Hey guys. I got a job offer today for a job that seems really interesting and something I would enjoy. I'm graduating in a few days with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and the job is North of Greensboro (about 18-20 miles south of the state border). Anyway, their offer is really low. I know I'm lucky to get an offer, but I don't see any harm in trying to get more. The offer was $40,000 a year. It includes benefits. I figure I will live north of Greensboro. I have limited job experience in engineering (don't get me wrong, I do have experience, but not a co-op or an internship specifically).

I feel that it is in my best interests to make a counter offer. I'm looking at the average and median income for entry level engineering positions, and I'm seeing that it's around $55,000/yr. I'm getting the feeling that +/- $5,000/yr is a fair offer.

Anyone have any experience with this, and what i should counter with? I would settle for something between 45000-50000/yr, but obviously, I want to start high, and not with what I would settle or be happy for. I'm just a little concerned about insulting them though if I jump to 55,000 as my counter offer. These would be people I work with, and I don't want to get off on a bad foot.

What's the best way to go about this? What would be a good number to counter with? Should I really base the counter offer based off of what they offered me, or should I just go with what I feel is a relatively fair offer (like $55,000/yr)? To them, I think making such a low offer works to their favor with someone like me, as if they offered say $45,000, it would be easier for me to counter with more.

So, any advice?

12/14/2010 6:09:15 PM

Quote :

"So, any advice?"

i dont know if you've heard ... but the economy is in the shitter and there are tons of people that would kill for 40k a year.

if this is your first real job out of college i might not counter offer.

with all things considered and they could probably hire someone to do that job for 35K or less with 9.1% of the workforce seeking employment

12/14/2010 6:18:55 PM

I had an interview today, and the job is apparently up to 80% travel, though hopefully only 40-50% ... manager said he doesnt want people to have to travel for long engagements, but cannot guarantee anything.

If I make 100k flat, to keep it hypothetical, and my current job is NO travel ... what is a realistic salary requirement for such a travel heavy job? Would you say that asking for 150k is laughable. The position is an IP Architect/Consultant and a top tier networking vendor, doing architecture work for the likes of Verizon/ATT/Sprint and their MPLS/LTE/3g network.

Anyone had experience with going from non travel to travel?

Is there a real industry norm for substantial pay increase?

Thanks!

12/14/2010 6:25:08 PM

What do you lose by counter-offering?

12/14/2010 6:33:36 PM

People are unemployed so you should be underpaid

Masterful advice, gunzz

12/14/2010 6:36:02 PM

I did this when I got an offer that was less than appealing. Odds are, the company went through a long process to get you selected from the pool of applicants and the offer made up, so they aren't going to let you go immediately. Counter offer, and the worst that they say is that they can't do that. That's what I heard with a soft counter offer, and I work at that company to this day. Just don't push it; like you said, you don't want to start your new job with a chip on your shoulder.

[backstory]
The company I interviewed for hired me in October (offer received in early October). Its a very small company (<20 employees) but it is in the exact field I wanted to go into. In the phone interview they asked me the "most important question" of what my expected salary was. I low balled myself at $50k. It was the absolute lowest I would accept.

When they came to me with an offer, they offered....$50k. I thought it was low and asked my friend, who gave me great advice:
[/backstory]

First, find out what the average salary of last year's NCSU ME grads was. For 2009 CHE's, it was $67k or so. Call up the company and ask if you can talk about the offer.

Start by talking about the incentives...insurance, dental, 401k, etc. Then move onto the salary. Ask if there is any wiggle room, and that while it is a great company and you are greatly interested in working there, your degree is worth $2009ME and you do not want to sell yourself short. (For me, I said "I realize you are a small company and likely can not afford that, but is there any way that we can move closer to that number). Prepare a range that you would be more comfortable accepting...which you said is $45-50k. Be prepared to accept that low end of the range. They likely will say they need to talk about it with the managers, or that the offer is nonnegotiable.

If they don't want to negotiate the number, see if you can negotiate incentives or, a big one, holidays. My friend recommended asking for 3 weeks instead of 2 weeks vacation if they didn't budge the number.

Keep in mind that for a small company, say <50 employees or otherwise a young startup, they likely can not afford the average $2009ME salary. Add (or subtract) from that any relevant experience you bring to the table (I think you did China or something, so that's a plus). If its a larger company, 50-100 employees, they likely will be able to afford that average salary. Even larger corporations may offer you the average or more so...for CHE's, oil giants like Exxon buy out top talent with ridiculous offers of $90k+ for new grads.

