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When the hell do I negotiate salary?

J

jEct2

Golden Member
*Applied online for the project specialist position in a telecommunications company
*They called the day after wanting an interview
*The interview was scheduled on another following day
*On the interview date, I was interviewed freaking THREE times in one sitting. This lasted about two hours total. I met up with two supervisors, one head project manager and the vice president of the company.

There is no doubt in my mind that I did well in all interviews. I dressed appropriately, showed up 20 mins early, said the right things and while being sincere as I could.

This was friday. Today is Tuesday. What happens now? I feel like I'm helplessly sitting ducks.

[edit] more info:
*Salary was never in discussion during all three interviews. Not even remotely close.

1. Am I gonna have another interview? There's virtually nothing to talk about anymore. Both the company and I asked each other millions of questions already.

2. What is the 'standard procedure' in this case, in the corporate world?
 
if the offer is made, they'll tell you the salary. it's open to negotiation at that point.

edit: btw, it's too soon to call. give it some time
 
they will call stating they would like to offer the position to you, and would like to know your salary requirements.
 
They'll let you know by offering you the position and/or making an initial offer. That's when you should negotiate.
 
Originally posted by: blahblah99
They'll let you know by offering you the position and/or making an initial offer. That's when you should negotiate.
Click to expand...

Via phone call? If the salary isn't the right amount, how do I discuss in a professional matter when they call me suddenly when I'm off-guard?

I don't wanna just tell them on the phone, "That isn't enough $$ for me." What's a more professional and appropriate manner to handle an undercompensating offer on the phone?
 
Originally posted by: jEct2
Originally posted by: blahblah99
They'll let you know by offering you the position and/or making an initial offer. That's when you should negotiate.
Click to expand...

Via phone call? If the salary isn't the right amount, how do I discuss in a professional matter when they call me suddenly when I'm off-guard?

I don't wanna just tell them on the phone, "That isn't enough $$ for me." What's a more professional and appropriate manner to handle an undercompensating offer on the phone?
Click to expand...

Thank you for offering me this position. However, I'm expecting a salary between $your-right-amount to $rightamount+$10k which is connsumerate to my skills/experience

Don't say I'd like, or I'm wishing for ... use something like I expect. It gives them less wiggle room.
 
Originally posted by: jEct2
Originally posted by: blahblah99
They'll let you know by offering you the position and/or making an initial offer. That's when you should negotiate.
Click to expand...

Via phone call? If the salary isn't the right amount, how do I discuss in a professional matter when they call me suddenly when I'm off-guard?

I don't wanna just tell them on the phone, "That isn't enough $$ for me." What's a more professional and appropriate manner to handle an undercompensating offer on the phone?
Click to expand...

It depends. Are you dealing directly with the company? or through an agency. If you are dealing with an agency, you can be a little more candid becasue they are on your side.
In my experience, with an agency i have done the following:

you would say something in the line of. "Well, I appreciate the offer, But I was thinking of something in the area of XXX." this is if you have a number in mind. If you don't then say "Well I will have to think about it. Could I get back to you tomorrow?" Then the next day say " I have given it some thought, and feel that xxx would allow me to make a final decidon."

Good luck.
 
Originally posted by: jEct2
*Applied online for the project specialist position in a telecommunications company
*They called the day after wanting an interview
*The interview was scheduled on another following day
*On the interview date, I was interviewed freaking THREE times in one sitting. This lasted about two hours total. I met up with two supervisors, one head project manager and the vice president of the company.

There is no doubt in my mind that I did well in all interviews. I dressed appropriately, showed up 20 mins early, said the right things and while being sincere as I could.

This was friday. Today is Tuesday. What happens now? I feel like I'm helplessly sitting ducks.

[edit] more info:
*Salary was never in discussion during all three interviews. Not even remotely close.

1. Am I gonna have another interview? There's virtually nothing to talk about anymore. Both the company and I asked each other millions of questions already.

2. What is the 'standard procedure' in this case, in the corporate world?
Click to expand...

Most corporate type positions will also send an offer letter outlining Salary, benefits, etc. Also many times if you are offered a position over the phone they don't expect you to answer right away, you could ask for 24 hours to think about it and/or ask them to send you an offer letter outlining the pay and benefits. But like mAdMaLuDaWg said, you can always tell them the range that you're willing to accept, but it's almost a given that they will come back and offer you the minimum of the range you've said you'd accept. So while you don't want to high ball it (if you really want the job) because they may just think you are out of their payable range and end talks there you don't want to low ball yourself either. So it can be a touchy subject. One way to slightly avoid this in the future is to state your salary requirements on a cover letter when you send in your resume (while it's possible some people may ignore this) it can save you a lot of time doing interviews for a job that is way below your expected salary.
 
In most of the corporate world, the first round of interviews is just to determine if you are qualified for the job and (just as importantly) if you fit the team and corporate mold and attitudes. Yes, that sounds bad, but that's life in corporate america. A skate-punk hacker isn't going to get hired at Citibank even if he has l33t skillz.

In most of the interviews that I've gone through the first interview is with the hiring manager and team members who you'd be working with. This one is where they drill you with the technology questions and the odd duck questions. My favorite: Why are manhole covers round? (Two answers: Easy to roll and move around, and a round cover can't ever, ever fall through the manhole and kill somebody below).

In some cases, you will be brought back for a second interview. This interview is usually with a manager one or two levels up from the hiring manager and a few others that are interested in you - A couple of other bosses, some people from other groups, etc.

After that, they will usually stew on it for a while, make you sweat while they finish their interviews and make a decision. Someone from HR will typically call you and tell you they want to hire you. From there, you can discuss salary. Sometimes the manager will do the salary negogiations, other times HR will.

When discussing salary, make sure that you consider three things: How your salary would fit with the rest of the team (if applicable), how it compares with your old job (If you are performing similar functions, or how someone at your old job would have been paid for the same position) and, most importantly, what the market pays. Negogiate hard enough to try to get top dollar but don't be arrogant about it. In some cases, there are specific salary ranges that they HAVE to hire into. If you expect more, talk about a hiring bonus. If you have unvested stock options, be sure to mention those as a reason to stay at your old job as they might try to tempt you to come to their company with a hiring bonus to mitigate the loss of options.

One tactic is to play hard to get - Even if this is the only job you're applying for you can always ask them if they can wait a xx days before you giving them the answer as it's possible you might have some other offers to consider. Again, don't be a jerk about it, but let them know that you owe it to yourself to consider all the opportunities. I always like to add the "But I really liked your position and it's really tempting me.." It doesn't hurt to wait a few days and they might call you back to sweeten the offer.

- G
 
Nice post, Garion. I have an offer from a company I do consulting for, but they missed the mark by quite a bit IMO. I tried to be nice about it, and have left communications open for further negotiations. I won't take a step backwards in pay to take a salaried postion though. That would be insane!
 
Originally posted by: skyking
Nice post, Garion. I have an offer from a company I do consulting for, but they missed the mark by quite a bit IMO. I tried to be nice about it, and have left communications open for further negotiations. I won't take a step backwards in pay to take a salaried postion though. That would be insane!
Click to expand...
IF you have benifits now, that would not be feasible.

If you are covering your costs with no holiday/vacation then make sure that you take that into account. Overhead expenses add between 15-25% of the salary.

 
the consulting is a part time gig, for them and a few others. I have an RJ <regular job> with good bennies. The won't match up with my current RJ wages, but I know they'll want me to curtail my side work and want to "own me" as a saleried employee.
I hope they can step up to it, but I won't hold my breath...........
 
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