11/18/2019 0 Comments Negotiating Job Offers (Income/Skills)Don't stress, this is a good thing. They like you!
Before we get into the job offer (and a blog I will cover later), hopefully you have done your homework on your worth within that industry and that location, via numerous methods, that you have applied. You probably gave them a ballpark salary range, or you wouldn't have got this far. Phone screens and interviews went well. You caught the clues they liked you, you got the phone call they want you on-board and now you get the official letter with the details. Take a pause, let it sit, let it resonate. This is a good thing. After a day or so, come back to the offer letter and look at the details. 1- Salary: You gave them a ballpark figure and they came back with an offer. Does the offer fit this salary range? Is the offer a match for your skill set? Do you have other offers and how does this compare? Have you researched the salary range for this position in your location? This is how you consider the salary. 2- Bonus: Is there a bonus offer? How does this supplement the rest of the package? Think about why. You are in a world of finances and cashflow now. A bonus now may save the company money in one area. It also may look nice up front to you, but is that best for you in the long run? Way the pros and cons of upfront money versus the long haul. 3- Relocation (HOR move): Have you used your Home of Record move? You can leverage that if you have not and instead get more of a bonus or negotiate it into your salary. If not, how far are you moving? How much do you have to move? This is a large cost to organizations, so if you can offset it, it will be a nice bargaining chip. However, you may need it just as much, so something worth considering. 4- Stock options/401k match: Depending on the size of your company, you may or may not be able to negotiate this. Sometimes, private organizations have "stock" options and you may be able to negotiate that. What is the company history and background? What are your short and long term goals? Is money upfront less risky? Maybe the money upfront helps you fund a side hustle. 5- Time off: Similar to 4, may or may not be negotiable. Tread carefully here, coming out the gate asking for more time off may start the buyer’s remorse thinking off the bat. 6- Insurance: Again, similar to 4, 5, may or may not be negotiable. As healthcare costs increase, this is something you may want to seriously look at and consider however. What is your health, the health of your spouse, are you planning on kids, surgeries, etc? 7- Work from home: Have you considered this a benefit? What is it worth to you and why? Tips 1- Have your statistics ready. Have reasons why you are asking for each and be able to support it. 2- Prepare from the starts. 3- Try not to discuss salary until the offer is made...keep it broad. 4- Try not to be the first to throw a number out. 5- Don't try to negotiate if they met all your demands. 6- Be willing to walk away. 7- Don't negotiate until the offer is in writing. 8- Do not haggle. You are not buying used car. Take each category separately for the reason/stats you found. Example: This is not a store, and you are not bartering. The employer tells you that the annual salary for that position is $150,000, and you thought you deserve more, so you ask for $175,000. The employer expresses the possibility that they may be able to provide $160,000 for the position, then you jump in with $165,000. When he said that $165,000 is already over their budget for that role, you ask for more vacation days. Let’s face it: this looks tacky. You just made yourself look tacky, cheap… and unprofessional. How to avoid this mistake: Again, you should have already researched on the salary for that position, and how much budget the company allotted for it. Name your target figure, and ask whether it is within their budget range or not. If they say no, then believe them. Take this exchange, for example: Candidate: I am aware that you have budgeted $150,000 for the position. However, I believe that my level of experience warrants a higher rate, should I accept the job. HR: How much do you have in mind? Candidate: Can you make it $165,000? HR: Due to budget constraints and limitations, we can only go as high as $160,000. Candidate: I see. Then, may I give you my answer on Friday? You asked for a salary for a reason and a number of days off for a reason, don't be tacky and change it because one area was not met. It isn't really good faith negotiating and looks tacky as stated above. These are all things to consider when accepting or putting a counter-offer in. And again, relax, they like you and negotiating is part of your life now, after all, you are in the business world now!
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This week I will keep it short and sweet!