After discussing the salary, ask about relocation. Say that you have been unemployed and will need moving expenses to cover rental trucks, first month's rent, and security deposit that you can't afford right now. I have never heard of a company not giving a relocation bonus...except for mine. They figured it would be a good investment in my future .

All told, I was offered $50k, so I countered by saying the average CHE grad was getting $67k fresh out of college. Beforehand I came up with a range of $58k-$61k, offered this, and they reconvened and later offered me $58k.

I'd suggest not bothering with negotiating the other incentives unless something is really wrong - like, no insurance at all. Those are typically firm and generally all about the same thing.

12/14/2010 6:56:52 PM

i just went through this too. asked for 10k more than they offered, got 5k. works for me

12/14/2010 7:00:03 PM

absolutely counter offer.

the worst they can say is no.

they're not going to rescind the offer over that.

12/14/2010 7:40:38 PM

I just read through everything. The advice really is good. I've also talked it over with both of my parents. My father talked it over with his boss (who I also know), and they both felt it was low.

gunzz, I'm not saying I would turn away 40K, I'm saying I feel it is low and that I think there is room for improvement, and apparently, I'm not the only one. I'm wondering if asking to discuss the matter with them would be appropriate. From what I'm gathering, it is definitely appropriate. I have no plan to go in there and start making demands, but to see if we can come up with something a bit better. But you're absolutely right about the economy, and it is something that I am considering.

EuroTitToss, I am a bit concerned about offending them and having the offer retracted. I don't think asking 50K or even 55K is outlandish by any stretch of the imagination.

ThePeter, that is definitely a great story, and I didn't think about asking about incentives. The only thing I thought of was relocation. The company themselves have 500 people. They're a German company and they have to operations inside the US (I think this is their largest and most successful one in the US). I suppose taking your advice with qntmfred of asking for 10K more wouldn't hurt. If they can't do more, I can always try for some benefits, like they pay for more health insurance, of offering dental with that. The guy didn't send over the complete benefits package, but I will be asking for them.

And this isn't a small operation. The plant was formerly owned as a cooperative between 2 companies, a Japanese company, and German company. The German company just bought out the Japanese company. They've been investing heavily into the company, adding new employees (engineers) and new equipment and processes. I think so far they've invested like 70 million dollars in a relatively short amount of time on improvements.

So I guess it doesn't hurt to say that the average ME for I think 2009 was bringing in about 55K entry level (if someone has a better, more accurate, number, I would really appreciate the info. Unfortunately, the numbers kind of jump depending on where you are getting them from and the school) and then come up with a range (like 48-50K) and see what they offer with.

12/14/2010 7:41:48 PM

merbig trust me on this, $40K right out of school is fantastic (right now at least). I too was expecting to make $50k right out of school, but the fact is they can most likely with minimal effort find someone willing to take that position for $40k. There are tons of experienced workers out there right now that just can't find work. After reading your post, I would say counter with $46K-$48K and take whatever they come back with. You will be building your resumé and if nothing else, you can use this job as a stepping stone to your next one in another year or two (and use whatever your salary is as leverage with your next prospective employer).

12/14/2010 7:45:08 PM

I counter offered and got more. I was lowballed by $10k below the average and got it up to $5k below average (keeping in mind, the average was based on long-term, thus the current economic conditions didn't heavily affect this amount).

$40k sounds pretty low for most ME positions/offers that I've heard. I would certainly counter-offer by at least $5k. You might also consider non-monetary benefits as well to help make up the $10-15k shortfall, such as additional leave. Just be up front and provide evidence for your counter-offer.

Every offer can be countered and the employer should expect some negotiations and won't look down up on it. If they do, it's a shitty company.

^$40k for most ME jobs, even in this economy, is low and not a great offer, IMHO. Sure, I'm not up to speed on ME jobs/salaries/etc., but hearing from friends and comparing to my job, it's certainly below many current offers.

[Edited on December 14, 2010 at 7:49 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on December 14, 2010 at 7:50 PM. Reason : .]

12/14/2010 7:46:17 PM

negotiating salary has always been tricky for me, but as I'm become more confident as a candidate its gotten a little easier. the trick is to convince them you are doing the company a favor by working for them, not vice versca, but do so without being arrogant about it.

you should at least ask if the offer is negotiable. if you discussed salary at all during the interview, you could mention that you were expecting something in the range of your prior discussions.

