Is there anything to lose by negotiating?

[Anonymous]

I received an offer but want to do a little better. Is there anything to lose by trying to negotiate? Has anyone ever had an offer rescinded after trying to negotiate a better offer?

[Anonymous]

Has no one negotiated an employment offer?
How much higher salary can I ask for?
If they are offering 2 weeks vacation, can I ask for more?

[Anonymous]

There is nothing to lose by negotiating as long as you're being reasonable. For instance, if you want them to match your current salary or you've done research showing people with your experience in this type of job make x. What's not reasonable is to say "My mortgage is x so I need to make x" or to ask for a lot more money when you knew what the salary range was going into the job.

It concerns me that you wonder "How much higher salary can I ask for?". Have you done research to know the typical range for the type of position you've been offered? You can't just ask for a random amount of money because it sounds good to you without some reason to back it up.

You can certainly ask for more vacation but I'd be shocked if you get it. I do have a friend who recently got additional unpaid leave because she had a wedding planned but unless you're an executive benefits aren't generally very negotiable.

[Anonymous]

The range for this position is very wide, so its difficult to say exactly what I should be making - I have seen ranges from $90-150K. They offered me $115K, which is slightly ($5K) over my last base salary but did not discuss bonus, which put the total compensation about $15K lower than my last total compensation. Is it unreasonable to ask for $130K? How high can I go?

Regarding vacation, I have had 4 weeks vacation in this industry for the past 8 years and to go back to 2 weeks would be extremely difficult.

[Anonymous]

Are you the mom who is going back to work after 5 years? What are you bringing to the table? Why should they pay you more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you the mom who is going back to work after 5 years? What are you bringing to the table? Why should they pay you more?

She's obviously bringing something to the table because they made her an offer. I have never, ever, ever not tried to negotiate when I got a job offer. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. As long as you aren't haughty or entitled, the worst that will happen is they'll say no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you the mom who is going back to work after 5 years? What are you bringing to the table? Why should they pay you more?

Not that mom.

I bring my experience, my contacts and my enthusiasm for this position. They have moved pretty quickly in the process and seem eager for me to join the company, but I was a little disappointed with the offer. I was with my last company for a while so I just wasnt sure how much I could ask for without seeing greedy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you the mom who is going back to work after 5 years? What are you bringing to the table? Why should they pay you more?

She's obviously bringing something to the table because they made her an offer. I have never, ever, ever not tried to negotiate when I got a job offer. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. As long as you aren't haughty or entitled, the worst that will happen is they'll say no.

Always. Use always.

And the question was what is she bringing to the table to negotiate with? You don't get paid more because you need the money or you feel like being paid more. If you are going to ask, then be educated about it. It is the sensible thing to do. And though it probably won't happen, they can say no and then move on to the next person. So with that in mind, it is best to have an educated argument as to where you are pulling these numbers from.

[Anonymous]

Has that ever happened? Has anybody ever had a written job offer rescinded because they tried to negotiate salary? I have never heard of it and would think that any company that would do something like that is a small-time operation and a place I wouldn't want to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has that ever happened? Has anybody ever had a written job offer rescinded because they tried to negotiate salary? I have never heard of it and would think that any company that would do something like that is a small-time operation and a place I wouldn't want to work.

Not to mention, one run by petty passive-aggressive jerks.

[Anonymous]

So from $115 to $130-135 is a reasonable request? And from 2-4 weeks vacation is reasonable?

[Anonymous]

I have negotiated before. It is really job/company specific. Your former pay isn't really a negotiating point since they will assume you interviewed knowing pay. If you do want to ask for more you need to give them concrete examples of those who make more and how their qualifications are similar to yours. Don't know anyone who lost an offer asking if there is room for negotiation on salary and/or bonus. Failing room there push for extra vacation. One job I took couldn't up the salary but upped the bonus percentage by 5% (so I got standard 15% bonus as a base rather than 10%) and I got 2 extra weeks of vacation.

What is most important for you after upping the base salary?

[Anonymous]

You're currently making 110? $130-135 is a 20 percent raise. It doesn't strike me as entirely kosher to request a salary that's equivalent to you current salary+bonus, but it's probably dependent on the field.

If it were me (my field that is pretty much bonus-less) I'd go for a ~10% raise and the same vacation I currently get. Going from 4 to 2 weeks vacation would suck!!

[Anonymous]

I think it's fair for you to push back that you want to get paid more than your current salary + bonus. So if they are not going to raise your base, they could raise your bonus potential.

And definitely ask for more vacation.

I'm actually kind of surprised HR didn't ask you what you were making now plus benefits - most places I have interviewed with (private, non-profit, government) have all asked the questions so as to be competitive with the offer.

[Anonymous]

OP, also take a close look at benefits. I was offered a job where disability did not kick in for 6 months. They wouldn't let me start disability early but I continued with my disability plan from my previous job for 6 months and they reimbursed me for that.