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I consider this fair and reasonable. They submitted you their offer
_first_, which is a clear indication of their interest in you. Their
justification for knowing (approximately) your present salary is valid.
They know that you won't be happy if they come in too low with their
offer.
However, I would still resist telling them a specific figure. I would
say which ever is true: either their offer is in the ballpark or is
below what I'm currently making. More than that they don't need to know
even by their own reasoning.
If you tell them a specific figure, you lose negotiation potential --
whether or not you use it. However, if their offer is clearly below what
you are currently making, they need to know this so that they can
sweeten the deal. You don't want to give away the farm as to the _upper
limit_ in how sweet it has to be.
Also, assume that their offer is, say, $1k/year more than you're
presently making and you confirm this. It may seem like a better deal.
"Hey, we're paying you a grand more than you are presently making." Do
the math.
Getting a new job is not without extra expenses. You might have to drive
further, dress better, or have less access to things you need regularly
(e.g., banks, post offices, Burger King, etc.) You might even have to
move which IME has never happened without more cost and headache to me
than was covered by the moving expense allocation. Let's not forget that
you become the FNG who has to work your tail-off to impress people for
the early months; forget 9-5 and evenings free for awhile until you've
established yourself.
Hence, even though they'll counter that $1k/yr is more than you're
presently making, that's all of $0.48/hr (or $3.84/day) more before
taxes and you need at least $3k-$5k more to seriously consider jumping
ship.
If you don't name a concrete figure and just indicate whether they are
close to or below what you expect, you're more likely to get that extra
kick in salary to make it worthwhile to become the FNG and
low-man-on-the-totem-pole again.
Glenn Maxey
Voyant Technologies, Inc.
Tel. +1 303.223.5164
Fax. +1 303.223.5275
glenn -dot- maxey -at- voyanttech -dot- com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Smith [mailto:Richard -dot- Smith -at- windriver -dot- com]
> Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 1:37 PM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: RE: Salary issues ( a twist)
>
<snippage below>
> when interviewing, they first
> indicated the range they would be able to pay (42k to 56k if
> I recall) which would vary based qualifications, etc.
>
> Then, after telling me what they would be able to offer, they
> asked what I was previously earning.
>
> They wanted to be sure that if invested in me, that I would
> be able to stay put at that salary for a while.
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