Negotiating Salary/Benefits

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Flint

...
I took the [internet sources] number, rounded up, added on the travel expense, and the cost of buying a new car for my wife. I took that new number and told the CIO that it would be a "lateral move" for me. In reality it would be, like, a $30k raise.
...

The CIO gave the HR guy the number I told him, and the HR guy wrote up an offer.

I had said I need $X0,000 to $X5,000, and he offered me exactly $X0,000 as a straight salary.

I thought I'd have to haggle to get up that high, but now I'll just be haggling for extra money.

The CIO doesn't get back until Monday...maybe he thinks I'll just take this offer. But I'll wait until Monday and say,

"Okay, now, what about this? What about that?" --all the extra monies I dreamed up.

[BigV]

Originally Posted by Flint

The CIO gave the HR guy the number I told him, and the HR guy wrote up an offer.

I had said I need $X0,000 to $X5,000, and he offered me exactly $X0,000 as a straight salary.

I thought I'd have to haggle to get up that high, but now I'll just be haggling for extra money.

The CIO doesn't get back until Monday...maybe he thinks I'll just take this offer. But I'll wait until Monday and say,

"Okay, now, what about this? What about that?" --all the extra monies I dreamed up.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[wet blanket]Now, an observation. Don't ask for any extra monies. That ship has sailed. You asked for X and you got X. That's done. I would be pissed at a minimum and question my judgment in selecting you if you came back to me and started talking about more money **after** I gave you what you asked for. Please don't. You risk your credibility, and that is ... unrecoverable in this situation at this early stage.

Maybe, maybe, depending on the narrowness of scope in your conversations with the CIO, there remains some wiggle room in your negotiations to "get extra money". In my opinion, if you talked about salary, only salary... maybe. But look at it from his side... if you went out to buy a car and negotiated the price, and the seller said "OK, I'll sell it to you for

$X0,000 to $X5,000

", you'd say, Great, I'll buy it for $X0,000. What would be your reaction if on the following Monday when you came to take delivery the seller said, "Now, as to the "extra money" I want". Deal or no deal? There are a lot of other cars in the ocean, so to speak. This one might be the perfect color, and have the power ashtrays and the led drumstick holders and everything, but...

Or, your budget might have been "$X5,000" in the first place and you must have this car. So, a little extra money isn't a problem.

You have to gauge the state of mind of the CIO. How confident are you with that?

If you're talking about a parking space, or relocation benefits, or extra vacation, or an accelerated review schedule, or other non-cash items, you have a better chance to continue the negotiations. But keep in mind, your only lever is an understanding in the mind of the business deciders that they still want you and they still don't have you.

If you've said "l'll start on Monday" and you want to extend the conversation about your terms, you're doomed. Y'all might talk, but you'll get nothing.

I don't know enough about the details of your conversations to advise you as to what path to take, but I do know enough that this is perilous territory. Don't renege on anything you've agreed to.