How do you avoid the rookie mistake when the interviewing manager asks your current salary during the initial interviews? This has happened to me before and the interviewing people would not let it go even if I tried to sidestep it. Plus, when the final salary is agreed upon, is it legal for the company to ask for a copy of your latest paycheck from your current employer? My friend's company requested this from him right before he got hired.
Seriously, I wouldn't answer. It has no bearing. It's easier for me to say this now since most of the time I'm the one in demand versus me needing the job. But in the past, if someone pushed it I just gave them the number I wanted and not what I was necessarily making. But pay should be consistent with the market value for whatever position it is. What I made working for a totally different company in a different capacity has no bearing on what you want me to do now.
Those are fringe benefits, not Perks. Perks are when "You" are given exclusive niceties. It seems like a pretty standard offer to me. What is your ceiling?
Whatever you do, keep applying for other positions. When you have options, it will become much easier. You could have no offers for weeks. The next week, you get 2-3 interviews and everybody wants to hire you. You don't have to play one company against another. You will naturally feel more confident when negotiating salary, when you don't have to take the job. Just get them to understand why choosing you will be more profitable than somebody else. It's all about money with them. They'll pay you more, if they believe you can be more profitable than the other guy.
