Arabella Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I am a hiring manager and I still get anxious about this. Ugh. I just got an offer from a Fortune 100 company. It's a job I really do want, but the salary was about 20k lower than my last. Not a huge deal because it's in an area with much lower cost of living. The HR person who called told me the amount and I kind of mentally went "eh... not so good". I asked her if it was negotiable and she said she didn't know what was budgeted for it. Told her I have interest from another company offering 7k more but that I'd settle for 5k more for this role. So she went to talk to the hiring manager and now I'm waiting to hear back. I'm irrationally scared that they're going to tell me they're withdrawing the initial offer. Does that ever happen? I've never done it, but who knows? I'd love some encouragement and/or advice while I anxiously wait to hear from her -A 1 Link to post Share on other sites
nomadic_butterfly Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I am a hiring manager and I still get anxious about this. Ugh. I just got an offer from a Fortune 100 company. It's a job I really do want, but the salary was about 20k lower than my last. Not a huge deal because it's in an area with much lower cost of living. The HR person who called told me the amount and I kind of mentally went "eh... not so good". I asked her if it was negotiable and she said she didn't know what was budgeted for it. Told her I have interest from another company offering 7k more but that I'd settle for 5k more for this role. So she went to talk to the hiring manager and now I'm waiting to hear back. I'm irrationally scared that they're going to tell me they're withdrawing the initial offer. Does that ever happen? I've never done it, but who knows? I'd love some encouragement and/or advice while I anxiously wait to hear from her -A I think if they really like you, they will try to meet you somewhere in the middle unless there's a runner up who is equally as amazing, willing to settle for what they are offering. Generally offers from other places make you look like an even more desirable candidate. The only drawback is having made so much before, they might be worried you will jump ship if another offer comes along willing to pay you a lot more. All the best! These things are never easy for anyone but I am sure you will be fine in the end. At least you have the luxury of another offer if they don't agree to your counter! 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Diezel Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 I've withdrawn an offer once, but only because the person had originally stated a number, and then went 20K above that. I am guessing this person did additional research and spoke to friends/family and decide to shoot for 20K and NOT budge. Offer withdrawn. What you are asking for is not unreasonable. But sometimes it takes a little time to think about this. My girlfriend is a hiring manager as well, and it happened to her on a Friday and she couldn't get HR to respond sooner than the next Tuesday to accept the counter-offer. It could go either way. But 5K... not unreasonable at all. Link to post Share on other sites
JustAddIce Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Asking for $5K more is not unreasonable, especially from a F100 company. I hope you didn't tell them that you would "settle" though. Did they ask how much you were making? 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Author Arabella Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 All is well! HR called right back and told me the hiring manager agreed to my counter-offer. The number I wanted was the top of my original "asking" range so I guess they didn't think it was unreasonable. And no, I didn't tell them that I would "settle" for that amount haha. I start in two weeks, pending paperwork and background check. 4 Link to post Share on other sites
JustAddIce Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Awesome! Congratulation! Link to post Share on other sites
pink_sugar Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 Nice, looks as if you handled it well. Only tip I have is to always be prepared to how you would respond if they rejected the counter offer. Would you continue looking, or would you settle? In this case if you must have more, state that you will only accept it if they agree to X, but be prepared to move on if they say no, because if you settle it might show you were desperate and may not be nearly as marketable. Good luck to you! Link to post Share on other sites
nomadic_butterfly Posted April 28, 2015 Share Posted April 28, 2015 All is well! HR called right back and told me the hiring manager agreed to my counter-offer. The number I wanted was the top of my original "asking" range so I guess they didn't think it was unreasonable. And no, I didn't tell them that I would "settle" for that amount haha. I start in two weeks, pending paperwork and background check. Good job! Congrats! Link to post Share on other sites
Author Arabella Posted April 28, 2015 Author Share Posted April 28, 2015 Nice, looks as if you handled it well. Only tip I have is to always be prepared to how you would respond if they rejected the counter offer. Would you continue looking, or would you settle? In this case if you must have more, state that you will only accept it if they agree to X, but be prepared to move on if they say no, because if you settle it might show you were desperate and may not be nearly as marketable. Good luck to you! Well I didn't word it like I "must" have X amount. I gave a pretty wide range to begin with, to see how much they really wanted me. They offered 5k less than the top number. I asked for more because of the other offer -- it's a powerful leverage! I just flat out told them I would be happier if they made it 5k higher. If they'd said no, I would still have taken it 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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