Salary Negotiations

Going in for a third interview tomorrow for a part time System Admin position and pretty sure they are going to offer me the job.

That being said, what is the protocol for salary negotiation? For a part time job such as this, would they set the hourly wage and there would be no haggling? Or for example they offered it to me at $15 per hour could I ask for $18 per hour? If so what would be the most delicate way about doing that?

Or should I just be thankful for the job and accept whatever they offer? Ha ha.

Find more posts tagged with

Save $250 on 2025 certification boot camps from Infosec!

Book now with code EOY2025

Button

Comments

ajd86

Whiteout wrote: »

Going in for a third interview tomorrow for a part time System Admin position and pretty sure they are going to offer me the job.

That being said, what is the protocol for salary negotiation? For a part time job such as this, would they set the hourly wage and there would be no haggling? Or for example they offered it to me at $15 per hour could I ask for $18 per hour? If so what would be the most delicate way about going about doing that?

Or should I just be thankful for the job and accept whatever they offer? Ha ha.

One of the keys to salary negotiation is to know your worth. Do some research on a site such as www.glassdoor.com (go to the Salaries section) to find typical salary ranges for your prospective position in your region. The following 2 sites have some great dos and don'ts for negotiating a salary offer. Good luck!

10 Questions to Ask When Negotiating Salary | Monster
The Basics of Boosting Your Salary Offer | The Gov Gurus - Gov't Career Advice That Works

NetworkVeteran

Whiteout wrote: »

That being said, what is the protocol for salary negotiation?

There is no universally accepted procedure for negotiating.

If what they're offering is better than what I have in hand or expect in the bush, I accept it. If it's better than I have in hand but I suspect there may be better in the bush, I ask for time to think about it. If it's worse than what I have in hand, I decline it. Do consider the overall compensation package including benefits, work environment, stability, educational and advancement opportunities, etc. It's not all about the money, even for us mercenaries.

Or for example they offered it to me at $15 per hour could I ask for $18 per hour?

You can ask for anything. As a result, their offer may improve, stay the same, or disappear. Know what you're worth, earn what you're worth, but don't talk yourself out of a great job!

sieff

Never accept what they offer ... UNLESS you have no experience "or" you're in dire financial needs. Even still I'd try to put up some type of fight in negotiations. Starting at a company with a lower salary takes years to overcome once you become more tenured. Since this is part-time you'd have to access if $15/hr is worth it. I'd start at $20 though and see how it goes ...

Whiteout

Thanks for the advice fellas.

Whiteout

Well they offered me the job, but I don't think I am going to take it after "practicing" the commute.

45 minute's each way for a part time job(4 hours/day 5x per/week)... They experience would be great, but after factoring in travel expenses I wouldn't be netting a whole hell of a lot each day. Trying to get them to either bump the hourly wage or condense the hours into less days, to make the commute worth it.

Opportunity is cool though: I would be the only IT person supporting a Credit Union with 4 branches and about 60 employees. They basically said I would be responsible for for everything from the servers to the website.

eserfeliz

Whiteout wrote: »

Well they offered me the job, but I don't think I am going to take it after "practicing" the commute.

Yeah, I won't take a job that's more than 15 mins from my hours. I know that for me, if I have to drive longer than that, my stress level becomes extreme and I'm an unhappy camper when I get home. I got a job offer for a part-time gig before I took this one and they didn't want to give me benefits. I told them I couldn't due to my family's needs. So they wanted to know if they could bump up the salary to meet those needs.

I declined and got this job a few weeks later. But part time salary can be negotiable, depending on how badly they want/need you.

Pishof

Wait, what?! 20 hours a week to support multiple branch offices including server admin responsibilities on your own - How is that even feasible?

Did you ask them who handled those tasks before and why they are no longer there? I think I might know why. Your first responsibility would be convincing them to hire you full time or it's just a matter of time until catastrophe strikes.

Whiteout

Well the person that interviewed me is the person that currently handles those tasks. She is an "Account Executive" not IT, but has being doing all of the computer related tasks at the Credit Union for the past 20 years. She is self taught and after getting the tour I could tell she was self taught, IT was a mess! Don't get me wrong she was done very well for what time and knowledge she had to work with, but things could be done much better.

I probably could convince them to get me on as full time after a couple of weeks on the job. I already know I could find a ton of work to do. But the thing is I can't handle a full time job right now. In the Air Force Reserve, an MS program, and doing a CS certificate program at the University of Washington. 40 hours a week would just be too much!

Whiteout

eserfeliz wrote: »

my stress level becomes extreme and I'm an unhappy camper when I get home.

I second that, long distance driving to and from work in traffic is not my friend... Unless I am making a lot of money. Ha ha.

paul78

You may not want to rule them out yet. Perhaps they would be amendable to 2 days a week at 16 hours or 3 days at 24 hours.

Having someone for a 4 hour stretch at a time may be highly inefficient.

Whiteout

paul78 wrote: »

You may not want to rule them out yet. Perhaps they would be amendable to 2 days a week at 16 hours or 3 days at 24 hours.

Having someone for a 4 hour stretch at a time may be highly inefficient.

I asked them, but it was a no go. They we're adamant about having somebody there five days a week in case a computer issue came up. I suggested 3 days a week + On-Call via remote desktop. They are still staying firm on 5 days a week though.

Pishof

paul78 wrote: »

You may not want to rule them out yet. Perhaps they would be amendable to 2 days a week at 16 hours or 3 days at 24 hours.

Having someone for a 4 hour stretch at a time may be highly inefficient.

This is likely your best bet. Seeing as the commute is long and you don't have time for a 40hr/wk position, longer days are much more in your favor. I think you can convince them you would bring more productivity with normal days instead of those piddly short shifts after long commute.