You can't afford me

I am not in the market for a job, but like many here, i'm regularly contacted by recruiters/HR/etc trying to get me to leave my current job and head somewhere new. My issue is that I'm 100% WFH, I have a pretty good salary (Very good when you add in the consulting), and good benefits. How can I politely tell a company that they can't afford me? Or rather, they can't afford what it would cost to get me to start going into an office again, or take a job that's 75% travel, etc. I don't claim to be the best system/storage/virtualization guy in the world (though I'm close

), so not asking the money for that, but for the simple fact that current company has been very good to me, and 100% wfh let's me watch my daughter grow up. I normally just say I'm not looking for work currently, but I feel there's a chance that I'm then missing opportunity, as one of these companies might surprise me and throw out a number that would convince me to say yes.

So how do I politely say that I'd only leave current job(or more accurately, current 100% WFH situation) if they threw bags of money at me, without being rude?

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Comments

pramin

What are the things in a new job that would make you leave. Bring them up to the recruiter. If the prospective employer can accommodate/provide then you pursue; if not; sit tight till the right opportunity comes up.

That's the advantage of having a job and pursuing other job leads.

JoJoCal19

Right now I'm not looking, but I would consider for the right amount. I get 5-8 emails/contacts a week for jobs all over, and if it's something that I would potentially even consider, I just message back and say "Thanks for reaching out. Can you give me more information on the opportunity. If I left my current position I would be looking for a salary in the range of $xxx,xxx to $xxx,xxx. Would that work?" That will weed out most right away.

phantasm

I just give then an insane number. If they ask me why that amount I lay it out for them.

networker050184

Just tell them what you want. If it's out of their range they'll say so and you both go about your day.

nster

joelsfood wrote: »

but for the simple fact that current company has been very good to me, and 100% wfh let's me watch my daughter grow up

If you are comfortable financially, I would personally only consider 50+% WFH jobs only, even if they throw bags of diamonds at you. I was lucky enough to have my mother at home for most of my childhood, it is something I will be eternally grateful for. Unfortunately I would only see my dad 2 weekends a month and at bed time during the week, and it is one of the things he regrets the most in his life. Having this flexibility, IMO, is priceless. I'd take a 100K WFH job over a 220K office job anyday if I had children.

Nyblizzard

^^^

Really puts things into perspective

phantasm

nster wrote: »

If you are comfortable financially, I would personally only consider 50+% WFH jobs only, even if they throw bags of diamonds at you. I was lucky enough to have my mother at home for most of my childhood, it is something I will be eternally grateful for. Unfortunately I would only see my dad 2 weekends a month and at bed time during the week, and it is one of the things he regrets the most in his life. Having this flexibility, IMO, is priceless. I'd take a 100K WFH job over a 220K office job anyday if I had children.

I'm still working on that 100% WFH. Right now I have 2 days a week and it's nice to see my kids during the summer. IMO, we all work too much for to little. You only get one life... it sucks we spend it working.

Chadius

nster wrote: »

If you are comfortable financially, I would personally only consider 50+% WFH jobs only, even if they throw bags of diamonds at you. I was lucky enough to have my mother at home for most of my childhood, it is something I will be eternally grateful for. Unfortunately I would only see my dad 2 weekends a month and at bed time during the week, and it is one of the things he regrets the most in his life. Having this flexibility, IMO, is priceless. I'd take a 100K WFH job over a 220K office job anyday if I had children.

That really put the feels in it for me

pinkydapimp

i have the same problem. If the recruiter seems to understand my skillset, i will respond or have a chat with them. Usually letting them know im not looking, but to keep in touch. If i was open to something new i would probably make sure those recruiters knew what it would take for me to consider a move. I probably wouldnt say a number though as i wouldnt want to low ball myself. But most of the recruiters for roles that would interest me these days are putting the salary range and bonus info in the initial email these days so it makes it easier.

Either way, i find that recruiters, if you find good ones can be quite valuable.

And i agree with the WFH sentiment. Not sure i can ever go back to an office gig.

networker050184

nster wrote: »

If you are comfortable financially, I would personally only consider 50+% WFH jobs only, even if they throw bags of diamonds at you. I was lucky enough to have my mother at home for most of my childhood, it is something I will be eternally grateful for. Unfortunately I would only see my dad 2 weekends a month and at bed time during the week, and it is one of the things he regrets the most in his life. Having this flexibility, IMO, is priceless. I'd take a 100K WFH job over a 220K office job anyday if I had children.

As someone in that exact situation, I'd certainly head back into the office full time for another ~$100k!

Dieg0M

pinkydapimp wrote: »

I probably wouldnt say a number though as i wouldnt want to low ball myself. But most of the recruiters for roles that would interest me these days are putting the salary range and bonus info in the initial email these days so it makes it easier.

