Received Offer letter Negociate pay?

M3Cody

Hey Guys

So I just got my Network+ certification I also have an A+.
I have about 8 years of field/desktop/Help Desk type of experience.
Basically I got an offer from a company that my friend helped me get into.
I went through the interview process and all that, and as soon as I got home I had an offer letter.

My question is do you negotiate pay? Or just take it? and if you ask for more do you ask for more than you would actually want?

So confused lol

subsooner711

No one can really answer this for you without all the details of your situation.

The best advice I can think to offer is try and figure out what similar jobs in the area are paying. If what they offered is comparable to the market then it boils down to if you feel you're worth more than what they offered.

jibbajabba

Agree, the only person who can answer that is you.

The way I approach situations like this is

1. What do similar jobs pay in my area
2. Is that a step up or down
3. What is my minimum salary I require to move on / accept
4. If salary would not match my expectations, am I willing to negotiate ?
5. If negotiation fails - am I willing to walk away still
6. Is there a risk to lose out if asked for more
7. Never ask for more just for the sake of it

I usually have a sum in my head. If I am getting approached and the salary is lower than my expectations, I check out the whole package

For example.

At one instance I earned 65k + bonus + private health + pension. New role paid the same 65k. No bonus, no private health, in fact, no benefits to speak of.

Before I said yes or no, I needed to see the company. So whilst I technically had a paycut, the company itself was a lot more interesting. Smaller, no red tape etc. - So I was willing to accept. Could I have negotiated ? Maybe, but based on my research (market and company finances) I knew there is nothing to negotiate, but I was still happy to accept.

Another time the money was equal .. But I knew I want to work for them only for 5k+ more. So I negotiated .. failed and accepted anyway .. I managed to stay there only for a few months.

Another time money was equal again - negotiation failed once more .. I declined ..

If anything the whole thing taught me one thing : Unless you are 100% happy - you WILL leave eventually, sometimes sooner than later. So sit down, crunch the numbers, make sure you know how much you need / want, research the company - maybe even check sites like glassdoor - see what employees have to say - check LinkedIn .. search for the company and its employees - see for how long they have been there .. if the majority is in the company for only a few months then you see that the turnover is quite high.

If after your research you think that it is worth working for the company / career even at a lower rate - go for it. If not, try to negotiate and decline if not accepted.

RESEARCH RESEARCH RESEARCH !!

You don't want to ask for more than the average pays. If a role pays on average 40k, don't come in at 55k for the sake of it, unless you know YOUR value and you can afford to walk away and be selective.

puertorico1985

jibbajabba hit the nail on the head. The answer lies within what you deem acceptable and if you are fine with the salary they initially provided. When I started my current company, they gave me an offer that I thought was low. I really wanted to work for them, and it was because I was going to get exposure to many new things as I jumped from the Helpdesk to the Networking arena, so I was going to accept even if the offer lead to no increase in pay. I asked for some more money, they declined to raise my salary, but I accepted anyway. It was a risk, that I would not have done if I thought they would retract the initial offer.

Sometimes the amount that is being offered should not be the thing that gets the most focus. Find out what benefits they offer, how much PTO you get, what the company culture is like (work from home? half-days when you need it?) and also what new technologies you'll be able to learn. Most important question (at least to me) is will this job lead me to my future goals. I would never accept a job that will set me back on future goals.

BradleyHU

this is why i like to discuss salary from jump...i hate having to negotiate it later on in the process...i let them know the range i'm looking for from the beginning, and if its in their range, then we can proceed...

M3Cody

Thanks guys

JibbaJabba thanks for the long response its what I needed to read.

I ended up replying asking for just 2k more a year. I think its on par with what can be made out here, and that should cover medical insurance for me. I gave good reasoning (elaborated experience and certs) so fingers crossed. If not, ill take it.

Appreciate it much, very strange enough once I put N+ on my resume, I got many calls back...in fact, 4 interviews in a week.

Thanx

jvrlopez

Just curious as to how you asked for the extra $2K? Email? Phone?

Let us know how it goes!

citinerd18

I jumped from desktop support to network engineer. My initial offer was good but not great. I asked for 5k more and my counter offer was accepted. No offense but I would have asked for a bit more.

jeremywatts2005

I do a lot of negotiation of salary before an interview. Usually the contract company and I have a pre determined salary before I interview. This way I know going into the interview that if I want the job the salary is also what I want. I have had recruiters say they could not meet my salary. Then I say to them I am not interested in interviewing. This saves time for everyone.