12/14/2010 7:59:01 PM

I think $45k is a good counter-offer for you. I don't think they are going to say no and then offer another candidate $40k until someone goes for it.
Worst case, they don't give you a higher salary, but you still have a job ready if you need to take it. If you prove yourself for a few months then you can remind them of the $45k you asked for a few months earlier when it comes time for a review.

Salary.com and other websites often have really inflated numbers compared to current averages. IMO, $50k is a really good start for someone starting with a BS ME.

12/14/2010 8:35:50 PM

The company I work for recently hired some in at that level as well ^

12/14/2010 8:38:32 PM

^^^ Yeah, I think I will definitely ask to see if they're will to negotiate.

^^ Yeah, I'm not going to tell them that I won't work for them for 40K. That would be dumb on my part. If it's the only offer I get, and they won't budge from 40K, then I will take it. I won't be angry or hostile over it. From what people here are telling me, and what my parents said, they're not going to take the offer back if I make a counter offer. I think BobbyDigital is right in saying that the worst they will say is "no," which would just leave me in the take it or leave it position.

12/14/2010 8:55:11 PM

Quote :

"EuroTitToss, I am a bit concerned about offending them and having the offer retracted. I don't think asking 50K or even 55K is outlandish by any stretch of the imagination."

Seriously? I've never heard of that being a concern ever. Has anyone else know an instance where this has happened.

When they gave you the offer, they should have given you a time frame to make the decision. You have that amount of time to decide unless they discover you lied or you turn down the offer completely. Otherwise, they're giant douchebags and you don't want to work there anyway.

12/14/2010 9:54:57 PM

Ok, now that good advice for OP came through ... back to my hijacking of this thread

Seriously though ... is there a generally accepted premium attached to jobs with lots of domestic travel?

Anyone have experience negotiating no travel vs travel pay?

12/14/2010 10:20:51 PM

Quote :

"i dont know if you've heard ... but the economy is in the shitter and there are tons of people that would kill for 40k a year. if this is your first real job out of college i might not counter offer. with all things considered and they could probably hire someone to do that job for 35K or less with 9.1% of the workforce seeking employment"

that's dumb as shit. counter offer. worse they can do is say "no, we are firm with our offer." they're not going to retract a job offer because you counter.

12/14/2010 10:24:30 PM

^Seriously....and you have to remember that you made it through on top of many other job applicants. They selected YOU for the job and thus find at least something redeeming about you and/or your abilities. I guarantee they to some degree expect you to counter offer.....so do it.

12/15/2010 12:11:22 AM

^^, ^ Thanks.

12/15/2010 12:25:50 AM

in my last job with travel, travel pay was $10/hr for flights and car rides and the hourly pay was closer to $20/hr but that was also high travel, like 70-80%

12/15/2010 12:52:53 AM

Quote :

"Ok, now that good advice for OP came through ... back to my hijacking of this thread Seriously though ... is there a generally accepted premium attached to jobs with lots of domestic travel? Anyone have experience negotiating no travel vs travel pay?"

Where I work, travel is part of the job and isn't seen as "extra", thus they don't pay any more for it.

12/15/2010 9:11:40 AM

^ that was also what I was told for a couple of jobs that involved travel that I interviewed for. Ultimately, it wasn't worth it to me.

The other thing is that oftentimes they will understate how much you will travel. A guy I know recently took a job at netapp, and it was supposed to be about 20% travel. In the two months he's been there, he's been home for a week, and there's no sign of this letting up. He's already looking to leave given the strain on his family.

12/15/2010 9:47:03 AM

I think companies are always going to lowball you unless you are just an amazing candidate and they know they can't find anyone else to take said position. They generally hope you will be happy to have found a job and agree to this, but probably have a number in their head they are willing to bump up to if you do come back and start trying to negotiate.

That being said as others have mentioned in this economy employers do have the upper hand in negotiating simply because while you may think you deserve more than 40k some guy out there who has 10 years of experience and 2 kids to feed at this point will happily do the same job for 35k.

Counter offering is always a good idea so long as you dont go overboard or act overly arrogant. I would say a 5K increase would be a nice round number to throw out there and see where that takes you. When you start talking about 10k+ you do run the risk of the employer thinking that you consider yourself much more valuable than they do and a lot of people will get the impression that your expectations for salary are much higher than they do and therefore you likely wont stick around for too long.

