Help With Negotiating Pay (employees, job application, applying, tips)
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Hello good people of the Work and Employment forum. I could use your help with something.
I have been looking for a new job recently and have mostly been applying at places offering hourly pay. When I have been filling out the job applications I have been putting in $11 an hour as what I am looking to be paid.
So I get a call last week from a place whom I've done full-time seasonal work for in the past. This place is a big-box store looking to fill another full-time seasonal position. My past experience with this company was very positive. I am highly knowledgeable and experienced in the position in which they are looking to fill, so when they called me in for an interview I was pretty sure I'd get the job. The interview was your standard first interview, and no discussion regarding pay took place.
Three days later, they called me and offered me the job. During this call they mentioned the pay was $10.29/hour, which was the exact same pay I got the last time I worked for them. One thing worth mentioning is that during the call, after she said the amount she sort of paused, presumably waiting for my reaction, which I think was a quick and dismissive "yeah." Now even though I put down $11/hour on my application, I didn't say anything else during the call because I didn't want to get into a pay discussion over the phone.
Now I go in on Monday for my drug test, and I've already passed the background check. Now I know they know I want $11/hour but are just trying to get me to accept less. However I sort of need the job at the moment so I don't want them to just give it to the next guy in line who's willing to accept less.
So when I go in on Monday how should I handle this to get the pay I want? Any tactics I should use or tips on what to say?
the time to discuss pay is before you 'accept'. did you accept? By nature of you taking the drug test, it sounds like you accepted.
You should have discussed this over the phone. You should have said "Can you increase the pay slightly to $11/hr?". Then stay silent and wait for an answer.
I suppose you can do this when you go in Monday. However, it might already be too late. They think you took it at the oferred rate. However, you can always ask this question and see where it goes. Maybe they bump it up slightly. Don't outright refuse to take it at the original rate. You are just asking to see if they can go higher. That's all.
only thing i can see helping your case at this point is a competing offer. if you confidently call and tell the person a company that you interviewed with a few weeks ago has called and offered you $12 a hour and you want to see if they can come closer to that they may feel pressured to raise the amount. other than a competing offer you have no leverage and they have no reason to raise it. im sure they have a range for the role say $9.50 to $13.00 an hour for example so they technically can probably give you higher since you have yet to start but theyre not just going to because of your pure desire.
now the company most likely will not rescind the offer just by you asking. if they say no then you can say okay i really liked working here before and hopefully i can get a raise at the next promotion period. if you dont feel comfortable "inventing" a competing offer youre probably stuck at the $10.29
in the company/ hr mind they feel that $10.29 is close enough to your requirement of $11 and you should be happy. trust me, you have to create pressure for them to up the amount. its a employer market and the only way they really feel pressure to give you what you deserve (w/in reason) is with a competing offer...
the time to discuss pay is before you 'accept'. did you accept? By nature of you taking the drug test, it sounds like you accepted.
You should have discussed this over the phone. You should have said "Can you increase the pay slightly to $11/hr?". Then stay silent and wait for an answer.
I suppose you can do this when you go in Monday. However, it might already be too late. They think you took it at the oferred rate. However, you can always ask this question and see where it goes. Maybe they bump it up slightly. Don't outright refuse to take it at the original rate. You are just asking to see if they can go higher. That's all.
Well, when they called me the other day they said "We'd like to offer you the job," and I just said something along the lines of "Okay, great," and then the person just continued talking. So yeah I guess I accepted.
In hindsight I should have just said something over the phone like you said, but I wasn't expecting them to say the pay was going to be $10.29 considering I put $11 on my application. I was kind of caught off guard and didn't really know the best way to handle it.
only thing i can see helping your case at this point is a competing offer. if you confidently call and tell the person a company that you interviewed with a few weeks ago has called and offered you $12 a hour and you want to see if they can come closer to that they may feel pressured to raise the amount. other than a competing offer you have no leverage and they have no reason to raise it. im sure they have a range for the role say $9.50 to $13.00 an hour for example so they technically can probably give you higher since you have yet to start but theyre not just going to because of your pure desire.
now the company most likely will not rescind the offer just by you asking. if they say no then you can say okay i really liked working here before and hopefully i can get a raise at the next promotion period. if you dont feel comfortable "inventing" a competing offer youre probably stuck at the $10.29
in the company/ hr mind they feel that $10.29 is close enough to your requirement of $11 and you should be happy. trust me, you have to create pressure for them to up the amount. its a employer market and the only way they really feel pressure to give you what you deserve (w/in reason) is with a competing offer...
good luck
Thanks for the links, I will read them later when I have more time. And I like the idea of making up a competing offer, and the reasoning behind it makes sense. But what happens when they call my bluff? Then I don't even have the job anymore and would be wishing I took the $10.29....
Anyone else have an opinion on the competing offer idea?
Thanks for the links, I will read them later when I have more time. And I like the idea of making up a competing offer, and the reasoning behind it makes sense. But what happens when they call my bluff? Then I don't even have the job anymore and would be wishing I took the $10.29....
Anyone else have an opinion on the competing offer idea?
they may call your bluff and say take it or leave it. it will be "sorry mr. x, unfortunately or budget is not flexible. we can not meet your requirements. will you accept or current offer of $10.29?" then you can say "well itll be tough (pause) but i really enjoyed working here before and money isnt everything. i wish it could be higher, but of course i still accept"
its extremely extremely unlikely for a professional company to say "well go ahead and just take the other offer." if it is a one person shop or a small small place with a few employees they may get offended but its extremely unlikely.
you will most likely either get a bump or stay at the same offer. rescinding is unlikely if you play your cards as i have layed out for you...
they may call your bluff and say take it or leave it. it will be "sorry mr. x, unfortunately or budget is not flexible. we can not meet your requirements. will you accept or current offer of $10.29?" then you can say "well itll be tough (pause) but i really enjoyed working here before and money isnt everything. i wish it could be higher, but of course i still accept"
its extremely extremely unlikely for a professional company to say "well go ahead and just take the other offer." if it is a one person shop or a small small place with a few employees they may get offended but its extremely unlikely.
you will most likely either get a bump or stay at the same offer. rescinding is unlikely if you play your cards as i have layed out for you...
When I go into the meeting on Monday, what if I just said something like, "We need to talk about my pay. $10.29 is slightly low considering another business I've applied to is willing to pay me $11 an hour. Would it be a problem meeting this amount?"
And say they said no, then I could say, "Well, that was the amount I put on my application." Then if they still say no, I could tell them I will work the job anyway because it is closer to my home. What do you think about this?
Also, and not trying to sound egotistical here, but I am very knowledgeable and experienced in the department for which I will be working, more so than anyone else in the department, including the Department Manager (I know the staff). Does this give me any leverage for negotiation?
Pft good luck, I tried negotiating pay for a job I applied for, and though I got the job we were $13k apart, even when I said how about just $3k more they pretty much just refused. I took the job but it just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Assuming the OP works 40 hrs a week......$28.40 extra ea week but when you take into consideration the withholding taxes etc.....How much is left?
If they say NO then the person is SOL for a JOB........something to consider.
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