Current Events > Negotiating salary is a falsehood...

(+) Yeah! (+)

Every job I've ever been offered has been a "this is what we're paying you, take it or leave it" with no room for "I think you can afford ___ to get me".

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That's cause you're intervewing for low level positions

CrazyandLazy posted...

That's cause you're intervewing for low level positions

I don't know about you but as a single person without any expenses but maintaining house and home and feeding myself and my dad, I'm happy with a job that pays $70K-$80K.

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No. You're clearly just not valuable enough to be able to negotiate. Sorry to be blunt, that's just the truth. Or you're applying to a very saturated field and are a dime a dozen

You can force a bidding war between companies. Ive heard that happen with even fairly low level positions if certain useful skill sets are involved.


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Resaix posted...

Or you're applying to a very saturated field and are a dime a dozen

That I can totally believe and accept. I'm well aware of it.

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I've been able to negotiate salary a couple times, including at the job I'm at now.

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I've done it with and without success. In fact I've done it twice at my current job.

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Solid Sonic posted...

That I can totally believe and accept. I'm well aware of it.

What field/job titles are you looking at?

I negotiated pay for a low level and low paying government job to get bumped up a few levels back in the day.

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Resaix posted...

What field/job titles are you looking at?

Windows System Administration. Totally densely-packed field but there's also a lot of work out there for it as well so getting a pay rate in the $70Ks is always welcome, at least in my current juncture.

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My current admin job I was asked how much I'd like and I stated an amount based on my 12+ years of office work and they gave me $3K more than what I wanted. It's nice working at times for very small companies.

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Solid Sonic posted...

Windows System Administration. Totally densely-packed field but there's also a lot of work out there for it as well so getting a pay rate in the $70Ks is always welcome, at least in my current juncture.

Are there any extra certs you can get to stand out from the pack?

Resaix posted...

Are there any extra certs you can get to stand out from the pack?

Yeah but I actually never needed any to get work. I got a Network+ at one time but it was after I had been hired and before my start date and it ended up expiring while I was employed.

Now I kind of suspect salary negotiation MIGHT exist if I had better credentials and simply doesn't because they don't think they have to offer me anything but for the most part I got the kind of money I liked (except for my previous job, which was a step down from my previous payrate).

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Austin_Era_II posted...

My current admin job I was asked how much I'd like and I stated an amount based on my 12+ years of office work and they gave me $3K more than what I wanted. It's nice working at times for very small companies.

I HAVE gotten more money than I was expecting (I got a job offer once at $60K and then when they actually sent me the offer letter, it had been upped to $70K when I was only expecting $50K when offered). So that was cool.

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Ive had 3 jobs in my career and went back to the last 2 asking for more when they hired me and got it both times

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Solid Sonic posted...

Yeah but I actually never needed any to get work

That's the issue here. Certs and skills beyond the minimum will allow you to stand out from the crowd of people who just hit minimum requirements. Once you have extra value, you become more of a commodity and can push for more.

Solid Sonic posted...

I HAVE gotten more money than I was expecting (I got a job offer once at $60K and then when they actually sent me the offer letter, it had been upped to $70K when I was only expecting $50K when offered). So that was cool.

That's sweet!

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All I'm saying is every time I tried to bring it up, the guy hiring me made it sound like "this is all we've got budgeted".

I'd honestly be more insulted to find that they're only saying that to spare my feelings instead of just being upfront and telling me that, while they want me to come on, my credentials make it so they can't offer me more. I'm fine with that if it's somewhere that I still want to work at anyway.

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Solid Sonic posted...

All I'm saying is every time I tried to bring it up, the guy hiring me made it sound like "this is all we've got budgeted".

Trust me, 95% of the time, they have a wide range to play with. They'll almost never give you the max amount without a fight.

My issue with salary negotiation is I'm worried it reflects poorly on me as a new employee. If you push too hard, the hiring manager will get the impression that you're looking for more money, not someone who sees themselves as a team player.

At least to me it either makes you a bad candidate or someone they can justify cutting later.

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I've negotiated hourly rate before for entry level jobs. It's all about knowing how much value you're going to bring to the company

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Solid Sonic posted...

My issue with salary negotiation is I'm worried it reflects poorly on me as a new employee. If you push too hard, the hiring manager will get the impression that you're looking for more money, not someone who sees themselves as a team player.

At least to me it either makes you a bad candidate or someone they can justify cutting later.

Nah, they rarely if ever take it personally. It definitely doesn't make you a bad candidate. As long as you perform the job to the level you sold yourself at.

Solid Sonic posted...

My issue with salary negotiation is I'm worried it reflects poorly on me as a new employee. If you push too hard, the hiring manager will get the impression that you're looking for more money, not someone who sees themselves as a team player.

At least to me it either makes you a bad candidate or someone they can justify cutting later.

Um, this just goes to show you have no guts. It's not the end of the world to ask.

Solid Sonic posted...

Every job I've ever been offered has been a "this is what we're paying you, take it or leave it" with no room for "I think you can afford ___ to get me".

Then you don't know how to negotiate.

To begin with, you don't march into the office after a year nervously saying "Excuse me sir....I'd like a RAISE!!!".

You negotiate all terms upfront. Your starting salary is what you want to work your way up to in five years. If you don't have the skills to have that kind of leverage going into the job, then I don't know what to tell you because I always have.

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Allegedly, the last job I interviewed for the recruiter had managed to get me 5k more than what they had originally allocated for the job.

Then COVID-19 happened and I decided to stick with the job I have in uncertain times.

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CrazyandLazy posted...

Um, this just goes to show you have no guts. It's not the end of the world to ask.

I have asked (particularly in more recent years, where I feel my experience does give me some leverage), but I don't drill down on it once I get the "it's what the role pays" line.

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Odd youre such a dire hard conservative if youre not even good at it.

Ive negotiated my last three. My only regret is I didnt start earlier.

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Solid Sonic posted...

I have asked (particularly in more recent years, where I feel my experience does give me some leverage), but I don't drill down on it once I get the "it's what the role pays" line.

lol

Sounds like youre not very good at negotiating.

Best situation is to try and have more than one offer on the table. Then youre in a position of power.

When I accepted my most recent offer, I had 3 other offers on the table. So I was basically able to say this is what it would take for me to accept and they gave me exactly what I wanted and threw in a $10k sign on bonus for good measure.