How many of you negotiated higher pay with a job offer?

[alazuli]

And by how much? Just negotiated £1k more. Now I wish I'd asked for more!

Yes both when I joined my current company and when I accepted my promotion. Got 5k more the first time 2k the second time.

It really doesn't have to be that complicated. You can simply say 'I was looking for £xk, can you do that?' However, you need to have an idea of your market worth and the minimum you will accept as well as what you'll do if you don't get it.

I think if you negotiate you have to go in with a real request and play hard. It's weird to ask for 1k and then when they say ask for more. They'll worry you'll just keep asking.

If it is really important you could maybe say that having sat down to compare other benefits/commute etc you've realised you'll be out of pocket and your final request is for £x

As others have said men negotiate all the time and it is really very common. But going back for 'seconds' I'd say is less so!

Ha yes I know. I think it was just the girl in me thinking oh I'll just ask for a tiny bit more I don't deserve that much. Like I said I've not negotiated before so this is all new to me! It would never have occurred to me to ask for a lot more until I started researching.

I said exactly that. That I've sat down and worked out the sums properly. Hopefully I made it sound like it would be the final request. I guess if I scared them off it wasn't meant to be and it's a lesson on his to negotiate properly next time. (I hope there's a next time very soon(

I nearly always negotiate.

The most recent time, what they were offering was pretty much the equivalent of what I was getting in my current job (with a longer commute). I knew they really wanted me so asked if they could review specific parts of my package. I didn't get everything I asked for, but it was about five percent more in the end. I did ask for advice about it here at the time, I felt a bit nervous about it as I'm in a specialist area so it's hard to work out the going rate.

Have they replied yet?

ALways. Dh says he won't move jobs for less than £10k more if he already had a job. He said it's not worth the hassle of moving, learning new position etc. But then the job after that would be £10k again etc

I was told that you should expect to negotiate twice and accept third offer.

When I switched I told them at second interview what I was on including benefits package and what I was expecting. Go about £3k higher than what you want. Then negotiate down and meet in the middle.

I got a £7.5k pay increase. And then a further £2k last year as part of salary review.

No pension in current job but we're expected to sort our own one out. Part of my bonus was paid into mine by bosses.

They agreed! Although from looking on here I should've asked for a lot more, ha. It does put me at the top end of my pay scale for the type of work I do. Plus it's close to where I live now so no commuting!

The only thing is (and I posted another thread about this) is that it's not quite what I want to do but I've been looking for a new job for 5 years and this is the first offer I've had so I'd be silly to turn it down.

Well done!

Well done alazuli!

I'm waiting to hear about a job offer myself. First job after being a SAHM and retraining. I have been free-lancing, so have some experience and a portfolio to show. I've asked for 2k more than I'd like, 4k more than the lowest I'd accept. Also asked for flexible hours for one day a week as I volunteer that evening. Hoping they'll be ok with that! To be honest though, it's a pretty hefty commute, and I can still make money free-lancing, and have a lot less stress that way, so if they offer too low, I will turn it down. Still feels bloody nerve wracking though.

Good luck, Mango! Keeping everything crossed for you. Can't wait until I get another job offer (probably not for a few years now) so I can practise my new negotiating skills.

Mmm looking over the employment contract I won't get the chance to accrue more holiday (so I've lost 5 days permanently), I have to give 3 months notice and I won't have a pension (unlike my job now). Not sure I'm gaining that much more from my £3K pay rise now...

Don't all employers have to provide some sort of pension provision these days?

But yes, you do have to look at the value of the total package, not just the base salary.

I've interviewd and employed many people over the years in various positions.

Where headhunters are not involved (proper headhunters who fight for their candidates because they know they are good) women will never push the salary, men will.

In a sales role, I want a candidate who is very well aware of their capability and worth. If they don't fight for a higher salary I think they might not fight for a higher value for what my company offers. If all else is equal I would give the job to someone who has said I'd like to work for you but I'm looking for X salary. (More than what I'm offering) I will pay the right candidate more

If I go through the employment process and decide to hire someone and they come back with a "counter offer" I wouldn't be happy at all. If they did a good job I'd be very happy to negotiate pay rises at the six month point but not before.

We'll go back & tell them that! If the job was advertised with a pay range, where are you on that range & why? Unless I could only tick a few of the boxes on the job spec, I would always expect to be at the very top of the pay range offered. After all, that is the amount that they will have already been approved to pay someone and, if you are the best candidate for the job, you might as well be that someone.
As a PP said, look at the overall package including any impact on benefits (including child benefit as remember that is phased out after a certain level), tax bands etc. If you can't accrue holiday, can you buy it? If not, see if you can agree to them giving you 30 rather than 25 days. Again, for the right person, they may be willing to have an exception.

You can at this point negotiate benefits

If your the absolute right person for the job, they may increase holidays.

Also depends on what level.

Hiring people via employment agencies is really expensive for a business, its usual to pay 20-30% of a persons salary and if they leave within a month I would still have to pay 10% of that and after 3 months I pay the entire amount.

Use that information to your benefit if you were employed via an agency

My background is public sector where there really isn't scope to negotiate - the salary scale is fixed, and how you progress up it is fixed. So I was very proud of myself for negotiating a $10k increase in salary in my first non-public sector role (even though I was taking a huge pay cut for other reasons, which probably helped me steel myself to hold firm because I really did know I was worth more)

As pp said, you can't keep going back for a bit more here and a bit more there - you have possibly got one more roll of the dice before they will start to get twitchy about whether you really want the position and whether they really want you enough to mess around

Personally, I wouldn't go back a 2nd time, it could sour the relationship for what could be, in real terms very little money in your pocket.

For example if you are on basic rate tax and your additional money 'tips' you into a higher tax bracket, then the money you've asked for will mostly go on tax.

Think in terms of more than just salary,. Job conditions are also important Eg now, having done a job with a long commute, I value an easier journey to work, which also equates to money in my pocket, less travel expenses. I cannot put a price on work life balance, the compensation in salary for them sucking away precious hours and peace of mind just doesn't stack up any more!

No, wanted me to go from contract to permanent.

Contract was salary calculated to hourly rate over 35 hours so more hours = more pay/holiday. Permanent was set salary and 37.5 hours. In effect, they wanted me to take a pay cut.

I asked for more. They said no. I left. I still can't work out how they thought I was going to accept.

It's the law that they have to offer a pension by 2018 providing you earn more than £10k - go back on that point and ask when the pension is being introduced and what level their contribution will be at.
3 months' notice is pretty standard for any moderate level, and remember it's reciprocal so if they want to pay you off, you get 3 months.

on the holiday allowance, ask if it can be increased following successful completion of probationary period / at one year or similar.

Is it normal for holiday allowance to be increased after you've worked at a company for a certain period of time? I thought it was...

Is it normal for holiday allowance to be increased after you've worked at a company for a certain period of time? I thought it was...

Some companies do, some don't - mine doesn't.

Never ever agree to a 'promise' to raise pay or holiday allowance etc 'in the future' because you will get to that date and there is always a reason as to why it can't happen.

not if it's a contractual provision that holiday allowance is x days raising to x+3 days on a certain event happening (eg being employed for more than a year). A promise to discuss it will get you nowehre

Never ever agree to a 'promise' to raise pay or holiday allowance etc 'in the future'

Agreed but.... It can be a very powerful negotiation point if you both come to the agreement, which they then include within your offer of employment letter, that after successful probationary period (completing your objectives) of xxx months, your salary will be increased by £3000 for example.

If it's written they can't wriggle out of it. If it's tied to performance and deliverables, and if, by successfully passing probation it puts the agreement much more on solid ground