Seeking post-offer negotiation advice!

Hi guys.

So I've been happily in my current position for over a year now, and have been passively looking for a new position that allows for telecommuting. Long story short, I had a recruiter for a consulting firm contact me via LinkedIn, and at first I was hesitant (because I didn't want to travel). I have done the IT consulting thing before, and loved the chance to travel, but hated being away from home, but I decided to listen to the recruiter and was told the pay was between the "mid-90s and low six figures". She successfully got my attention (my current role pays around $75k, which is quite well for Kentucky).
Few days later I had a phone call with her, and a week later I had a call with one of their Sr. Engineers. Within 30 minutes of that second call, the recruiter called me back and asked when I could speak with the Director of Engineering, and that was yesterday. I had about a 30 minute Skype call with her (their office is about 2.5 hours from me), and at the end of the interview she said something along the lines of "I'm very excited with how this interview went!", which is very promising to me. 10 minutes later I get a call from the recruiter with an offer of 100k.

I'm beyond ecstatic, obviously, and I want to take the job. I have not accepted yet, but plan to give my answer this afternoon. I am in the process of nailing down specifics such as PTO, benefits, and similar stuff, but I want to negotiate on the salary. The position is for a Splunk Professional Services Consultant (not working for Splunk, but this company is a partner of Splunk), so it's very specialized, and is something I have about a year worth of experience with. Based on what I can find online, it seems 120-140k is the higher-end range of a position like this, but 100k is still a 25% increase to my current salary.

I'm wanting to ask for 105K base salary, a 5% signing bonus (there have been no mentions of a signing bonus), and a 10k salary bump (to 115k) once I complete my Splunk Architect certification (which I have been working on for the past few months, and am about 65% there -- which means they will not have to pay for the full training for me). With quarterly bonuses that can add up to 10k/yr, that would put me earning ~125k/yr. That is an increase of 68% of my current salary!

Does my request sound un-reasonable? Am I asking for too much? What would be the best way to ask for this?

I appreciate any response, as this is all very exciting for me!

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Comments

networker050184

It's hard to say if that request is unreasonable without knowing company policy. They may not offer any of that stuff you are asking for. Do they have a singing bonus option? These type of things are usually set in hiring policies and not easily just given out if they aren't already lined out. Can't hurt to ask though I suppose. $5k seems like a pretty reasonable counter offer to me.

Congrats on the offer!

MeanDrunkR2D2

Well.. Honestly it cannot hurt you to request that, and being that it's not an entry level and you are obviously the choice for them, it may be worth a shot to ask. Now, be prepared that they may counter back with the same offer that was presented to you, and obviously the experience that you would get in that position, including the nice pay bump it is still a great offer. Now, the only concern I would have would be are you asking too much by wanting a signing bonus on top of a higher base pay, plus the salary bump once you become certified. There is a chance that by asking for too much they may really decide to back away from their offer and pull it. Chances are they'd likely come back to you somewhere in between (but closer to what they originally offered you). They obviously like you otherwise they wouldn't have offered the position to you. How would you feel should they decide that they pull the offer completely even if you were willing to take the 100k salary?

vsecgod

whoa, 100k for a Splunk guru?? didn't think there was a market salary that high for a Splunk admin.

tycoonbob

Thanks for the replies. After thinking about it a bit more, and after learning a few more things about their compensation, I am going to be asking for the 105k/yr salary. They have annual reviews with raises, and part of the criteria of reviews is "market value or newly acquired skills" and I was specifically told that once I get my Splunk architect certification that I would be eligible for said raise (still not sure if I would have to wait for my first review or not, but that's a minor detail at this point).

With that in mind, I feel more comfortable asking about a signing bonus.

I know they are willing to go higher with this position, I'm just not sure if I qualify for that higher amount. I will be finding out in another hour or two!

@vsecgod, according to some salary reports I've found, Splunk Architects (not just admins, but those who design/deploy large environments) can get up to 145k, at least in Cali. 120k seems possible in Dallas, from what I've read, so I figure my offer was definitely a reasonable one.

NotHackingYou

Best of luck in your negotiations! Please do follow up when the dust settles.

TomkoTech

Personally I would request in writing the raise that comes with the certification with an exact figure, and I would request that review be within 60 days of completing the cert.

As for the comparison of California to Texas it's not so black and white. Yes you could generalize that COL of 145k in certain areas of Cali is equal to ~ 120k in Dallas. That doesn't mean it's a straight exchange. With that said. They offered you 100k. I don't think 5k is going to break any banks for them. Depending on how confident you are in your research I would suggest asking for more. At worst case they say no with no counter. More likely they offer you a counter that is more than original. At best you get more than the 105. Just my 2 cents.

tycoonbob

TomkoTech wrote: »

Personally I would request in writing the raise that comes with the certification with an exact figure, and I would request that review be within 60 days of completing the cert.