12/15/2010 10:07:08 AM

Quote :

"And this isn't a small operation. The plant was formerly owned as a cooperative between 2 companies, a Japanese company, and German company. The German company just bought out the Japanese company. They've been investing heavily into the company, adding new employees (engineers) and new equipment and processes. I think so far they've invested like 70 million dollars in a relatively short amount of time on improvements."

I think I might know which company. If it's who I think it is, be glad the Germans bought it out. Japanese never like counter offers

12/15/2010 10:09:59 AM

^^ That's a little what I was thinking. Maybe I can ask for say 47K and hope to settle somewhere between 40 and 45K.

^ Feel free to PM me to see who you think it is. I'd be interested in knowing who you think it is.

12/15/2010 10:16:49 AM

Quote :

"^ that was also what I was told for a couple of jobs that involved travel that I interviewed for. Ultimately, it wasn't worth it to me. "

I suppose it depends on what you define as "extra pay". If you are hourly, you can make bank depending on what their definitions of "working" happen to be.

For us, if we are doing anything involving work (driving to the airport, time at airport/on plane, time driving to site) we are on the clock. It is actually easier to write down when we aren't on the clock -- eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, and if we're just goofing off and obviously not doing any work. Other than that we're on the clock.

It can be easy to rack up overtime if you fly 3-4 times/week, using that definition.



Then again I haven't been out in the field in ~3 months; my job is maybe 5% travel.

12/15/2010 1:15:58 PM

I actually countered with less money up front and a higher commision

Best decision I ever made

12/15/2010 1:24:48 PM

Yeah, I just got off the phone ...

I was really speaking of extra pay in the form of a higher salary based on the fact that you are in an expected high travel job.

I gave my base "hire with no travel" requirement, which was within their range ...

Then I gave him the required additions based on the amount of travel ... which my wife decided was 10k for every 25% travel expected (based on max travel).

So ... basically for this travel job (~80% max) ... I said "show me 140k" ... and he said ... "wish I could" ... and that was that.

[Edited on December 15, 2010 at 1:30 PM. Reason : .]

12/15/2010 1:29:27 PM

I had a client approach me after I had been working with them for a couple of years on contract through my previous employer. They wanted a salary requirement from me which I felt put me at a great disadvantage, but ultimately I was able to get an initial figure from them. It was way lower than what I had anticipated so I got a bit nervous and while my counter was instantly accepted it was at least a good 2k shy of what I wanted. I felt like a moron, but I never had to do anything in this realm before, I always just applied for a job and that was that. Over the next week or two we had a few more benefits/perks discussions and talked about exactly what my roles would be. So, I did some quick research and brought local salary averages to them and easily ended up where I wanted and have a nice little package as well.

When I asked about it later, it was more or less a combination of not knowing exactly what to offer me and of course a 'that's business' attitude. It was nerve racking and awkward for me because of never having done it, but from now on I couldn't live with myself without at least trying. The original offer was still more than I made excluding perks/benefits and given the economy I could have easily just accepted, so it definitely never hurts to ask.

12/15/2010 1:59:55 PM

You don't need to worry about offending anyone as long as you are respectful and it's not a mom & pop shop with 3 family employees. Like it's already been stated, just tell them you want to make sure you are getting a comparable salary to what the market is offering. Best strategy is to overreach your target salary. If you would rather have 50k, then ask for 55k and meet in the middle(ish).

12/15/2010 3:46:05 PM

I would say definitely counter but imo, asking for $55,000 is a bit too much. Obviously just my opinion though, and people like ^ certainly disagree with me. It's one thing to counter-offer to try and get what you want/feel like you deserve, but I don't think I could see myself countering almost 40% higher than the initial offer on a first job out of school /shrug.

If it was me I would counter with $50,000.

12/15/2010 3:56:36 PM

Quote :

"Seriously? I've never heard of that being a concern ever. Has anyone else know an instance where this has happened. When they gave you the offer, they should have given you a time frame to make the decision. You have that amount of time to decide unless they discover you lied or you turn down the offer completely. Otherwise, they're giant douchebags and you don't want to work there anyway."

I've had a few friends counter and only one did not get the position after the initial offer. He thinks it was because the company viewed that position as more of beginner position with high turn-over. That employee retention didn't matter to them with concerns to that position. From what he learned they just went down to the next name on the list and hired that person.

Also North Greensboro isn't a bad place to leave several apartments there and stores to visit. Though traveling to downtown can suck. Congrats on the offer and good luck with things.

