Urgent help with salary negotiation for new job

[FluffyKitten21]

I've been offered a new job. Been with my current employer for over 10 years and have a final salary pension where I am now. Will lose this if i move to new company.

Any advice for how to compensate for this? thanks

Congratulations on the job, but I'm not sure why you think they would compensate you for a choice? Also, it's impossible to calculate the loss of benefit. If it's a 1/60th scheme, for example, who is to say how many more years you would have worked or what you're final salary would be.

I think it's just a choice you have to make. I'm not sure I'd give up a final salary scheme easily. I stepped out of the NHS while the children were very young and have lost the FSS, so instead will return on an average salary scheme which is nowhere near as good.

Whether you are in a position to negotiate starting salary purely depends on how much they want you, and how much you want the new job. If there are no other good candidates and they are desperate to recruit you and have some wiggle room on salary in terms of internal salary structures, and you are prepared to refuse the offer, then you might be able to negotiate.

Do bear in mind that people who apply for a job on the basis of a salary (ie make an informed choice) and then start asking for more money at offer may well be very irritating to recruiting managers, so be sure you are in a very strong position before asking.

Just to check - is this public or private sector? You might have some lever for negotiation in the private sector, but only based on what you're offering not on what you're losing, if it's a public sector job forget it, there is never scope for negotiating anything other than flexible working.

I'm assuming you've weighed up the pros and cons of leaving behind protected employment and a good benefits package.

It's expected that candidates will negotiate when it comes to salary offer. Even some public sector roles have flexibility. You have the offer, they want you. You are in a strong position to negotiate.

How much would it cost to make additional contributions to keep your pension at the same level? Will the company allow salary sacrifice for pension contributions? Are there any other benefits you are walking away from? What kind of company is it? (large/small/formal/entrepreneurial). Are there any creative ways a deal could be structured to enhance your package (e.g. include covering education costs, bonus, share options)
What's realistic differs from company to company. Do your sums and make a judgement.

You have to negotiate based on what you are worth and what you bring to the company. You can't negotiate based on what you're giving up.

"It's expected that candidates will negotiate when it comes to salary offer.....You have the offer, they want you. You are in a strong position to negotiate."

Unless you have additional information about the OPs situation I have to say I disagree with both of those statements. If there is a lack of good candidates and if she has skills and experience they desperately need, she may be in a reasonable position to negotiate.

If they had other good candidates or it's a role where plenty of people offer the same skills, she is unlikely to be in a strong position to negotiate. Just having received an offer doesn't automatically put her in a position to demand more, especially if circumstances are such that she knew the salary being offered at the time of applying and chose to apply on that basis.

Flowery My post is based on my experience of 30+ years in hiring (and being hired) in a number of different companies, sectors, sizes. It's obviously no more than that - other people with have different experience. My public sector experience is limited although I did get a job offer raised up a salary band.

If she has the job offer, then she has come out on top of other candidates. That is a strong position. The offer won't be withdrawn by the company, but the OP might choose to reject the offer if the package doesn't meet her expectations. Generally, money can be found to make an offer attractive to the preferred candidate. Few companies want to go through a recruitment process again.

I'd go further to say that in certain roles, a failure to negotiate a better deal would ring alarm bells in some businesses.

I deal with a lot of people leaving the public sector for my job and it's unusual to find that they are compensated for loss of final salary scheme as it's priceless really and if you are close enough to retirement then consider moving carefully. Otherwise there is an element of it is tough luck if you want to move out of the public sector, it is something that no other organisation could offer and you should be comfortable with that decision when deciding to move.

That said, you can make sure that the salary/package is worth making the move for. What is the % increase on your basic salary? What other benefits are there? What is the pension scheme you will be joining?

I was previously in a job with a fss. But I moved to a job which gave me a 50% payrise on what I'd been earning before - I'm not convinced that a fss with a rubbish salary is as great as all that.

However - it depends on your role, what salaries are like (there's a significant difference in salaries between private and public sector for what I do in favour of private, but not all roles have direct equivalents in the same way.) It depends on how long you've been there, and many more years you have before retirement. There are other things which can make a difference, too, like shorter commute can save significant amounts of money each year. Do you get any benefits like private health cover?

You need to look at all the variables and work out what is best for you - only you can know what the specifics are, and what things are most important to you. Once you've worked that out, you should have an idea of what's the minimum you'll work for (which should also take into account any salary range they've mentioned, and the going rate for that sort of role in the rest of the industry). Then start negotiating at a higher rate, as then you might meet somewhere in the middle.

First of all apologies for my delay in replying. I am private sector & salary was not advertised up front. its a professional role and very niche. In the sector I work in salary bands can be very wide and vary hugely from one employer to another. So I applied on the basis that I liked the sound of the job and i had the relevant skills & competences and not because there was a specific salary advertised. So I am not suddenly demanding more after the event. Rather I was asked what my salary expectations were as a starting point for negotiating.

Thanks for all of the helpful advice . I did my sums as advised and asked for a salary that I felt took account of the pension & they were happy with what I asked for. I handed my notice in & start in the new job 1st October.

Yay for you Fluffy, that all sounds very nice and civilised :)

they were happy with what I asked for
Probably means you could have asked for more then. Think about doing some more negotiating at your annual review.