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> > 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.
>
> How is that?
>
> If you want $50K a year, you don't TELL them that. You tell
> them you want $65K or 70K a year. A smart place will then offer you
$50K
> and then you counter with $55K and get the job.
Few of us are skilled negotiators. Chances are more likely that any
figure we mention that is out of line with what they want to pay (or
what they envision the compensation should be for the responsibilities
of the position) will result in some way with us putting ourselves out
of the running for the position even if we might go through the motions
of coming to agreement on a figure.
The salary range that the company can potentially pay is _always_ going
to be much wider than ours. While we might know the lower boundary of
the company's pay schedule ($0), what we don't know is their upper end
for someone with our clearly superior skill set, dedication, and work
ethic.
For those of us who aren't skilled negotiators, if we blurt out a figure
_first_ even if it is high in the hopes of negotiating down to what we
want/need, we artificially peg that upper limit. In other words, we will
never know that we could have gotten more merely by _waiting_ for the
company to name a figure _first_ ($55k) and then tweaking them up
($57k).
Two other problems with your example.
There is a big difference between $65k or $70k that you would use as the
starting point for the negotiation and the $50k that they countered
with. I'd be willing to venture that this difference is large enough for
the company to not even counter with it, because they know you won't be
happy (for long) working for so much less than you state you are worth,
even if admittedly inflated.
The second problem coming to light from your example of haggling over a
salary is that it implies more commitment to that employer than you
might be prepared to give **at that point in time** still in the
interview and could be tied to financial penalties. Even when I was dead
sure that this was the job I wanted and I had no other prospects, I
always asked for a few days or a week to think about it. Consider it a
negotiating technique. Whether or not true, it implies that I had other
job leads, that I'm in demand, and that a competitive offer might come
in still. The time away and out of the pressure-cooker interview allows
you to counter over the telephone later without even mentioning a figure
merely by saying "I'm still interested in your position, feel I would
fit in well, and would like to commit to you... blah, blah, blah,... but
I have this other offer that just came in."
> I don't understand why people have a problem with this. Take whatever
> amount you want to be making and add a few thousand. If they
> make you an offer below that - counter somewhere in the middle. That's
how
> negotiations work.
Ours is not a culture that haggles. We have lost the technique. It used
to be that if you saw a dented can in a store, you could talk to someone
with authority and say that this is damaged goods and, therefore, you
shouldn't have to pay full price. Nowadays, as long as the bar code is
still readable, you pay full price for that dented can of refried beans
that gets dented further when the teenager throws it into your plastic
bag.
Negotiating on salary is much the same. Because we don't have the skills
and it is an uncomfortable situation where we pray that our Right Guard
is still holding up, we don't even try. We would rather demonstrate that
we're nice and agreeable like we'll be once we're employed.
Moreover, the company does not go out of its way to present an image
that it can be flexible in its position. The offer letter is typed up
and it is what it is. Any haggling over salary is seen as un-team-like
and argumentative and can result in no offer letter making its way out
of the laser printer.
If you're lucky, salary is negotiated with HR and not your future
manager, so you'll be able to be more hard-nosed about not naming
figures and making them sweat.
Glenn Maxey
Voyant Technologies, Inc.
Tel. +1 303.223.5164
Fax. +1 303.223.5275
glenn -dot- maxey -at- voyanttech -dot- com
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