How much will a potential employer lowball with an offer?
I have an offer on the table which is at least 10% less than I was expecting. I have fairly recent salary information from my peers (same school, same program), which is in line with what I was expecting. This job has a potentially decent bonus structure, but who knows.
I have two other jobs that want to hire me after my current internship runs out, but no numbers have been tossed out.
Any tips? Should I make a counter offer? Just take it?
What is your reservation price?
What is your BATNA?
Reservation Price - the price at which you are neutral to the offer - it is equal to what you already have offered. However, you can’t get there without a BATNA
BATNA - Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement - aka your fallback position or plan B.
Your problem is that you only have one job offer - so you have nothing to fall back on right now. You need to improve your BATNA, or you might negotiate your way to nothing.
That said, it depends on the firm. I knew companies that would lowball people, then play catch-up once hired. I also know firms that will lowball you, and the only way to get a decent raise is to leave and then come back.
Can you get some counter offers from the other two firms? Tell them that you are evaluating offers and you would like to see what they might have? You need their numbers NOW.
Role play it - if you go in and say, “I was expecting X, that seems to be the market number,” what will you do if THEY say, “Well, this is what we are offering for this position and for candidates with your background.”
Yes make a counter offer. Say something like "I appreciate the job offer after carefully studying the duties involved and the commitment required and the job salaries of other similar jobs I would like to propose…<Insert your proposal here>
If they refuse to budge you can always take this job and keep looking. If one of the other two jobs comes in take it.
Don’t have a misguided sense of loyalty where you feel it’s unethical to take a job then quit it later.
You can bet your life, if the business slows they’d fire you in an instant.
Should you just take it? NO!! You claim to have data that supports your position. Do not be afraid to show this data to the prospective employer and feel free to ask them if/why they disagree with what you think is objective criteria, that, along with your actual qualifications (I assume) back up your stance.
Do not, however, make a counter 10% higher than your target. Then you’re baraining for positions. Tell them your target, back it up with your data and see if they’ll play ball.
I just read a study that described how women are much less likey to negotiate salary, which is a huge reason they are generally paid less than men in similar job functions. So don’t take the first offer if it doesn’t meet your expectiations.
I thought women got paid less for the same reason they have to do pushups on their knees, play with a larger ball and drive from tees closer to the green.
The sources I’m going from are not off the internet. If I adjust my sources for cost of living, or use internet sources to find local estimates I get numbers that are even higher than what I was thinking about asking for.
I did have one offer come through. Adjusting for cost of living, it’s slightly higher than job A’s offer, but it came with “let me know what you need to keep you, and if I can, I’ll make it happen.”
Job C’s manager wasn’t in, I expect I’ll hear from him tomorrow.
