Hey guys, need advice from the ClutchFans empire.... I was offered another job, but the offer I think is very, very low. I have 7 years experience in the IT field (desktop support/help desk, etc.). When I calculated on Payscale.com what I should be making, their offer is 4K to 6K less. I live in Dallas, just a heads up for those who wanted to calculate cost of living. Here are the positives/negatives of this new job: Positives - Addition to the salary, they are offering a 2.5% annual bonus - Health Care (Including Medical and Dental Insurance Choices) - Long and Short Term Disability - Vacation and Sick Leave - Life Insurance - 401(K) and Profit Sharing - Tuition Reimbursement - Business Casual Environment - 10 minutes from my house - Save $ on gas - Weekends off - Go to church again on Sundays Negatives - Salary Offer - Benefits haven't been gone over yet by the new company, but I will be leaving a nice 401K match and medical/dental/life insurance Here are the positives/negatives of my current job: Positives - Nice 401K match - Really good medical/dental/life insurance - Very, very casual clothing environment - Very non-corporate feel, except now, things are getting tight and it feels like it's going corporate - salary is not that great, but they compensate it w/ other benefits, 401K match and profitsharing, and medical/dental/life insurance Negatives - 45 minutes one-way to and from my house - gas bill is really high each month (bought car 11/07, up to now, piled up 32K in miles) - shift work w/ bad seniority (in other words, the shift I get along w/ days off are just scraps after everyone had their pick of the best days off and times) - no advancement career-wise - job feels like it's high school instead of an adult job - no tuition reimbursement - raises are very hard to come by (lot of favoritism, politics, etc....but that's in any company) At my current job last week, I just received a cost-of-living increase to bump my current salary a little over $1K. The offer they gave me is a little more than what I'm making, but my current company is known for paying little. Everyone who I have kept in touch w/ who has left my current company w/ the same experience I have had a $5K to $10K bump in salary. On my application for this new job, I put down that I'm currently making $5K more than what they offered me. What should I do if they stick to their original offer? Can I ask for compensation other than salary....maybe like an increase in the annual bonus? Or is it more of a take it or leave it situation?
Have you put the various economic factors: 1. Salary 2. Tuition Reimbursement 3. 401(K) & profit sharing 4. Commute cost 5. Medical and similar benefits 6. Insurance etc into a spreadsheet to see how the companies compare?
Tell the new job that you really would like to accept but that the offer was a bit lower than expected and see if they can up their offer a bit. Or take charge and say that you want to come over but the offer is low, and say how about you guys bump it up to XXXX amount? Never be afraid to ask..... DD
As a matter of fact, when I offer someone a position I expect the good ones to do exactly what DaDakota is suggesting. Bottom line: Always counter Do NOT lie. I.e. "I am considering another offer as well and want you to match...etc" This tactic will be sniffed out quickly by any hiring manager
I'd say make a counter-offer. I've posted for and accepted 2 jobs at my current employer, and have made salary requests. Once it was met, once it wasn't, but it was fairly close. Whats with the 2.5% bonus? Is that normal in the IT field? It seems a little low. I always hear more like 8-12%
DD and Festeral Otto, There was one thing I forgot to mention. I still work at the same company, but I switched jobs 8 months ago.....going from my desktop support/help desk job to a finance job (wanted to try out the IT side of Finance). In that process, I took a huge paycut....$7K paycut to be exact. When I talked w/ the recruiter over the phone, I let her talk her spiel on the offer and the annual bonus. I repeated back what offer she told me and then I told her that the offer was too low. I told her on the application when I worked desktop support/helpdesk (9/2001 - 6/2007), I started off at x and gained $7K (the offer she gave me was $5K less than what I ended off w/ the support job). I know I took a paycut going to Finance, but I told her if I was still working the same desktop support/helpdesk job, I would be at $8...8.5K (cost of living increase). I also told her with my 7 years of IT experience, I checked Payscale.com to see what my value is. I'm suppose to be receiving in the $7K-$10K range (sorry for the bad example). I didn't receive a call back from the recruiter (she called at 3:30p today), so I'm expecting a phone call on Monday. I don't know what offer she is going to give me, but the positives of the new job outweigh the positives of my current job. I'm just in the dark about how much health care is going to cost and how much they match 401K. Can I still be able to negotiate if they come back w/ a counter offer or is that final?
I will be doing IT in the investment banking/credit union field. My current job didn't have any bonuses. I'm not sure if I'm suppose to get this bonus plus cost of living. I'm thinking they will bring a counter offer, but it won't be much of an increase. I feel like I will grow more w/ this new company and w/ the tuition reimbursement, I can get my MCSE and/or CCNA and move on. I can then value myself w/ those certifications to a higher salary.
Definitely counter, but don't play games. Make a reasonable counter-offer for an amount you would be happy with if the prospective employer accepted. In the good ol' days, people were getting about a 20% bump in pay. That is maybe a little too much to expect here, but I would want the new employer to at least match the current salary if the job requirements are similar. Also, even if the money is a little less (and no idea what is 'little' to you, but a couple thousand over a year's worth of paychecks is little to me), you cannot put a pricetag on happiness and your time. 45 mins each way in a car is 1.5 hours of your life each day (more than 7 hours per week) that is time better spent doing something else.
Not for our use, for your use. So that the Total Values of the various financial numbers in your pay & benefits at the present company and the pay & benefits at the potential company are compared and summed to give you a more exact number on what the financial benefits are on leaving. I realize that you really want to leave and join the other company, but have you crunched the numbers to see what you need to get from their financial (pay & benefits) package?
I was gonna make a new thread about my similar situation, but I guess I'll just hijack this one. Sorry Right now I have 2 job offers, one is from a consulting company in Dallas, another one is from an energy company in Houston. For the consulting company: Advantages: Extensive training. Very valuable for a fresh grad like me. 100% tuition reimbursement if I get an A. Great 401k. I believe I will enjoy consulting more. But this is only an assumption, it could change after I actually start working. Great networking opportunities. For a consulting job, I don't actually have to travel much, which is a plus in my book since I hate flying. One to one vacation match for my overtimes. Huge plus! 5% profit sharing. Disadvantages: Is in Dallas Huge minus in my book Lots of driving. If I take this job, I'll have to start right away, which means I have to take the one class I have left in the fall. Did I mention I have to stay in Dallas? For the job in Houston: Advantages: Houston baby! The company seems like they really want me to join them. I feel like I'm not just one of the four people they have to hire each year, like the consulting company in Dallas. Higher salary. Get to work on cutting edge technologies. Stable job environment. Good medical benefits. Houston baby! Disadvantages: Inferior 401k plan. In an IT department of an energy company, so only limited room going up. Large corporation, lots of bureaucracy and politics. Although majority of my time will be doing what I like, but 25% of time I have deal with other crap. No payment for overtime nor time off reimbursement. Any input would be appreciated.
