Otter2569 Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Next week I have, what I think hope, is a final phone interview with HR coming up. The position I am interviewing for may pay as much as $20k less that what I used to make however I learned through the interview process that the position has a fair amount of responsibility (more than what was disclosed in the job description). Has anyone had experience with salary negotiations? I have been unemployed for 7 months and really need a job. I am also middle aged. I will definitely make some concessions but this is awkward: I dont want to jump and take this much less. I also dont want to sound like an ungrateful ass.
Author Otter2569 Posted March 18, 2015 Author Posted March 18, 2015 OK nobody else is / was in this predicament before.
preraph Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 Once you find out their salary range, which it sounds like you know, tell them your range, inflating the upper end. When they want to hire you at the lower end, tell them you'd consider it with the following conditions (list whatever you value here: hire/fire authority, choosing your own assistant, extra week of vacation (paid or unpaid), flexible hours, fewer hours, etc.)Get something out of them for lowballing you. I've found this generally works. But hope they choose the middle of the range that you can live with and then still ask for at least one perk (extra 15 minutes for lunch so you can go home and eat or whatever small thing) 1
rester Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 I was in this predicament once before. Once I had the offer in hand, with the details of the salary and benefits, I told them I needed a few days to think about it and called them the next day telling them that the only thing holding me back from accepting the position was the salary and benefits. I told them exactly what I was making in my previous job and negotiated up from there. They stacked on more money and more benefits until I was satisfied. I still took a large drop in salary, but it was worth it for the job. 1
GemmaUK Posted March 18, 2015 Posted March 18, 2015 I had exactly the same situ as Rester. $20K is a lot negotiation wise though. You say it's $20K less than what you 'used to make'. What you used to make may not be so relevant now if it was some time ago. I would do some research first on equivalent roles and see what the current salary and package is appropriate to that level. 3
pink_sugar Posted March 19, 2015 Posted March 19, 2015 OK nobody else is / was in this predicament before. I initially didn't read your entire post, because I remember seeing your same questions before. In my opinion, you aren't in a position to be picky. You have been unemployed for 7 months...are you still on unemployment benefits? I can see negotiating more if you're already working, but since you're not, it's an already tough job market if you're out of work. You don't have much leverage and you don't want to wait until you cannot pay your bills. I would take the job if offered and if for some reason that better job comes your way later, that would be a better way to go. $20k isn't that much to be honest. I have seen people go from $85k a year to $35k.
susanpetrick Posted March 20, 2015 Posted March 20, 2015 Hey! As you say you were unemployed for seven month, talk to them about your expectation if things didn't work out, just join the job perform your work and prove them that you deserve such salary. Also, my friend went through same situation, he joined some energy transmission program if you want you can visit - http://goo.gl/FjUQLU. This may help ! 2
Author Otter2569 Posted March 20, 2015 Author Posted March 20, 2015 Thanks for the feedback! At the time of the post I had an upcoming phone interview with HR and was expecting the salary discussion to come up - I didn't. In stead, after our conversation, they schedules interviews with two senior VP's. This should be the last interview before decision time - i hope. I worked at this company for 18 years, held 4 different positions and have a pretty solid track record. This was a manager position but now sounds like its a transition to the Director level position and I would work with the director as this person transitions over to something else. Regardless it is the only iron in my fire at the moment and its looking good. I could hold out for several more months but that would exhaust unemployment benefits and start to drain savings. Something good right now would be clutch.
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