Q & A Table of Contents
Dealing With The Cost of a Lateral Career Move
From: Stan in San Francisco
Question: A friend is seeking to move out of a sales role into an instructor position with a major software company. Currently her compensation plan is 29k base salary, 12k monthly commissions, 2k quarterly bonus: total 43K. The new position is considered a lateral move, and she has been told there is little chance for a base salary increase because it is not considered a promotion. This is a problem because, although the new instructor position does include quarterly bonuses based on many different factors, the bonus probably will not amount to much more than 5-7K. This amount is paid quarterly when she is used to being paid her commissions monthly. The justification for no salary increase in this "lateral" move is that she does not have a lot of "business experience" (i.e.. bean counting/materials planning etc.) The software she will be teaching is used to run big business financial needs and keeping track of inventory and manufacturing etc. for large corporations, so their concern might be justified. Without getting at least a 5K raise in base salary, the move, although very good for her career-wise, may represent too much initial hardship for her to handle financially. She needs to prove she is worth more to the company in the new position and is having difficulty formulating a strategy. Any ideas?
Response: Frankly I think the way you presented the problem hit the nail on the head. If your friend is being considered for a 'lateral' move that is going to create "too much initial hardship" from a financial standpoint, it is difficult to really think of the move as lateral.
If she has initiated the possible move as a step up the career ladder, she needs to consider the long term as well as the short term consequences of the change. How long will this move cost her this level of financial aggravation? If it is six months, that's one thing, particularly if there's a significant long-term upside potential. If the financial 'hit' she's facing lasts longer, if there's not much upside promise, then she may be better off looking at a couple of alternatives:
1. Perhaps she should not take the offered job, stay where she is, and hope that other more promising opportunities open up within the company sometime soon.
2. She may want to look around for other jobs that offer more. It may make sense to accept this 'lateral' move for a specific time period, with an escape strategy in mind. Perhaps alternative employers will view this added experience as added value she can bring to them, so her long term prospects are better.
If your friend wants to take this move, for whatever reasons, she may want to be very clear with the HR department - or whoever is offering her this change. "I would love to take this job. Here is what it will cost me to do so. That price is a serious disincentive. What can your offer me, short or long term, to ameliorate that cost?" Can the company offer her other benefits that may not cost them too much but are worth something to her: flexible hours, travel benefits, paid education, step increases in salary/bonus, transportation assistance, free parking space, better health insurance, car insurance, etc.?
Obviously, if she's angled long and hard to get the new position, she's in a weaker spot than if the company came after her. Who needs whom most is the question.
Good luck and good negotiating, Steve.
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