I have a meeting with my future employer to discuss a part time English teaching job. From what I hear from other colleagues (I worked for this school, but only doing phone lessons), there isn’t a standard salary chart. It’s kind of negotiated on an individual basis. I also know that they make a huge profit margin. I found out that my phone lessons, where I earn 17E/hr are sold to the companies for 42E/hr, so they’re making a 50% profit on those.
So, in terms of negotiations strategy, should I aim high? I’ll be working 16-20 hrs a week, and would like to earn (after taxes) approximately 1500E a month, after taxes. That seems reasonable to me, although, when I look at that hourly, I could probably get more.
Any tips on negotiating this deal? It’s also important to know that they need me more than I need them. They’ve recently lost three native-English speaking teacher and none of their teachers are American. Since they usually contract with American companies, American teachers in high demand.
Do I present an unreasonably high number and work my way down? Do I insist he present me with concrete numbers for the other teachers? Do I go for a percentage of what he makes from the contracted companies?
Advice, please, and QUICK. We have a 3:30pm meeting today!
Because you’re part time, it’s very important that you get a high rate, of course, since you’re probably not getting any benefits (or at least not full benefits). Do you have an idea of how much others in your position make? Have they given you an indication of what the new job’s pay rate will begin at? (In other words, does it start in the 20/hour range?)
I would say that if you’ve been making 17-20 and are valuable to them as an English-speaker AND you know they still make a good profit, you could ask for as much as 30 an hour. If that’s too high, they’ll say so - but going as high as that might be the best way to start. (You wouldn’t want to go to 40/hour; then they might get upset with you.)
Again, good luck. When I was hired at my current job, I had never negotiated anything. I had found out what the starting salary was, figured out the worth of my experience, and asked for a certain amount. When the HR person called to let me know I got the job, I asked for a little more.
If you feel 1500E is your target, shoot for a little more so that, if necessary, the compromise can come out to 1500E.
Speaking as a consultant, remember that just because they look to pay you 17E per hour when they bill customers 42E per hour doesn’t mean you should shoot for 30E. Out of the 17E per hour margin they have, they are probably looking to offset the costs of non-billable employess (administrative staff, management, technical staff - there is always a salary that can’t be laid off on the customer.)
Aim higher than what you would be satisfied with. If they go for it, great. If not, you should still get your satisfactory amount.
Always ask for more than you want. As leenmi said, what you see as a huge profit margin is “overhead”. That is what is used to pay office managers, secretaries, maintenance workers, office and building supplies, cafeteria workers, utilities, land lease, etc. In my current job the customer gets billed nearly $90/hr for my time. Naturally I don’t see near that amount, but without that overhead, I wouldn’t have paper, lights, a building to work in, toilets, etc.
The negotations went well. Unfortunately, as I predicted, we got stuck on the child care issue, though that seems as if it’s going to be resolved.
The director said that we can discuss month wages when we meet again, after the nanny is secured. Meantime, I’m thinking that the MINIMUM I can work for hourly is 25E/hr, because with that amount, I can pay the nanny, taxes and have enough left over for rent (and maybe utilities).
So, as you all said, I’ll ask for a bit more (Maybe start at 30E/hr and work my way down) and see how that goes.