As for the comparison of California to Texas it's not so black and white. Yes you could generalize that COL of 145k in certain areas of Cali is equal to ~ 120k in Dallas. That doesn't mean it's a straight exchange. With that said. They offered you 100k. I don't think 5k is going to break any banks for them. Depending on how confident you are in your research I would suggest asking for more. At worst case they say no with no counter. More likely they offer you a counter that is more than original. At best you get more than the 105. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks. I agree that Cali vs Texas COL is definitely not black and white, however those are the only two comparable salaries for this position that I've been able to find.
I definitely plan to get clarification on the raise from getting certified, and do plan to get that in writing. As far as requesting more, I just feel a little greedy asking for a higher salary and a signing bonus. I'm about to call her here soon, and I figure the best plan of attack is to clarify on the certification raise, request signing bonus, and based on the outcome of that throw out either 105k (if yes to signing bonus) or 110K (if not to signing bonus).

Wish me luck!

TomkoTech

tycoonbob wrote: »

throw out either 105k (if yes to signing bonus) or 110K (if not to signing bonus).

Wish me luck!

Good luck getting either of them!

lsud00d

I get contacted for Splunk consultant/contract spots all the time, had no idea it could be this lucrative! Good luck tycoonbob and let us know the outcome

tycoonbob

Just spoke with the recruiter, and unfortunately the "market value for new technology" raise that I would receive for my Splunk certification, would be at my first annual review. No big deal, but glad I confirmed. She did throw out that the raise for this specifically is generally ~10k, or so. "Substantial" was thrown around somewhere in that conversation.

Anyway, I requested 110k + a 4-5% signing bonus. She is taking that to whomever approves, and I will hopefully have an answer by EOD!

tycoonbob

Well, already heard back.

They weren't willing to budge on the salary, and the signing bonus is only given to new hires who relocate. Told her I was disappointed, and needed a little longer to decide. I would have said yes on the spot if I got 100k + signing, or 105k without signing...but, ugh...

aftereffector

I'd say going from 75 to 100 is a decent return for changing jobs. I wouldn't throw away the opportunity over the lack of a 5K signing bonus.

cyberguypr

I gotta concur with that. If you really want it it may be time to accept. BTW, I was in your shoes yesterday and ended up accepting a position last night. Need to post it about it later tonight.

MeanDrunkR2D2

A 25k increase, with potential raises after a year especially after your certification is huge. If I were in your shoes I would call them back and accept it. At this point they may decide to go to their #2 candidate if you wait too long since you don't seem to want to budge from that slight increase. 25k over what you make now is pretty damned good and I would have definitely accepted the counter back on the spot. Never hurts to ask for more, but if they aren't willing to budge and it's a good job doing what you want and will expand your experience and knowledge it's a no brainer to me.

networker050184

I concur. Take what you can get if you want the job. Don't play hardball too much or you might get passed up.

NotHackingYou

While I agree with the above that a 25K pay increase is huge - you allude to that this new position may have some traveling, something you are not very comfortable with. Will this position require you to travel, and is the 5k difference a make to break to make the the travel worth it for you?

tycoonbob

Thanks guys.

I will be traveling some, which I'm not opposed to and is something I've done before in the past. I actually enjoy the travel part, just hate being away from home.

Anyway, I did accept at 100k, and got the raise at review time (based on certification) in writing, so that's all good. They already started my background check and everything else, so as long as that clears, I will be starting there either on 10/20, or 10/27.

I know the role is a good one, but I did hesitate on it, mainly because of the big changes that will be made for myself and my family. It's all very exciting, and that signing bonus would have made the transition quite a bit easier, which is why I was pushing so hard for it. What bothers me about not getting 105k base, is really my OCD. So 100k is ~$48/hr, and I was trying to hit about the $50/hr mark...then I realized how ridiculous that was, haha.

There are many perks to this job that I haven't mentioned, such as:
-quarterly bonus (based on performance and manager-set goals), up to 10k/yr
-full medical/dental/vision (no premium for myself)
-Company provided laptop (new Macbook Pro)
-$70/mo cell phone allowance (which is right at what my phone costs me)
-Company provided credit card for traveling expenses, so I get my choice of flights/rentals/hotels
-Gov rate per-diem when traveling
-Work from home when not traveling
-10 days PTO from day 1, and an additional day each year up to 15 days PTO
-unlimited sick time
-between year 5 and 6, I will have a mandatory 4-week sabbatical (this is awesome, might I add)
-Will be getting a higher DoD clearance than I previously had (will be getting TS/SCI)

So yeah...the benefits definitely add a lot to that salary. In other words, I believe I was blindsided by not getting my way.

MeanDrunkR2D2

Wow... Those perks are huge and honestly, the bonus is great, plus the no premium for healthcare is HUGE! That will more than make up the difference from what you wanted to hit that $50 /hr mark, but honestly, I think you did great by accepting that offer. Congrats and good luck in your new role.