negotiating

[Anonymous]

I have a verbal offer. It's about 18% more in base salary than my current job, with slightly less bonus potential (though I think the bonus is more predictable than my current job, which has kind of a complicated compensation model). I feel like I'm underpaid now so I would have liked a bigger bump. I wasn't sure how to negotiate so when I got the offer, I said something to the effect of "I was hoping for a bit more". (I think I saw a post here recently that companies look down on you if you don't negotiate). She went "back to the business" and came back the next day offering a $5k signing bonus. She says I am at the high end of or even above the market reference point for this role and it's a good bump over my previous job (I had to put current salary on the application).

Is there anything else I can/should do to negotiate? I don't care TOO much about the money but I want to make sure I'm not being taken advantage of or leaving anything on the table.

The overall compensation is actually in line with what I put on the application but I can't remember if when I put that down I was thinking base or base plus bonus. Probably I was thinking base but that would have been like $40k over my base now so I know it was a little bit of a stretch.

[Anonymous]

A 20% raise sounds good on the face of it. Especially 20% entirely on base.

I think the problem here is you havent substantiated why you need more. Its one thing to say "I was hoping for a bit more", its different to say "Well, your reduced bonus structure and lower 401K match imply that I'd actually be taking a pay cut. Realistically for me to join, I'd need to at least do a little better than parity which would require another $X".

I'd also say it depends a lot on where you are in salary. A bump from 75K to 90K is actually huge in terms of your career and sets you up to cross the $100K threshold in a few years - which then sets a floor for future jobs.

A bump from $200 to $240K is in some ways less meaningful to your career; at that point you are already an 'executive', and the variance YOY will likely get bigger as you go up and a larger % of your comp becomes bonus based.

[Anonymous]

Could you ask for the 5,000 to be not a signing bonus, but rather an additional 5,000 in salary? That means you'd continue to get it year after year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A 20% raise sounds good on the face of it. Especially 20% entirely on base.

I think the problem here is you havent substantiated why you need more. Its one thing to say "I was hoping for a bit more", its different to say "Well, your reduced bonus structure and lower 401K match imply that I'd actually be taking a pay cut. Realistically for me to join, I'd need to at least do a little better than parity which would require another $X".

I'd also say it depends a lot on where you are in salary. A bump from 75K to 90K is actually huge in terms of your career and sets you up to cross the $100K threshold in a few years - which then sets a floor for future jobs.

A bump from $200 to $240K is in some ways less meaningful to your career; at that point you are already an 'executive', and the variance YOY will likely get bigger as you go up and a larger % of your comp becomes bonus based.

OP here. Thanks for this. In fact my overall comp should end up being about 10% higher even with the lesser bonus structure. My current bonus structure has the potential to be really high but in reality I typically see about 20% tops. The new gig is a 15% bonus that is more certain.

The bump is between your examples. $110 to $130 base. And the 401k match is better. It's kind of a no-brainer but I do want to make sure I'm asking all the right questions and not taking it too quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 20% raise sounds good on the face of it. Especially 20% entirely on base.

I think the problem here is you havent substantiated why you need more. Its one thing to say "I was hoping for a bit more", its different to say "Well, your reduced bonus structure and lower 401K match imply that I'd actually be taking a pay cut. Realistically for me to join, I'd need to at least do a little better than parity which would require another $X".

I'd also say it depends a lot on where you are in salary. A bump from 75K to 90K is actually huge in terms of your career and sets you up to cross the $100K threshold in a few years - which then sets a floor for future jobs.

A bump from $200 to $240K is in some ways less meaningful to your career; at that point you are already an 'executive', and the variance YOY will likely get bigger as you go up and a larger % of your comp becomes bonus based.

OP here. Thanks for this. In fact my overall comp should end up being about 10% higher even with the lesser bonus structure. My current bonus structure has the potential to be really high but in reality I typically see about 20% tops. The new gig is a 15% bonus that is more certain.

The bump is between your examples. $110 to $130 base. And the 401k match is better. It's kind of a no-brainer but I do want to make sure I'm asking all the right questions and not taking it too quickly.

Sales?

You could use the bonus structure to negotiate though - only you know that it could be "very big". You've got to play your cards right a bit here, but if your other job has, say, up to 100% bonus, you could say something like "My maximum comp with your firm caps out at $150K, my current role allows me to reach up to $220K. While thats not common of course, I have exceeded my target performance evaluations in years past. Would you consider increasing my bonus potential to bring me up to the $175K range?"