My husband is in the final stages of interviewing for a couple of different jobs, both of which seem interested in hiring him. Because we are moving out of state we weren’t exactly sure what to expect for salary ranges, especially since we currently live in NYC which (theoretically) has a much higher cost of living than most of the country. Unfortunately, both companies asked what he is earning currently and have given him the, “That is within our salary range” line about what he can expect to earn with these places. He was okay with that until he discovered in conversation with one of his interviewers that the normal salary for these positions is about $15,000-$20,000 more than what he is currently making.
Now he is in a weird position where if he just takes the job at the salary they are expecting to pay him he will be grossly underpaid, but he feels like he doesn’t have a ton of room to negotiate salary because they’ve out and out told him that he can expect a similar salary to what he is making now. He is planning to try to negotiate some additional benefits to make up for the lower salary they plan to pay him (for example, both companies offer child care and he is going to try and have them cover the entire cost as part of his employment package) but I don’t know if this is going to be enough to make up for being lowballed on the money end of things.
Is there a tactful way to tell them that he has learned that he should be expecting a much larger salary than what they had previously discussed or is he basically stuck trying to tack on enough extra benefits that he doesn’t feel like he is being quite so screwed?
Understand that it will cost them AT LEAST $10,000-20,000 for them to restart the interview process if your husband declines the offer. Unless your husband is a college grad in his first job with some place like Accenture or Deloitte where 500 million identical college kids just want the company name on their resume, he actually does have some leverage.
Especially if he is negotiating offers from two different companys to move out of NYC.
“Based on what you said during our conversation, the position pays [whatever they said].”
“Your offer is generous, but I’ve been offered more from the other company.”
“Are you looking to bring me on because I’m the best candidate or because you think I will accept the lowest amount of money?”
“I understand the cost of living is lower, but you are asking me to move from NYC to Buttfuck, Anystate USA.”
Now if your husband has already stated a salary range, that makes it a bit more difficult. Typically what happens is that once you state a number, that becomes an anchor for the rest of the negotiations. A good tactic would have been “I am currently making [borderline absurd highball number]. But I also live in a city where 1BR appartments are $4000 a month. I don’t expect you to match that number obviously, I just want what’s fair for your area, given my experience.”
What happens is they can now come in lower, but subconsciously they will want to avoid giving him an insulting offer.
Also, this all sort of depends if it’s $10-15K on a $60 K salary or a $180K salary.
He wants one of these jobs so badly that he is terrified asking for more money will make them rescind their offer. He is freaking out about possibly losing the jobs completely and it is making it really difficult for him to bring himself to ask for a reasonable salary. I wish I knew how to give him the courage to ask for what he is worth.
Companies generally won’t recind offers just because you ask for money so long as you are negotiating in good faith. ie don’t suddenly demand $20k more after you have already agreed on a price point.
Also, avoid setting ultimatums. If you back people into a corner, they will often kabosh the deal just to save faith. Act like you are willing to work with them to come up with a creative “solution”.