Always negotiate job offer?

[Anonymous]

Title says it all, I have a new job offer in hand (!!) which I’m really excited about. Salary meets my expectation, vacation policy is satisfactory, but should I still negotiate on something to get more? I’d accept as is, but wondering if negotiating is expected these days and I might even be looked down upon if I don’t ask.

[Anonymous]

My kid did that for her internship for this summer. She presented 5 offers in total and their compensations. Her recruiter really liked her, encouraged her, and explained that her (recruiter's) hands are tied when it comes to summer interns.

[Anonymous]

Yes, of course. They don't have to accept your counter offer and you can always then accept the original offer but why not ask for more salary, more vacation, and a signing bonus? You don't have to ask all at once. Say I was hoping to hit X salary and I am leaving behind Y days of vacation. Can you get me there? If no. then ask if they offer a signing bonus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, of course. They don't have to accept your counter offer and you can always then accept the original offer but why not ask for more salary, more vacation, and a signing bonus? You don't have to ask all at once. Say I was hoping to hit X salary and I am leaving behind Y days of vacation. Can you get me there? If no. then ask if they offer a signing bonus.

Thank you pls! Forgot to mention they are offering a signing bonus so I may not have much room for salary. Always nice to have extra vacation though.

[Anonymous]

In general you should always negotiate. That being said, the lower the annual salary range the less flexibility they may have. Also some companies really do strictly adhere to policies about vacation time earned and bonus % (by both title or tenure). I worked as a VP of finance for a large company (north of $3B rev) and there was no negotiation of time off levels.

Your best bet is to provide some sort of rationale that is reasonable... and don't sound like you are giving an ultimatum. You say something like, I am very interested in the position, but I was really looking for an annual salary closer to X. Then STOP talking, seriously, BE ok with the pause. Let the HR recruiter respond first. They will probably 1) try to explain why the terms are not really negotiable OR 2) ask you what you base your expectations on (i.e. market pay for similar experience at a similar company) or 3) they will do both 1 and 2 but tell you they will take your request back to the hiring manager and get back to you.

For example, earlier in my career I left a job 2 months before my annual bonus payout (which would have been ~$40K) so I asked the new company for a signing bonus - and they gave me $25K. Considering that I was stepping into a promotion that increased my salary by $50K and came with a much higher annual bonus - I would have jumped regardless... so it was a win.

[Anonymous]

Always, always negotiate. They can always just say no.

[Anonymous]

I did this in January with a foreign government job. They have pay bands similar to the US feds, so I asked for the top of my band vs the bottom. The hiring manager was able to approve on the spot.

[Anonymous]

OP again - thank you so everyone. It’s been a few years since I’ve been in this situation and I really appreciate the feedback and tips on protocol. My real wish is more telecommuting flexibility. I’m working on my ask now - please wish me luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Title says it all, I have a new job offer in hand (!!) which I’m really excited about. Salary meets my expectation, vacation policy is satisfactory, but should I still negotiate on something to get more? I’d accept as is, but wondering if negotiating is expected these days and I might even be looked down upon if I don’t ask.

Are you getting less vacation time?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid did that for her internship for this summer. She presented 5 offers in total and their compensations. Her recruiter really liked her, encouraged her, and explained that her (recruiter's) hands are tied when it comes to summer interns.

I have never heard of people negotiating re internships.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Title says it all, I have a new job offer in hand (!!) which I’m really excited about. Salary meets my expectation, vacation policy is satisfactory, but should I still negotiate on something to get more? I’d accept as is, but wondering if negotiating is expected these days and I might even be looked down upon if I don’t ask.

Are you getting less vacation time?

Yes, I’ve been with my current company for awhile and have 4 weeks (6 with carryover) plus 4 floaters, even though I am rarely able to take a day off. The new place is offering 2 weeks and 5 floaters.

[Anonymous]

What about when receiving an internal promotion and new job title?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid did that for her internship for this summer. She presented 5 offers in total and their compensations. Her recruiter really liked her, encouraged her, and explained that her (recruiter's) hands are tied when it comes to summer interns.

I have never heard of people negotiating re internships.

I have, college students pay attention to all the business articles telling people the must negotiate every offer. It’s never worked in my experience because I’ve always worked at places that have set intern pay depending on if you are in college versus grad school - everyone is treated the same. Similar to initial offers post-grad, offers are the same based on a common characteristic (eg all Bachelor CS employees receive X as a starting salary all graduate ML employees receive Y). I think it doesn’t hurt to work on your negotiation skills even if the answer is “no”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Title says it all, I have a new job offer in hand (!!) which I’m really excited about. Salary meets my expectation, vacation policy is satisfactory, but should I still negotiate on something to get more? I’d accept as is, but wondering if negotiating is expected these days and I might even be looked down upon if I don’t ask.

Are you getting less vacation time?

Yes, I’ve been with my current company for awhile and have 4 weeks (6 with carryover) plus 4 floaters, even though I am rarely able to take a day off. The new place is offering 2 weeks and 5 floaters.

Wow that’s a really low amount of vacation. Is sick leave a separate bank? Do you quickly gain more vacation with tenure?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid did that for her internship for this summer. She presented 5 offers in total and their compensations. Her recruiter really liked her, encouraged her, and explained that her (recruiter's) hands are tied when it comes to summer interns.

I have never heard of people negotiating re internships.

My kid did. And the recruiter was so proud of her.