Anonymous wrote:They lowballed you OP-standard practice with job offers. Since you are female, there was a good chance you would meekly take it and they would save money. They fully expect anyone worth his or her salt to negotiate the salary up.

Would a woman really jump at an offer so much lower than she was already making??

They lowballed you OP-standard practice with job offers. Since you are female, there was a good chance you would meekly take it and they would save money. They fully expect anyone worth his or her salt to negotiate the salary up.

OP, given all the positives you've mentioned for the new position, I would definitely consider taking a pay cut to come work there. But it's definitely worth negotiating- I would say something like, "I'm very excited by the opportunity, but as I told HR, I currently make $x and it would be very difficult for me to take a pay cut. Are you able to offer me a salary more in line with what I currently make?"

Then you know what they'll offer you for real and can make a decision weighing everything.

What, 12:34?!? You agreed to work for one salary and then showed up on the first day and they said the salary was less? Oh, hell no.

Good luck - it sounds like even if they meet you 1/2 way you will be made whole.

Spend the weekend thinking about the value of all the things you listed -
1 additional week of vacation - flexibility and less camps you need to pay for
short commute (less time and $ on gas)
nice co-workers (a place you want to go to work everyday)
Good health insurance

Good luck! I hope you get good news on Monday!

Good luck OP. Hopefully they come back with a more realistic salary.

Good luck, OP. Maybe they will come back with something slightly higher.

I wish you the best of luck.

About 2 years ago, I took a lowball job offer because where I was employed at the time sounds alot like where you are now. Staying there was even taking a toll on my health. I HAD to leave. Lowball or not. I negotiated with the new company asking that they look at my performance at 90 days and 180 days and consider raises at both intervals. I got increases both times. Fast forward to 14 months after I started, I was given a third increase. Now I make more than I made in the previous position.

I took a job at one salary, then discovered that it had been lowered by $16K when I went to fill out the paperwork. It was too late for me to do anything about it. I tried to no avail.

Then, once I was on the job, a former manager who is a dear friend of mine became apoplectic when he learned how much I'd been brought on for. The original offer was a low ball, but to lower it still absolutely enraged him.

The only thing I can do now is apply for a position opening in December/January with the same institution.

I can only shrug it off. I'd been unemployed for long enough that I couldn't have said no even if the lower salary had been given up-front. I have an extraordinary amount of freedom with this position, so I'm choosing to see this in a positive light. I have to give so much less of myself in this position. It's as if I'm getting a (low) full-time salary for a part-time position. I'm available to my children when they get out of school each day and the commute is ridiculously easy; just a few blocks from home.

With regard to the benefits and having gotten in to a system that allows for considerable upward mobility, I am at peace with what happened.

Do your own calculations and see how this may or may not be a good fit. Will it put you in a better position in the future? Is it radically less demanding that a job that paid more would? Can you live with it? Only you can answer these questions.

Good luck in figuring this out.

The new job sounds so great except for the salary-- my fingers are crossed for you, OP! Let us know what you hear on Monday!

Hang tight OP, even if they don't get exactly to your current pay I'm willing to bet they come up a bit.

I think the news on Monday will be good, OP.

Good luck. I think you'll be ok.

OP here, thanks for all your good comments.

The new company is a much better fit for me, has a week more vacation to start, awesome health insurance, and is a eight minute drive, against traffic. The office is nice, coworkers seem friendly and smart.

My current job: toxic coworkers, 50 percent reduction in staff in the past 18 months, terrible morale, poor leadership. Awful health insurance. And again, I anticipate I will be laid off in the next couple of months.

I got the call at 3 pm on a Friday, and HR said they will talk to the hiring manager about my salary request. Now I have to wait all weekend, and I am sweating.

How often are performance evaluations and how much are the yearly raises based on those evaluations? Bonuses included? How much time in commute do you save?