how do you guys negotiate pay?

BradleyHU

ande0255 wrote: »

You negotiate pay during the job offer process, do not bring up pay during the interview process. If they ask what you are looking for in terms of pay during an interview, I advise giving a vague answer and see if you can dodge it until the job offer process, otherwise go a bit above market value as networker said.

The reason I think it's better to initially dodge this question is it may filter you out of the selection process if your number is too high, but if it's lower than their usual pay rate then you just reduced your job offer salary.

actually, i'd rather get it out the way in the beginning. you save both you & them a lot of wasted time if you wanna do the duck & dodge method. if they're not offereing what i'm looking for, i'd rather know that from jump so i do have to bother taking days off & going to interviews.

SteveLord

There's a perk to most government jobs. The salary ranges are usually easy enough to find on their websites. Although sometimes even though there is a range, they might be forced to offer and only offer the bottom of it. This becomes a big issue when an experienced applicant is needed to replace another and the chances of getting one who accept a lower salary is slim at best. Especially if they come from the private sector background that had a dramatically higher salary.


Ultimately, it would be nice if more businesses were up front so you could weigh in on whether it was even worth applying...before you even have to get your suit cleaned.

ande0255

BradleyHU wrote: »

actually, i'd rather get it out the way in the beginning. you save both you & them a lot of wasted time if you wanna do the duck & dodge method. if they're not offereing what i'm looking for, i'd rather know that from jump so i do have to bother taking days off & going to interviews.

When you're working for hourly rates, I've worked with several people who said they'd like $15/hour for example, while everyone else was making $18-$20 an hour. They would have gotten hired on at that rate, had they not specified they would work for less.

Unless you have a good idea of what you should be getting paid, I think it's best to let the company make the first move, and you can counter offer from there. That being said, I have always had a good ball park idea of the pay rate from the recruiter before walking into an interview, but I feel time is better spent in the actual interview presenting why you should be extended an offer on the higher end of the salary cap rather than talking about the expectations of it.

networker050184

ande0255 wrote: »

Unless you have a good idea of what you should be getting paid...

If you aren't doing the proper research to know a ball park figure of what you should be getting paid you are not doing yourself any favors. Everyone should be able to have an idea of what their skills and experience are worth.

ande0255

^I completely agree with that.

When your looking at helpdesk / NOC jobs I think pay rate is a grey area overall that varies between companies, as some people came in with a ton of experience at my last job making $14/hour cause that was $2/hour more than their last job, while others with little to no experience were coming in at the $18-$20 mark because they were making $16/hour from their last job.

I'm curious if you could suggest some resources you might use to determine the rate of pay you would expect from from a certain job? And how you would determine what to ask from your next position? I'd actually be interested in looking into this type of information for my current skill set, and where I am headed skill wise.

networker050184

There are online options like glass door, looking at similar job ads in your area with pay ranges listed, etc. Speaking with peers in the field is also a good way to get a realistic idea.

Jackace

Let me ask the question then. If employers care so much and have these rigid ranges they are willing to pay why don't they disclose those ranges to applicants? Instead they ask you what you are making now. The whole process is a negotiation, but it seems the employers are wanting to keep all their cards close and they expect the applicant to put all their cards on the table. For those of you with lots of experience and such this isn't as much of an issue, but for those people that are still building their careers and trying to increase their compensation in a tough economy it becomes a tougher situation.

BradleyHU

ande0255 wrote: »

When you're working for hourly rates, I've worked with several people who said they'd like $15/hour for example, while everyone else was making $18-$20 an hour. They would have gotten hired on at that rate, had they not specified they would work for less.

Unless you have a good idea of what you should be getting paid, I think it's best to let the company make the first move, and you can counter offer from there. That being said, I have always had a good ball park idea of the pay rate from the recruiter before walking into an interview, but I feel time is better spent in the actual interview presenting why you should be extended an offer on the higher end of the salary cap rather than talking about the expectations of it.

i usually get salary talk out of the way b4 i even get to interviews. When the HR person, or in some cases hiring manager, calls and we talk about the role, and then setting up an in person interview, I ask what is the pay range for this role. I'm not about to use up my PTO days, and metrocard going to multiple rounds of interviews & they're not offering what i'm looking for. You have fun setting up meetings, and goin back & forth, only to find out they're not looking to at least pay the range your looking at. I've done that before in the past, i've learned from it...never again!!!

