Now, on to my thoughts for today. I recently was talking to a candidate of mine
that was sharing a story about his last job.
This individual is very successful, qualified and has terrific
experience. He imparted to me that he
recently received an offer from a company that was really low – his response
was to laugh, act insulted and tell them that they would have to come up with
something better than that to get him – after all he was unique and highly
skilled.
Believe it or not – this happens more often than you think
and to be honest it is a trap that many candidates fall into. Before we talk about what to do, it is
important to understand why offers come in low.
Below is a quick list of potential reasons:
- Your salary needs haven’t been adequately communicated
- Company is limited by budget
- When a range is given the candidate always assumes the high and the company assumes the low
- Candidates have unrealistic expectations
- The salary matches the position and not the candidate
- The company wants to leave room to reward you for good service
- The company wants to keep your salary in line with others in the organization (it is never anyone’s business what you make but somehow things like this seem to always get out – especially when there are inequities)
You’ll notice that I didn’t put in:
- Because they really don’t want to hire you and want to make you mad
You see – when a company makes an offer it is because they
like you, want you to be a part of their organization and value you. Sometimes they get the offer wrong or are
unable to get it right. So… if you like
the company and they like you – why do people choose to respond like a wounded
puppy? It’s because we tie our ego to
our salary – in our culture our salary is an estimation of our value. If it were just another factor then people’s
initial reaction would be to figure out how to work something out instead of
getting mad.
Below are five ways
to deal with the low offer and get the job!
1. Take a deep breath!
The first step is to take a deep breath and remember that
the company isn’t trying to disrespect you.
In fact – you should be preparing yourself for the worst case scenario
beforehand so that you are surprised if it is good. Not mad if is bad.
2. Set Expectations
Beforehand
I’ve harped on this over and over and will never stop. Talk about your salary needs. For some reason people are really afraid to
discuss their salary needs. Usually this
stems from some bad advice saying that talking money is in poor form or a fear
that bringing it up will knock you out because they are out of your range. When you do this you need to be armed with
more than “I want $X.” You need to
justify why you want something. You
should share your recent salary history, factors why you deserve more and a specific
range that you are comfortable with.
Remember, if you suggest you want $50K - $55K – you lose the right to be
angry when they offer $50K. Be honest –
tell them that you want $55K - $60K then.
3. Be prepared to Negotiate
The first thing I tell anyone about negotiation is that you
need to be prepared that the company can pull the offer and that you need to
weigh this before you counter. However,
if you can’t accept the position it the current package then what do you have
to lose? I’ve encountered many people
that have turned down an offer without asking only to find out after the fact
that company would have made concessions to get them in. When considering this don’t be afraid to
negotiation on other items besides salary.
Vacation and benefits are free game.
4. Thank them for the offer and ask for time to
think about it
Even if you know that the offer won’t work for you – Thank
them for it. It’s good manners! Thank them for the offer and ask if you can
think about it for a day or two. Give
them a specific timeframe like – can I get back to you by Tuesday? Remember that time kills all deals and that
you shouldn’t try to push it farther than 24 – 72 hours. When you get back to them start out by
thanking them again. From there tell them
that you are really excited about the position but can’t make it work at this
level. Tell them that you would be happy
to accept if they can get as close as possible to $X.
5. Don’t deal in absolutes
When I was in school one of my teaches always told me that
when taking a multiple choice test you should always avoid answers that have
absolutes including always, never, every none.
The same can be applied to negotiations.
Essentially you can’t give ultimatums.
People don’t respond well to them.
Soften your approach by using words like close, near and about. Finally, give them options. Things like – I’d really like a higher salary
but I could also look at a higher bonus potential. However, only give these options if you are
comfortable with all outcomes. It’s kind
of like the salary range. You can’t give
an option to soften things and then be mad because they chose the option you
didn’t want.
That’s that. I’m
interested to hear about what you guys think on this subject. Am I right?
Am I way off base? Have a great
week and as always feel free to leave comments or email me at sthompson@insurance-csg.com!
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