Posted on August 28, 2009 - by Alex

Do Yourself a Favor and Negotiate Wages

Totally Worth It

Keep this in mind: a $2/hour increase is equivalent to $4,160 in added annual income. If you can spend 30 minutes of your time (planning and phone conversation) in exchange for $4,160 additional wages, why wouldn’t you negotiate the first offer? In some countries it’s considered rude not to! Some people—like me—even take a sick pleasure in it.

The Set Up

I mentioned in my previous post that I had 2 interviews. The second interview on Wednesday went great—so great in fact, that the “panel” of sales managers all said they’d like me to come on board right at the end of the interview. They said the HR person would get in touch with me ASAP to extend the offer. Not more than 30 minutes later, I got the call. I wrote down all the information regarding hourly wage, benefits, etc—all while sounds as lukewarm in tone as possible to the offer. After detailing the whole offer the conversation went something like:

HR Lady: Do you have any questions?

Me: Nope, you’ve answered them, thank you.

HR Lady: …<dramatic pause>… So does that sound good to you?

Me: Well, I’m not going to accept just yet… As I mentioned to the folks that interviewed me, I’m looking at a number of offers and working with some other companies. I’m very interested in <name of company redacted>, but I’d like to get back to you. When can I do that?

HR Lady: …<dramatic pause>… Um, I guess that would be OK. I’m out of the office tomorrow, so do you think you could get back to me by 4:00 today? I guess, how much time did you need?

Me: Hmm… well, I’m supposed to hear back on another offer either today or tomorrow. I don’t want to tell you that I’ll get back if to you today if I’m uncertain. I should hear back by Friday, though. Would that work?

HR Lady: …<dramatic pause>… If you don’t get back with me today, here is the phone number for <name redacted>, the manager you’d be reporting to if you came on board. Either way, let us know.

Me: Sounds great.

Planning How to Counter

As a salesman, how could they expect me not to negotiate? I deliberately didn’t call HR Lady back on Thursday, planning instead to call the sales manager—who by the way, is the authority behind the offer—on Friday. Here’s how that conversation went:

Me: Hi <name redacted>, I was asked to give you a call today since the HR representative is out of the office. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but she called me yesterday with an offer. I want to work for <company name redacted>, but the offer was lower than I expected…

Sales Manager: …Oh?

Me: …Yeah… when I spoke to human resources initially, the told me that starting pay for that position was <offered rate> and that it was based on experience.

Sales Manager: …Correct, however, the way people really make their money around here is on commission.

Me: I understand that—but the base pay will, at least initially, make up over 50% of my income. I feel that based on my 6 years of sales, management, and training experience, I am worth more than <offered figure>.

Sales Manager: …I see where you’re coming from. I actually authorized the offer to be more like <slightly higher figure>. If you could take some time and think about whether that would suit you, we can take it from there…

Me: My previous employer paid me <figure I’m looking for>. Admittedly, the commission structure was not as good as <company name redacted>’s but, as I said, this will be over 50% of my income starting out, and I feel the market can give me at least that number. I’m just not prepared to take a pay cut at this point.

[note: the commission structure this employer was offering was more lucrative, and in total, I would not be taking a pay cut even if I accepted the first offer]

Sales Manager: So <higher figure> is what you were making before, huh?

Me: Right. I want to “kill it” for <company name redacted> and I think you’re a great fit, but I also want to be paid what I’m worth.

Sales Manager: Let me see what I can do. Can we get back in touch with you Monday?

Alex: Certainly. I look forward to hearing from you then.

The Waiting Begins

Now I’ll wait and plan. I’m thinking if they offer me something lower than what I’m willing to settle for, I’ll tell them I’ll need to think about it, and perhaps, “may I have it in writing” and decide what to do from there. If anyone out there has any stories of a similar wages negotiation, please share them below.