Moving in the right direction.
Mitechniq
Member Posts: 286 ■■■■□□□□□□
So previously I posted about me moving to Maryland for a job which included RELO. I took the advice of this forum as well as others not to move. This situation did, however, spark a want to look for a career change. So I updated my online profiles in Monster, the Ladder, LinkdIn, and clearancejobs. I hadn't made an update in so long most didn't even have my CISSP certification.
These changes opened the floodgates; there were so many recruiters sending me emails I had to make a new email account just to isolate the bulk of these job requests. Most were cold calls, but some had very good potential, now came the interviews. In about a week, I had five interviews, the first one I did horrible. I was nervous and super polite; the manager insisted on calling him by his first name and not sir. The second one I started to be myself and even made a nice little joke that the supervisor found humorous. I think the interviews especially the amount of them worked in my favor. I felt more confident as each went by and started to value what I brought to the table.
The next few interviews, things changed dramatically. I essentially interviewed them and asked several career and technical questions. I became more of "why should I bring my talents to your company", it was a great sales pitch, and I had three offers the next day. Finally, I got the call from the job I wanted; it was a WFH position with standard hours, and I got to work with some new technologies under the Cyber Security umbrella.
It took about a month and 4 interviews but just 2 weeks ago I got the call from the hiring manager with the words we all love hearing "We would like for you to come work for us". Their original offer was based on what I placed in their the job application. Which was about a 10 percent increase, I felt confident that I could ask for more, so I went big and asked for another 10 percent. She said she would try to get that amount, but it would have to get approved by the VP. I hesitated and even started to peddle back on my counteroffer when she interpreted. She proceeded with some crucial advice I would like to pass along " There are two times in your career you will get the most out of your salary, initial and when you are promoted. All of your raises will be based on what you get right now. If you don't ask, you might be losing out on thousands of dollars throughout your career".
I didn't hear from her for the next three days and read about some horrible outcomes when you ask too much on a counteroffer. It was like when you have a rash and then go to WEBmd and see it could potentially be a sign of you dying. I couldn't take it anymore, I called her. My heart pounding and light headed she said "they accepted my counteroffer". She was like "I was meaning to call you yesterday". I wanted to kill this woman, um you had me waiting a whole 24 hours!
I start next week, and I hope this encourages some of you in your future endeavors.
These changes opened the floodgates; there were so many recruiters sending me emails I had to make a new email account just to isolate the bulk of these job requests. Most were cold calls, but some had very good potential, now came the interviews. In about a week, I had five interviews, the first one I did horrible. I was nervous and super polite; the manager insisted on calling him by his first name and not sir. The second one I started to be myself and even made a nice little joke that the supervisor found humorous. I think the interviews especially the amount of them worked in my favor. I felt more confident as each went by and started to value what I brought to the table.
The next few interviews, things changed dramatically. I essentially interviewed them and asked several career and technical questions. I became more of "why should I bring my talents to your company", it was a great sales pitch, and I had three offers the next day. Finally, I got the call from the job I wanted; it was a WFH position with standard hours, and I got to work with some new technologies under the Cyber Security umbrella.
It took about a month and 4 interviews but just 2 weeks ago I got the call from the hiring manager with the words we all love hearing "We would like for you to come work for us". Their original offer was based on what I placed in their the job application. Which was about a 10 percent increase, I felt confident that I could ask for more, so I went big and asked for another 10 percent. She said she would try to get that amount, but it would have to get approved by the VP. I hesitated and even started to peddle back on my counteroffer when she interpreted. She proceeded with some crucial advice I would like to pass along " There are two times in your career you will get the most out of your salary, initial and when you are promoted. All of your raises will be based on what you get right now. If you don't ask, you might be losing out on thousands of dollars throughout your career".
I didn't hear from her for the next three days and read about some horrible outcomes when you ask too much on a counteroffer. It was like when you have a rash and then go to WEBmd and see it could potentially be a sign of you dying. I couldn't take it anymore, I called her. My heart pounding and light headed she said "they accepted my counteroffer". She was like "I was meaning to call you yesterday". I wanted to kill this woman, um you had me waiting a whole 24 hours!
I start next week, and I hope this encourages some of you in your future endeavors.
Comments
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scaredoftests
Mod Posts: 2,780 Mod
It is awful waiting for 'the call'. Sometimes, I think they don't realize how stressful it really is, being the person wanting the job. Congrats to you..Never let your fear decide your fate.... -
Params7
Member Posts: 254
Inspiring indeed. Then again you were in a position where you were wanted by several companies. I suck at negotiating pay and didn't even bother with it in my current job, being hungry for basic experience and all. But something I'll keep in mind as I grow into it. -
bpenn
Member Posts: 499
Man, that made me nervous just reading...
Congrats!"If your dreams dont scare you - they ain't big enough" - Life of Dillon -
Khaos1911
Member Posts: 366
Dude, that's awesome. Congrats!
New job for me as well, I countered and wanted about 10K more than what was being first offered, but they met me more than half way and increased the initial offer another 7K. I start in a couple weeks. -
Mitechniq
Member Posts: 286 ■■■■□□□□□□
Thanks, everyone, it is this forum that keeps me my drive to learn more, study harder and keep moving forward.
scaredoftests:
It would have been at Aberdeen Proving Ground, but now I will be in the comforts of my study room. -
UnixGuy
Mod Posts: 4,570 Mod
Excellent story, and good job on negotiating!! I go with the mindset that I have a number in my mind, see what they have to offer, see the market rate, and try to push.
Good job on getting a working from home position! Sweet deal
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Caiyenne
Member Posts: 41 ■■□□□□□□□□
It's very hard sometimes to stick your neck out like that. I'm glad it worked out for you. Good Job!