12/15/2010 3:58:26 PM

Quote :

"that's dumb as shit. counter offer. worse they can do is say "no, we are firm with our offer." they're not going to retract a job offer because you counter."

ahem...never did i say that he shouldnt counter offer...reading comprehension for the win.

i was offering my point of view in respects to the economy and the job market.

i dont know anything about starting salaries for ME or any engineering degrees. what i stated was fact about unemployment rate and i have seen several engineers in the unemployment thread. if merbig is confident in his ability then by all means go for it and get that money.

the worse they can say is by far more than no...they can retract their offer / its not unheard of.
most likely they will either say no and their offer is firm or will be open to discussion

either way...good luck with the new job

12/15/2010 5:31:21 PM

Counter offer w/ evidence. Make the benchmarks as appropriate and specific to your field/location/region/cost of living/amount of experience as possible. Anchor them with a high counter offer, but mention that its negotiable so that there is little risk of them pulling the offer.

12/15/2010 5:43:44 PM

Quote :

"the worse they can say is by far more than no...they can retract their offer / its not unheard of. "

This is what I am afraid of. I suppose if I ask them if there is flexibility in the offer and some room to negotiate, I don't think they would take offense in that. I do plan to ask them if there is any reimbursement for moving. I read that another thing to ask about is when I would be up for a performance evaluation/raise, and that can be a point of negotiation too.

12/15/2010 6:07:27 PM

Quote :

"ahem...never did i say that he shouldnt counter offer...reading comprehension for the win. i was offering my point of view in respects to the economy and the job market. i dont know anything about starting salaries for ME or any engineering degrees. what i stated was fact about unemployment rate and i have seen several engineers in the unemployment thread. if merbig is confident in his ability then by all means go for it and get that money. the worse they can say is by far more than no...they can retract their offer / its not unheard of. most likely they will either say no and their offer is firm or will be open to discussion either way...good luck with the new job"

nice attempt at recovery, but still a FAIL....

12/15/2010 9:54:39 PM

Unless you're applying to a soulless mega-corporation (and I mean a fucking huge one with a ton of employees working in this one department), chances are they aren't going to go OH SHIT YOU WON'T ACCEPT OUR LOWBALL? FUCK YOU WE RETRACT OUR OFFER! The interview process is a complete and total pain in the fucking ass to hiring managers. They don't want to deal with it again and, since you are the BEST candidate for the job, they will reconsider whether cheaping out on the initial offer was worth it. And this is cheaping out. Even in this economy.

The median pay you're seeing at $55k/yr might be a little high considering that includes a lot of areas with a much higher cost of living than Greensboro, NC. A counter offer around 45-48k would not be unreasonable by any means.

I was in a bad spot, the company I was applying to knew it, and they made pretty much an identical low ball offer. Granted, they were a small company, but they knew by far I was worth slightly better benefits or better pay. They decided that they had me over a barrel and refused to adjust their offer and continued to offer me the position (keep in mind they had other candidates that were plenty satisfactory for this position, ones with training more specific to the position as well, and they didn't retract their offer). I just refused and, after I was offered a job with a navy shipyard, they called me and said they were willing to make me a better offer. I was being offered about 50% more by the government so I politely declined. Just keep in mind that just because the economy sucks doesn't mean that gives potential employers the right to pay you dogshit and work your ass to death for 60 hrs/wk. They're going to try to take that liberty and it's up to you to say "hey wait, no, pay me this because it's reasonable market value". Other people starting on that team were no doubt offered more than what they offered you about 3 years ago, and if they're hiring they aren't in a financial position where they can't afford to pay you that same rate, they're just trying to play on your fears.

12/15/2010 10:05:00 PM

Quote :

"the job is North of Greensboro (about 18-20 miles south of the state border)"

no advice on the counter-offer but if you do land the job, there are several folks on here from that area if you have any questions

12/15/2010 10:18:58 PM

Quote :

" If it was me I would counter with $50,000."

this. And accept $45k when they counter-counteroffer.
Also, you should ALWAYS counteroffer, you've got nothing to lose AND they've already built some wiggle room in anticipation of this silly little dance.

[Edited on December 16, 2010 at 8:28 AM. Reason : d]

12/16/2010 8:28:14 AM

Quote :

""the job is North of Greensboro (about 18-20 miles south of the state border)""

I recently moved here for a job I took in August and the cost of living is pretty low where I live in Northwest Greensboro.

