RE. Negotiation questions?

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Anonymous is seeking advice on job negotiations:

Let's begin with a large caveat, plus the usual "your mileage may vary"
disclaimer: Without knowing how desperate your friend is for the new job,
and how desperate they are for hiring her, any advice I can give must be
taken with several large grains of salt (not to say a shaker). The less
desperate you are, and the more desperate they are, the better your
bargaining position. Also make sure your friend finds out how long she has
to stay with the company before she can leave without having to repay the
relocation expenses; that can be a major "gotcha".

<<The salary offered is about 10k less a year than the median average for
the area in which the job is located; however, the company is offering her a
lump sum "bonus" for relocation expenses or "whatever she wants to spend it
on"  that brings the salary close to the average.>>

I've taken a pay cut only once when moving to a new job, and that was with
the guarantee that I'd be back at my old salary very shortly. My context:
they were going to have to spend an inordinate amount of money to move me to
a new city, and I was initially starting out in a less responsible position
than formerly. Plus, what with commuting back to Montreal several times per
year to be with my family, I was saving enormous amounts of time and money
just on travel, which pretty much left me with the same salary anyway. In
any event, I was back at my old salary within a year or so. I'm not sure I'd
have moved otherwise.

<<Her secondary concern is negotiating for time to start.  She can't rent
because she has pets, but she won't be able to close on a house for at least
60 days.  Is that too much to ask for, in anyone's opinion?>>

I've also moved on short notice; in my current job, they needed me
immediately (I was hired right before their silly season). Fortunately, I
had family in the area to do some preliminary househunting for me, so I
could fly in, inspect the best candidate, and sign a lease in a great hurry.
Does her new employer offer this kind of service through their personnel
department, as an employee benefit? Can they find her temporary
accomodations or point her to a housing broker? Does she have any friends or
professional contacts in the area who could help out?

<<She probably could have someone watch the animals while she rents and
looks for/closes on a house, but she'd rather not.>>

Just put them in a kennel for 2 months, like I did with my kids. <g>
Seriously, though, pets are a problem. But if everything else about the
situation is perfect, she may just have to bite the bullet and live without
them for a month.

<<On one hand she feels greedy for asking them to get the salary closer to
the median average>>

I guess the obvious question is whether she's worth the median. If she's at
least average in her skills, why should she sell herself short? If she's new
to the work and thus unproven, then starting at a lower salary initially
would certainly be a reasonable expectation from the employer. The other
factor would be whether the lower salary provides for a reasonable standard
of living in that area, and what the salary growth is likely to be;
sometimes (not always) a really good job is worth sacrificing a bit of money
for, at least in the short term. Odds are, there's a techwhirler in the area
who can provide a reality check on living costs if you tell us the specific
area.

<<Does anyone have any insights or tips on how to negotiate?>>

Best tip of all: know thy enemy. <g> Does she have a good rapport with her
new boss? If so, explain the situation and ask the question directly. Don't
give the impression that you're helpless or unable to make the move, but do
make sure that your concerns are understood and find out how much leeway
you've got. If you don't ask, you won't know. And if they're unwilling to
negotiate, or suddenly start giving the impression that they think they can
extort all kinds of concessions, then you should ask yourself whether you
misjudged how nice a place that will be to work.

--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"Technical writing... requires understanding the audience, understanding
what activities the user wants to accomplish, and translating the often
idiosyncratic and unplanned design into something that appears to make
sense."--Donald Norman, The Invisible Computer