Try to negotiate before interview?

[anicecuppateaa]

I’ve been approached about a new role. It is exactly what I do now but pays significantly (40%) more. My experience is very niche and I think I’m in with a good shot at getting it (there are a handful of people in the market doing the same role, but many others with transferrable skills who could do it).

But, there are no major push factors from my current role aside from the pay and the fact I’m a bit bored. Flexibility is also good and works for having 3 preschool aged dc.

Would it be complete career suicide to be honest with my manager and say I’ve been approached about x role, I’m really committed to current company and job for x reasons but is there an option to discuss salary as new role pays £x?

I would much rather do that than go through interviews and then try to negotiate with my current firm or mess the new firm around.

For context, I’ve been at current firm nearly 10 years and (hope) I’m doing well.

help please!

People in my last company did this - but 2 things :

1. they had valuable skills/knowledge that the company didn’t want to lose - I don’t think it would have worked for some roles as they were lots of people with that knowledge.
2. they had the job offer after interviewing etc.

I’m not sure they would have been successful without a concrete offer of a job. Also these folk were prepared to leave if current employer wouldn’t negotiate - so think how you would handle that situation too….

You might not get the job and that’s what your current employer will be thinking. Having a job offer makes it easier to negotiate because there is an actual threat to them losing you. However they don’t always negotiate, so having that job offer means you can leave. My old work “negotiated” in that I could have pay rise (lower than the salary I’d been offered) by undertaking more responsibility, doing a development plan, and reducing my hours but not my workload. 40% more is a massive underpayment from your current work so you shave to be prepared they won’t offer that either because they don’t care or they don’t have the funds.

Maybe wishful thinking to hope for some sort of increase before being offered the new role. I think they would want to retain me, and I definitely don’t expect current firm to match the salary. Ideally I would like a 13% increase, so nowhere near what the new firm is offering but equates to a nice round number...

As with lots of firms, logic doesn’t always prevail and giving me a relatively small increase v hiring someone new and paying a market rate salary and 20% recruitment fee may not happen…

get the job offer first and then decide what to do.
You may stand a good chance of getting it but if you dont you will either look very silly or have to fib to your manager

Thanks @Hoppinggreen, will try my best!

Good Luck x

Don’t do it - damages the relationship with your existing job in a way that just resigning strangely doesn’t.

https://www.askamanager.org/2012/03/why-you-shouldnt-take-a-counteroffer.html

Negotiating a raise based on market value? That should be ok. So you could go to your boss and say look, this is what other companies pay people in my role, can we discuss what I’d need to do in this company to get closer to that figure. And if they say no, go ahead and apply for the other job.

@Saschka thank you. That was my original thought, and as a manager I would much rather anyone in my team came to me in this way first, rather than trying to force my hand with an offer/ counter offer.

The issue is, whilst I have given someone in my team a sizeable increase recently to retain them, out of line with annual increases(not because she had another offer but her salary was out of line with the market and losing her would cause an issue), I’m not sure my manager would fight for me in the same way without a need to (ie me having another offer).