I'm working under contract at 42k but get paid time and a half overtime so i'll probably end up somewhere between 45-50k. I actually have enjoyed it because now i've accepted a lot of responsibilities while under contract so when I get hired on full-time that will net me a higher salary.

12/16/2010 9:43:32 AM

There's nothing wrong with telling them that you were hoping to be closer to the low to mid 50's range or just closer to the 50 mark. That is how I've done it in the past and I feel like giving the generic sounding range like that gives them the idea that you are willing to negotiate without just giving a definitive number/range and outright telling them that you are willing to negotiate. Really though, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't consider their offer to be lowball. Without getting into specifics there are a few companies in the area that I've heard about that are notorious for low engineering salaries. The performance eval/raise will be a point of negotiation but I imagine they aren't going to budge much as they like to keep things like that pretty simple and standard across the board for all employees, especially if there are quite a few. If it's something like you get 1/year with a 5% max increase, then that could be a selling point to go for a higher starting salary (it would take you 5 years of perfect reviews to make it to 50 and that's a pretty bleak outlook).

Is it a glass company? That is really the only Japanese-German company I know of in the area, although it looks like it's actually Japanese-Belgian so maybe that's not it.

12/16/2010 10:27:12 AM

Sounds like Kobe-Wieland Copper Products. I think they are in or are near Pine Hall, NC.

12/16/2010 8:41:55 PM

i know there aren't many ladies on the board but its depressing that NONE have posted in here (its bc women never counteroffer... well almost never)

as for the travel question, jobs with more travel don't usually get an automatic pay bump. they do (should) come with other benefits

when i went from my 25%-50% expected travel job i got a company car and expense book. i rarely fly since my territory is drivable.

don't forget to check if you get to keep your accumulated reward travel perks (like airline miles, hotel points etc) because some companies don't let you have them (they go into a corporate pool for high dollar executive travel). my company hasn't always let us have them but we do get them now. it may be something you take for granted but its a question worth asking imo

12/16/2010 9:25:05 PM

I offered a guy today, and he counteroffered.

we ended up giving him 8k more.

I did not want to spend weeks finding another qualified candidate.

of course, I had no actual say in the initial offer, and it wasn't really any skin off of my back to go back to HR and be like, yo, give him a little more skrilla, bitches.

[Edited on December 16, 2010 at 10:01 PM. Reason : 8]

12/16/2010 10:00:12 PM

Oh. I guess it makes sense. I doubt the guy I worked for had a say in the initial offer too. Did the guy do what jethromoore did and say something like "I was hoping for somewhere around $xxk to $yyk," or was he a little bit more direct and said, "I was hoping for $xxk, is there anything that you can do about that?"

I'm really kind of unsure as to how to really say that I was hoping for somewhere around 50 or 55k, based on my research. I plan on calling the guy up on Tuesday to ask a few questions that I have and to discuss the salary. From what my research has shown 40K is in the area of a technician, and I will be doing more than a technician.

12/16/2010 10:10:05 PM

40k seems low for any position required a B.S. in engineering
but i guess it's all the economy's fault


there's no way i deserved my salary out of college but i did end up getting laid off from that job

12/16/2010 10:29:19 PM

they lowballed, i highballed, and we met in the middle.

12/16/2010 11:08:21 PM

Quote :

"the worse they can say is by far more than no...they can retract their offer / its not unheard of. most likely they will either say no and their offer is firm or will be open to discussion"

Yes actually this is completely unheard of. I have NEVER, EVER heard of a professional job applicant who lost a job opportunity because they counter offered.

This happens to waitresses and hourly high school dropouts. It doesn't happen to professionals.

I counter offered on my current job and they came back offering me MORE than my counter offer. Turned out they wanted me to start work ASAP and figured by going over my asked amount, I would accept immediately rather than needing time to think about it.

12/16/2010 11:45:16 PM

Quote :

"Did the guy do what jethromoore did and say something like "I was hoping for somewhere around $xxk to $yyk," or was he a little bit more direct and said, "I was hoping for $xxk, is there anything that you can do about that?""

his verbatim response was (via IM):

"I will have to review and think about this though, i think i was expecting more compensation given the cost of living adjustments and grade. is it open for negotiation?"

I thought it was a little low as well, but I told him to redirect the question to HR (because at the time I didn't even know if we could adjust that). A little different situation because it's an internal move, and i was poaching him from another department.

12/17/2010 9:58:11 AM