Yes, call him back and say this: “Thank you for your offer. Since this is such an important decision, I would like 24 hours to consider it. I will contact you tomorrow at such-and-such-a-time to let you know what I’ve decided.”
Then you call him tomorrow and you say, “Thank you again for your offer. I’ve considered carefully, and I believe that based on the skills and abilities I bring to the table, that I am worth their-number-plus-two-to-three-grand-more.”
Then remember: DON’T SAY ANYTHING. COUNT TO THREE.
He will agree, he will counter with a bit more but not what you countered with, or he’ll say what he offered is the best he can do.
You decide to take it if he comes up or matches. If he says that’s the best he can do, you say, “I understand. I’m sure we can come to an agreement that meets both our goals. Would you consider an extra week of vacation/higher reimbursement for health care premiums/extra personal days/Fridays off at three” whatever.
ETA: If he withdraws the offer if you ask for a day to consider or withdraws the offer because you counter then turn down the job entirely and be glad you dodged a bullet. If he won’t deal with you professionally at this stage, it does not bode well.
Also, while I have you guys here…how should I go about turning in my notice, assuming I accept the new job? Of course, I realize that the standard is two-weeks notice, but here’s the problem: Based on prior experience with previous coworkers, my company will let me go the same day that I submit my notice since I’ll be working for a competitor.
Now, that would suck since I’d be going two weeks without pay. So I have two options that I can think of. Either I don’t tell them where I’m going (I’m not sure what I would tell them exactly…going back to school?), but the downside is that they’ll find out about my lie shortly after I start at the new company. My other option is to assume they’ll let me go, and withhold notice until just a few days before I start my new position. The only potential problem with this one is if they somehow held onto me for the two weeks (which I doubt), but the only reason I would think this might happen is because I’m usually involved in projects that take about two-weeks to complete, so it would suck to leave them hanging with a half finished product if they let me go the same day.
What do you guys think? Oh, one more thing: How does unused vacation work? Does the company usually keep it, or do I get reimbursed for it someway?
If it was me, I’d give the standard two weeks, and if they kick me out I’d just eat the loss. Or call your new employer: “Good news! My previous employer has let me go before my two weeks is up, so if you need me to start earlier, I’m available.”
Some companies, if you give two weeks and they ask you to leave, will still pay you for those two weeks.
RE vacation: Each company has their own policy. You’ll have to talk to HR after you give your notice.
Week and a half. Use the first 2 days and a LARGE capacity thumbdrive to get all your documents and make up a contact list, just in case. Then, when you give notice and phrase it as, “I’d like the time to train a replacement to help you,” but they still remove you that day, you won’t feel like a sucker.
Are you supposed to take work product and information you gleaned on one job and take it with you when you go to work for a competitor? I’m never worked at a for-profit but that seems icky.
That’s a good question; I doubt there’s a requirement, per se. But I’m really close to my manager (and his boss), so they’ll no doubt ask what I’m going to do if/when I turn in my notice.
So I don’t know how frank I should be with them…I mean, I don’t want to lie to my manager, since he is a friend, and I suspect if I’m coy, that they’ll catch on anyway,
You have no obligation to tell them where you’re going. I accepted a resignation once and asked the guy where he was going, and his answer was, “I’d rather not say.” I didn’t press it, and I found out later anyway, and it didn’t matter anyway anyway.
However, you need to review your paperwork to see if you signed a non-compete clause. They are not usually vigorously enforced but could cause some unpleasantness.
If they decide to terminate you immediately when you give your notice then they should follow whatever their policy is for terminations; HR can give you the information. I have heard of this happening to people in sensitive positions but they get two weeks’ pay, just as if they worked out their notice. There is no legal requirement for the company to do it that way, however.
Whether they pay you for accrued vacation pay depends on company policy. Most companies do. HR will tell you.
I should add, whatever you do when you leave, just do something reasonable and do your best and don’t get freaked out about it, a year from now it won’t matter.
Thanks all for the responses. I agree that declining to say where I’m going seems to be the best course of action, but it’ll still be weird considering how close I am to my manager.
I’ll have to think this one through – I may just end up telling them, and hope that I’ll be able to start the new job sooner (assuming I accept the position)
I have little to add to the great advice in this thread, except to say that I strongly agree with the above advice. In a previous job, even knowing that I’d be escorted out by security and given two weeks pay, I failed to get any of my personal belongings before submitting notice.
It certainly does suck to lose anything personal you had been working on or saved at work. Get contact information for friends/co-workers/future references, all of your important personal things, and then give your notice.
I don’t think that was the implication–certainly, you should not take any company materials or information with you. However, if this is the kind of job where you’ll be let go immediately upon giving notice, they’re unlikely to respond favorably to a “well let me run back to my PC real quick and get some emails/documents,” even if your intent is benign.
Alright, so I recalculated the figures and it seems I’ll actually be making about 10k more per year, which actually is about what I had originally hoped/expected (although I can’t say that I wasn’t really hoping for 15k).
Should I still offer a counter? I mean, 10k isn’t exactly unfair, but even more money wouldn’t be bad idea either. Do companies usually offer less than what the maximum is that they’ll pay?
I guess I’m just concerned about coming across as being too fixated on money (although I hadn’t mentioned it at all until this point). I also know that my friend who works there was able to negotiate 15% increase when she moved over, although they did seriously low-ball her originally, and her current salary is significantly lower than mine. I also wonder how much I should counter with…
Yeah, I know, I’m paranoid. Sue me (please don’t; I have enough to worry about
Absolutely you MUST counter! This is the one time that you are going to be most desired by this company. No manager worth their salt is going to give your their best offer out of the gate. Remember, they have to balance getting a good employee with holding down costs.
You aren’t fixated on money. You aren’t a dick. You are matter of factly and confidently having a discussion that acknowledges you are a valuable, talented professional. This isn’t Glengarry Glen Ross. This is you coming to the table knowing your hiring manager has perameters, but knowing you have value.
Personally, I think companies respect you more if you negotiate.
Now, you are a respectful, amiable negotiator. At all times you thank them for their offer and at all times when asking for more money, you state it’s because of the value you bring to the table.
It’s ok to be about the money. You’re worth it, right? And after you start you prove it to them that they made a great decision and you’re worth every penny.
Awesome, thanks again niblet_head! So would asking for 5k more (about 9% more than they offered) be out of line, do you think? Or is it better to aim higher so they’ll meet you halfway.
Ooh, also, the figure they listed is a bi-weekly one (I had to figure out the annual salary by myself). When I send back my figure, it should be in the same format, right?
In that case, I’d put it as a range, and that way you’ll discover what they think is too high. Let’s say they offered you $30,000. Instead of saying, “Based on my talents and abilities, I would ask for $33,000”, you could say “mid-30’s”.
Yes, I’d respond in the same format as they gave you. Or “XXX per pay period, or XX, XXX a year” just so you’re both clear.
Trust me, it seems intimidating and pushy the first time you negotiate a salary. You’ll be shocked how smoothly it will go and you will never again accept a job without negotiating.
Holy crap guys, I got approved at the figure I asked for!!! Which is 16k more than I’m making now, and 6k more than they offered! I didn’t think they would go that high!
I want to thank all of you so much, but especially niblet_head for the quick and in-depth replies that pushed me forward! I am so excited!
