove that raise months later due to low revenue and you have no new job to go to.

 

[FreshPrince]

I edited my response..

 

[BrokenVisage]

Somehow manage to get yourself fired from the current job as well as disenchanting the new employer from even wanting you anymore.

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: Nightfall
I know of a lot of people who take counter offers who get canned later. In short, the company knows your loyalty doesn't lie with them since you were out looking. Now, you may not get shafted if you take the counteroffer and stay with your current company, but I wouldn't take the chance.

You have an offer in hand from the new company. You like this new company better. Go with them. Before you leave your current company though, make sure you give them 2 weeks notice and don't burn any bridges.

yeah, that's pretty much what i'm thinking. i did this once before and actually took the counter-offer but my status seemed to decline after that. i wound up leaving two years later (for my current job) - and that time there was no counter offer!

 

[GoingUp]

you can get your offer rescinded too. i heard about people trying to get offers higher for the company to pull the offer off the table

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
it's too late for the old company, go with the new job

as for squeezing more...it never hurts to ask...the worst they can say is no, then you take it anyways...

the reason you don't want to stay at the old job is that once you go through the motion of them matching someone else, they no longer trust you. They will give you the raise now, but they will also begin looking for your replacement and slowly edge you out. Therefore, it's best to just go with the new job.

Although, if you already have a good job, why switch? money is not everything...

thanks for the elaboration ... reason to switch is better location (ie, much shorter commute), better company, and opportunity for upward movement - i'll be starting a new group and so will naturally move into the role of lead/manager unless i really f*** things up.

re/negotiating it does seem that it can't hurt to ask and if they come back with something that's all the better for me. but they have been tough negotiators and i want to start off on the right foot.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: joecool

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
it's too late for the old company, go with the new job

why?

At some companies, once they know you'll leave as soon as you get a better offer, they place you in the "lame duck" category. The retention offer may just be to keep you on long enough for them to find a replacement.

If you want to stay you might want to get some kind of contract / agreement that they will keep you on for at least a year or pay some additional severance fee. If it works, and especially if there are penalties for you leaving early as well, this might even reassure them that you won't threaten to leave again next month.

 

[aniepras]

I would look to the future and determine which job looks better on resume (i.e. Experience) decide where each company will be in the next few years and your opportunities for growth in both companies. I think you are safe with your old job in the computer field they are used to people finding other offers. This one company told my friend we can?t give you a raise but if you quit we can hire you back for more money. Figure that one out.

 

[FreshPrince]

Originally posted by: joecool

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
it's too late for the old company, go with the new job

as for squeezing more...it never hurts to ask...the worst they can say is no, then you take it anyways...

the reason you don't want to stay at the old job is that once you go through the motion of them matching someone else, they no longer trust you. They will give you the raise now, but they will also begin looking for your replacement and slowly edge you out. Therefore, it's best to just go with the new job.

Although, if you already have a good job, why switch? money is not everything...

thanks for the elaboration ... reason to switch is better location (ie, much shorter commute), better company, and opportunity for upward movement - i'll be starting a new group and so will naturally move into the role of lead/manager unless i really f*** things up.

re/negotiating it does seem that it can't hurt to ask and if they come back with something that's all the better for me. but they have been tough negotiators and i want to start off on the right foot.

ok, red flag...

if you are potentially moving into lead role...thing it through...do yo really want that?

Managing is not for everyone, and I can tell you being the "tech" guy makes a less stressful life. Think it over.

 

[Maximus96]

good advice. what is the proper way to ask for a higher salary if the offer is lower than expected?

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: FreshPrince

Originally posted by: joecool

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
it's too late for the old company, go with the new job

as for squeezing more...it never hurts to ask...the worst they can say is no, then you take it anyways...

the reason you don't want to stay at the old job is that once you go through the motion of them matching someone else, they no longer trust you. They will give you the raise now, but they will also begin looking for your replacement and slowly edge you out. Therefore, it's best to just go with the new job.

Although, if you already have a good job, why switch? money is not everything...

thanks for the elaboration ... reason to switch is better location (ie, much shorter commute), better company, and opportunity for upward movement - i'll be starting a new group and so will naturally move into the role of lead/manager unless i really f*** things up.

re/negotiating it does seem that it can't hurt to ask and if they come back with something that's all the better for me. but they have been tough negotiators and i want to start off on the right foot.

ok, red flag...

if you are potentially moving into lead role...thing it through...do yo really want that?

Managing is not for everyone, and I can tell you being the "tech" guy makes a less stressful life. Think it over.

yes, what you say is true, i've done lead work before and it is definitely a mixed bag. doing pure tech work is definitely easier in many ways ... however, i've pretty much capped out on the pure engineer side of things salary-wise, so if i want to grow my salary from here it's the only route.

 

[aniepras]

Originally posted by: zaku
good advice. what is the proper way to ask for a higher salary if the offer is lower than expected?

I said to an employer i like what you have to offer and think this would be the type of work i would be good at and enjoy but this other company has made an offer of such and such $$ that i can't refuse

 

[frankie38]

Congratulations. Donet even think about staying, this is not even an option. Go ahead and push on your new employer. They want you so now is the time to make your case for as much money as you can. You need facts to support your case.

In the end a few K after taxes amounts to very little. Just be respectful and do not buld expectations so high so you will fail.

 

[Argo]

They offered less than your current employer and also didn't offer you a signing bonus? That's very odd. Take the following with a grain of salt, but here's what I think:

If they're trying to low-ball you that bad, do you really want to work for that place? What is going to happen when your yearly review comes up and it's time for a raise? Would they be lowballing you again, only this time you won't have any leverage?

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: zaku
good advice. what is the proper way to ask for a higher salary if the offer is lower than expected?

in this case i just told them there was no way i could take a pay cut, and that since their benefits weren't quite as good i needed at least a moderate raise to cover the difference.

comparing the two jobs i feel the new job is better for my career, more interesting, with more potential upside (including the stock) than my current employer. i just wish i could get a signing bonus out of the new company. but given it's where i want to be anyway it seems like it might be dangerous to attempt further negotiations at this late date, and risk putting them off.

anyway, i already declined the counter-offer from my current boss so it's probably water under the bridge at this point - time to stop looking back and move on.

 

[Feldenak]

Speaking of salary negotiation, other than salary.com and payrate.com, what are some good sources of info? I've got a second interview coming up and I'm trying to get prepared for that part of the process. Is there much negotiation with new grads coming out of school?

 

[Yax]

Originally posted by: joecool
ok, so i'm in the midst of negotiating salary with a potential new employer. the details have been ironed out and i've got an offer letter in hand - a small raise from my current job and a nice stock option package. my current employer has counter-offered with a pretty sweet deal - ~5% raise over my current salary, plus a one-time bonus (6K), plus some options.

comparing the two jobs, i want the new job. the option offer at the current job is probably not worth much, but the raise plus bonus is tempting - the new job, tho it includes a small raise, will actually wind up being less $ as the 401k match isn't nearly as good. note that the new job offer does not include any kind of signing bonus - kind of surprised me but they weren't willing to negotiate this so maybe that's not so rare given the economy. note they did negotiate the salary - the initial offer was a low-ball, actually below my current salary.

so, my question is, do i try to use the counter offer from my current employer to squeeze a signing bonus out of my new employer, or do i risk pissing off my new employer too much?

ok, cliffs:
- got a job offer, negotiated terms, got a reasonable deal. i want to accept.
- current employer offering a decent retention package
- should i use retention package to try to negotiate further with new employer or will that just backfire?

If you try to renegotiate with the new company, you're just looking for trouble. Just take their offer. Don't stay at your old job either.