I guess it depends where you are located at. It feels like the recruiters that contact me won't answer to the salary range question under any circumstances.

greg9891

I wish I was in your shoes.....you are favored by God. But unless it was like almost triple my salary then maybe I would consider leaving my WHF if I were you. Unless you have some financial needs if not I would stay home.

UnixGuy

I've yet to explore the joys of Working from home...my current employer (well my current temporary) says that up to two days per week WFH is absolutely fine without even mentioning a reason....gotta wait for new boss to come and see if I can exploit this. I must say i feel that I miss out on learning from my colleagues if I work from wfh...but...

Blackout

My former job I could work from home anytime I wanted (They Provided CVO's, Monitors, Phone) But god I got so much less done working from home then I did at work. That being said its really not for everyone, some excel working from home, others like myself have a wife who feels if Im working from home I can work on the Honey do list lol

chmod

No need to tell them that, you don't know if someday you are going to need them. You might feel that you have the world at your feet but don't be a *****, your life can take an unexpected turn. Just be polite.

Just tell that at the moment you are not interested that you can keep in touch via linkedin in case in the future you become interested.

lsud00d

I say something akin to

I'm not currently on the market but I might have a contact in my professional network that I could connect you with. What is the salary range for this position?

If it's a number that's nowhere near your number, then do what you want. If it piques your interest, further engage the recruiter.

pinkydapimp

lsud00d wrote: »

I say something akin to

I'm not currently on the market but I might have a contact in my professional network that I could connect you with. What is the salary range for this position?

If it's a number that's nowhere near your number, then do what you want. If it piques your interest, further engage the recruiter.

This is a great way to handle it. Because now you also start to get a feel for what your worth as you hear the different salaries and positions that are sent your way.

joelsfood

lsud00d, I think that approach might be the key.

chmod, I definitely agree, definitely never trying to be rude. It's just a matter of fact that I'm arleady at 6 figures, 100% wfh, fortune 100, great management (at least three levels up, which is how far up I've met personally and interacted with), all tied in with the best two year old little monster ever born. I've just had trouble wrapping my head around a polite way to leave it open for them to offer a high enough number, while not insulting them. Hence, I tend to just say I'm not looking. Oh, and for the record, I'm not. These are recruiters/HR/etc that contact me because of my blog, or linkedin, etc.

chmod

joelsfood wrote: »

lsud00d, I think that approach might be the key.

chmod, I definitely agree, definitely never trying to be rude. It's just a matter of fact that I'm arleady at 6 figures, 100% wfh, fortune 100, great management (at least three levels up, which is how far up I've met personally and interacted with), all tied in with the best two year old little monster ever born. I've just had trouble wrapping my head around a polite way to leave it open for them to offer a high enough number, while not insulting them. Hence, I tend to just say I'm not looking. Oh, and for the record, I'm not. These are recruiters/HR/etc that contact me because of my blog, or linkedin, etc.

Why don't you just tell them the truth: I'm not currently looking for a job but i might consider an offer if i get paid X/Y/Z amount per year. If they cannot offer you what you are expecting just tell them: It doesn't fit/match with what i'm expecting, if you want we can keep in touch via linked in case in the future you have something else that can match my expectations. Thanks for your time and for taking me into consideration.

lsud00d

chmod wrote: »

Why don't you just tell them the truth: I'm not currently looking for a job but i might consider an offer if i get paid X/Y/Z amount per year. If they cannot offer you what you are expecting just tell them: It doesn't fit/match with what i'm expecting, if you want we can keep in touch via linked in case in the future you have something else that can match my expectations. Thanks for your time and for taking me into consideration.

Never throw out a number first--get their number, and if it's within a reasonable range, then engage. If it's not, then they "know" your number for future engagements and you're already at a disadvantage.

joelsfood

chmod, it seems that giving them a number not only puts you at a disadvantage, but for some reason many of the time they take it as an insult if it's more than they planned/budgeted. Even if you give them exact reasoning (IE, I made X this year, I will make Y next year, I'm happy with my job, so you'd need to beat Y by 15%), with reasonable numbers, they somehow feel attacked. That's happened to me multiple times, and that's why I started just saying I'm not looking and avoiding that whole issue. My concern, and the reason for asking for a better way, is that I feel like I may be missing an opportunity. There's certainly no deception or avoiding of the truth. Just as the topic says, it seems they can't afford me, and get insulted by my numbers, as logical and reasonable as they might be.

Nemowolf

joelsfood wrote: »

I am not in the market for a job, but like many here, i'm regularly contacted by recruiters/HR/etc trying to get me to leave my current job and head somewhere new. My issue is that I'm 100% WFH, I have a pretty good salary (Very good when you add in the consulting), and good benefits. How can I politely tell a company that they can't afford me? Or rather, they can't afford what it would cost to get me to start going into an office again, or take a job that's 75% travel, etc. I don't claim to be the best system/storage/virtualization guy in the world (though I'm close ), so not asking the money for that, but for the simple fact that current company has been very good to me, and 100% wfh let's me watch my daughter grow up. I normally just say I'm not looking for work currently, but I feel there's a chance that I'm then missing opportunity, as one of these companies might surprise me and throw out a number that would convince me to say yes.