As Veterans in the business world, we would be the first to say that no one owes us anything. Likewise, we have served our time, and likely our mentality is no one owes us anything. Now I mean this in the business sense. We certainly joined the service for a reason and likely enjoy giving back, be it to our community, through mentorship and coaching, continued public service, etc. However, time and again, I still have a few things that bother me a bit. 1- Entitlement 2- Us versus Them Entitlement. For those out there who feel they are owed something, you probably need to get over it. You still get your fair share of handshakes, hat tips, nods, and so on. But from the business world perspective, you are not owed. Personally, most are grateful for your service, but it still comes down to dollars and sense (no I don't mean cents). It is a financial and data driven decision if it makes sense to support veterans in the business world. So continue to leverage your veteran status and use that to network and stay tight to your former brothers and sisters in arms, just do not expect anything in return, that way when you do receive something, it is that much more rewarding! Which ties me to point 2. It is not non-military versus former military. Get away from the “they” just do not get us, because you know what, “they” do not. You are the one percenter, not them. Rather, use that time to educate them. Likewise, when you get that opportunity, leverage it to educate your organization on Veterans. Take the lead and pay it forward and certainly, do not make it an us versus them. Here I mean, NCOs versus Officers, Navy versus Army, and on and on. Help them out, mentor, learn, coach. Remember how hard it was for you and help that veteran and your organization bridge that gap. It just may be the most rewarding thing for yourself and the service member. So more than looking for the non-military wink or salute, look for opportunities to help one another out any way that you can. That way we can continue to each be proud veterans and we can each fulfill some of that emptiness from when we left the service! "There are more people today working at jobs that they don't like. I'll tell you honestly that the successful man is a guy who works at a job, who likes his work, who can't wait to get up in the morning to get down to the office, and that's my criteria. And I've always been that way."
The following is a quote from "The Millionaire Next Door." Though it pertains to how to become a millionaire, I find it relevant to the military transition. See, you are much more likely to succeed in doing something you enjoy. Now, you must parlay that with your skill set. If you don't have the skill set, you may need to settle on something you are qualified on and working on a side-gig or getting an education or whatever is necessary to fulfill your interest. The earlier you start this process of learning who you are, what you want, and how bridge the skill gap the better. In a recent conversation with Dan McCall from Lucas Group, he recommends starting 2 years out. Now you can see all these blogs starting to connect. Start your transition early, how to grow a side-gig, etc. along with podcast (should I go after certifications or MBA?). Furthermore, you can click on my vlog link to watch the video on assessing Income vs Location vs Growth and comparing that to Skills vs Culture vs Interests. This should help tie this all together when you start balancing if chasing this interest versus that interest is a legitimate career path or does it need to grow as a side gig. It becomes clear and evident when writing resumes, interviewing, conversing, etc. if someone is engaged in interested in a topic. Body language, voice, eyes, it is all different. Likewise, the quality of the answer is different. So you can start with conversing with people and take not of your interest in the conversation. Do you enjoy talking about the topic, feel excited to learn more, listen and ask questions? Unless you have numerous examples or skills related to that topic, start crossing it off you list of interests. It becomes easier to know what you are qualified for and what you like once you have eliminated all the waste, call it the Lean way of finding your interests, reducing the waste! To circle back to the above quote, that may mean finding something that interests or it may mean being self-employed, or it may mean money. You can basically directly correlate interest to income and growth. So if you interested in location, you will probably sacrifice interest, at least initially. You may have to work at it on the side. But if you want income or particularly growth, you are much more apt to go further if you enjoy going to work and taking the extra time working on something. We often know why we want to get out of the military. We certainly get a lot of advice on what we would be good at or what we are qualified for. But most people don't ask about our interest first, before tying it to our skills. Do yourself a favor and start with those interests and find out how they pertain to the business or corporate world. Read books, magazines, news, newspapers, etc. Start as early as possible and the more you keep coming back to things, the more likely you are to be interested in that topic and therefore achieve a successful transition. |