TomkoTech

Employer's ask what you are currently making and/or what you made at your last job so they can adjust their range accordingly. They may well be looking to pay 50-60k for a job. But if your last job was making 38-40 you can bet they will offer you 45k or under.

The best thing to do is give them a range you are looking for when it comes up. Research the position you are applying for. If the salary range for that job is 50-60k then say that is the range you are looking to make depending on benefits/perks and what not.

scaredoftests

Interesting....

Chitownjedi

I suggest finding out your market value based on your experience, skill set, certifications, education, and all that good stuff. Depending on your location and area, figure out a range, for example:
65-80k - that you would be willing to negotiate within, as having a set minimum number allows for you to not waste your time.

Make sure that any recruiter, or hiring manager, or anyone that wants to interview you knows upfront what kind of range you are willing to consider. Do not waste your time! Don't let them waste yours. You will obviously lose out on possible positions up front because if you are outside their range, and they can't budge, they will move on... that's GOOD!

You don't want to spend 9 hours worth of interview time and commuting to get to the "numbers" part of the interview process and realize that your minimum is $20,000 over their maximum. That's 9 hours you could devoted to the gym, studying, learning a new craft, gaming for stress relief... something a lot more productive than disappointment.

networker050184 has great advice

As this questions has come up before, and I heeded it months ago, and now I wouldn't ever dream about even considering interviewing unless a range was discussed up front or very quickly into the process. Also knowing about what possible other forms of compensation you would consider outside of monetary helps as well. If you get offered a number below yours and they can't move much, there are extra vacations days, work from home days, etc that can be just as valuable depending on your outlook and what you value most. The best thing you can do is know your worth. Know your value. And be confident that you can reach that number. Having another job, or being able to pass up on a job is a great weapon. Leverage. I went from taking pretty much every offer that I received as a new to IT tier 2 person 3 years ago, as I needed the money as fast as possible because I had no savings, I needed to pay rent and my bills, and could not afford to choose my jobs.

The moment that changed, and I didn't have to say yes was the most empowering and beneficial aspect to me increasing my ability to fetch numbers closer to my market value. When they know that you are valuable, and can probably and will probably land somewhere else for your numbers with ease, it tends to cut out a lot of that willingness on their end to bend you over too much lol.

Danielm7

Jackace wrote: »

Let me ask the question then. If employers care so much and have these rigid ranges they are willing to pay why don't they disclose those ranges to applicants? Instead they ask you what you are making now. The whole process is a negotiation, but it seems the employers are wanting to keep all their cards close and they expect the applicant to put all their cards on the table. For those of you with lots of experience and such this isn't as much of an issue, but for those people that are still building their careers and trying to increase their compensation in a tough economy it becomes a tougher situation.

Because that is exactly what they are doing, keeping all the cards close and waiting for you to offer lower. Seems like a waste of time to me too. I had an interview awhile back that went well, I found out after from the recruiter that I told the HR woman that my current salary was 5K more than they wanted to pay. This was a big and growing, very well funded company. Had they just told me ahead of time it could have saved a day off from work, commuting, parking, having to buy food in the city because they kept me there half the day,etc.

I've looked at a few university jobs and it's nice to see salary range codes, you can look them up and see if it's even worth bothering to apply before hand.

ClapDemCheeks

Anyone used payscale.com before for salary calculation? Is it reliable?

tpatt100

I usually always know before hand because the salary range was disclosed when I was contacted by a recruiter or the company's HR department. Recruiters usually ask up front because they don't want to waste anybody's time.

At this point in my career I have a range that is acceptable that is either up, down, or the same that depends on so many things now a days that the pay itself isn't the biggest motivator for me now a days.

A nice work environment that is family friendly with good benefits and a short commute is enough for me to seriously consider a drop in pay in exchange for a better quality of life. I don't think I have to take a drop in pay but the option is there for me if I wanted it.

jtoast

FloOz wrote: »

I usually say 25% more then what I am currently making. I definitely wouldn't say "What are you offering"? Not very professional in my opinion.

What you are currently making is irrelevant. What matters is what the job is worth. I never disclose my current salary.

bgold87

It's always one of my questions when starting the job hunt. If they are weird about telling you what their limits are then they either know they are paying too low or are trying to hide something in which case I walk.

I don't understand this mentality of walking on egg shells around potential new companies. I want to work for straight shooters who know what they want and what they want to pay. You have to be very upfront about everything to make sure it's a good fit for YOU not just THEM.