So how do I politely say that I'd only leave current job(or more accurately, current 100% WFH situation) if they threw bags of money at me, without being rude?

Im no where near your situation for reasoning on why i want to stay working from home but I get emails and calls from recruiters just like most of any of us. I had a friend of a friend who worked for a recruitment company, and they told me this piece of advice; always expect to earn twice your current wage as a contractor because your going to spend half of the next year unemployed looking for work again. With that in mind, i approach any recruiter with the same objective of doubling my current rate. I just got an email from some recruiter using old information from their contact list compiled from a job site and they are looking for a breakfix contract person to come on site. My reply was that their client couldnt afford me and that i was over qualified for the position. Its up to them to dig further from there as I dont care to get into specifics with them.

olaHalo

Interesting thread. How are you guys getting contacted? and what certification/skill/degree did you get when the offers started rolling in?
I get an offer every now and then from linkedin but I have no high level certs. Sorry to be slightly off topic

tsimmns

All these people in six figures, geez. What do yall do. I just want to make sure I take the right paths when I finally get my degree and into the IT world.

joelsfood

olaHalo, most of my contacts come through Linkedin if they have current information, though there's still plenty of recruiters with old resumes from various job boards last time I was job searching (which was years ago). No particular time or certification where traffic picked up. Though there are several Juniper jobs in the area going searching right now, and I talked to one of the recruiters and they're having trouble finding people with Juniper skills looking for jobs.

I'm in systems/storage/virtualization, tsimms. But any path can get you to six figures. OLther than helpdesk.

Just be very good at whta you do and do it for a long time. I got my first IT related job 20 years go

pinkydapimp

tsimmns wrote: »

All these people in six figures, geez. What do yall do. I just want to make sure I take the right paths when I finally get my degree and into the IT world.

Im in sales engineering and i see roles all over the country in the six figures in these and similar type roles like solutions architect, field engineer, system engineer, Technical account manager, etc...

olaHalo

Thanks joelsfood. Ill see if I start to get more offers once I have the CCNP.
Congrats on your success

chmod

joelsfood wrote: »

chmod, it seems that giving them a number not only puts you at a disadvantage, but for some reason many of the time they take it as an insult if it's more than they planned/budgeted. Even if you give them exact reasoning (IE, I made X this year, I will make Y next year, I'm happy with my job, so you'd need to beat Y by 15%), with reasonable numbers, they somehow feel attacked. That's happened to me multiple times, and that's why I started just saying I'm not looking and avoiding that whole issue. My concern, and the reason for asking for a better way, is that I feel like I may be missing an opportunity. There's certainly no deception or avoiding of the truth. Just as the topic says, it seems they can't afford me, and get insulted by my numbers, as logical and reasonable as they might be.

I said that, because i'm on a similar position and I don't like waste anyone's time. usually we have an idea if the position been offered by the recruiter can pay/offer what we are looking for, so i talk about my expectation upfront: I'm not actively looking for a job as i'm happy where i am currently working, but what you just told me(job description) sounds interesting, when we get to the salary expectation question, i reply with the number that would make me consider a move, if they think is too much i tell them thanks, we can keep in touch via linkedin.

Makes no sense to me to play the throw me a number game, a waste of time specially if i am not interested in a move. I would do it if i want/need the job but if i don't, just tell them what you want in a range and tell them is negotiable.

tt0000

As others mentioned keep it polite and brief and refrain from being too cocky about it . I would not even go into salary from your part doing so you could low ball yourself in the future if you have to look for work in the future. I work from home as well with 6 figures pay plus benefits .

I had this exact situation occur, a job I interviewed with eons ago had a hiring freeze before I got the new WFH position. Well they call me months later trying to see if they could get me to leave the new job. It was a work in the office job vs my current 100% WFH . That was a no brainier answer for me. My answer to them no sorry I am not available in the market and it was not negotiable . Years later, The old WFM position went sour due to frequent changes in management levels which spoiled a good thing but as we know nothing good last forever in the corporate world so I left.

I took another contract WFH position which payed me 12 dollars more than my old WFH position still 6 six figures. lol Like others have said I don't think I ever want to go back to an office if I do it is going to cost you more money for you to have me their because I am going to make sure I ask for way more $$$$$ due to the fact I will be hog tied to a desk and yet still expected to work around the clock off hour wise. I put in way more efforts with WFH than I would in an office. The company will get more for their $$$ if I am at home as I do not have to fight traffic and I will put in way more extra as well.

tt0000

olaHalo wrote: »

Interesting thread. How are you guys getting contacted? and what certification/skill/degree did you get when the offers started rolling in?
I get an offer every now and then from linkedin but I have no high level certs. Sorry to be slightly off topic

Through linkedin & personal emails . I also have no certifications and I have worked at alot of well known fortune 500 companies.