Q & A Table of Contents
Are These Folks Serious?
From: Alicia, California
Question: I recently interviewed for a job with a high-profile company.
While I tried to stay away from any salary discussions during interviews,
the HR person pressured and pressured until I finally gave her my required
range. She said that was way out of their range for the position. Later,
however, I got a call from the hiring manager who told me that the job
carried a salary near the high end of my range. After a second interview, I
got an offer that is only 60 - 65% of the "high end of my range." This is
obviously unacceptable because it's significantly less than I'm making now
and significantly less than I'm worth in the market (as well as
significantly less than what they led me to believe was the salary). I'm a
professional with two advanced degrees and several years of experience and
don't need to take a cut, and also, don't need a new job. If I can get the
salary back up I'd probably take the job. It's a great career development
opportunity if it pays right, though this whole thing has caused me to
question the company's integrity (and wonder WHY I'd still consider going
there). What I think has happened is that the business department was
overruled by HR in how to grade the position. And I get the impression the
business people are embarrassed at how low the offer is. Any ideas on how to
handle this?
Response: Your statement that you don't need a new job and certainly don't
need a salary reduction cuts directly to the central point. In negotiation
you need to have a clear sense of your BATNA, your Best Alternative To a
Negotiated Agreement. In this case you describe your BATNA as the good job
at a good salary that you already have. That is a strong BATNA.
Now you need to take a look at the company's BATNA. Did they come to you or
did you respond to information about a job opening there? How easily can
they find someone as good as you? Can they find someone else less
expensive? Have you found anyone in the company who is really enthusiastic
about bringing you on board? Answers to these and similar questions can
give you a pretty good indication of the company's BATNA.
The BATNA can be thought of as describing when you can choose to walk away.
It is also a measure of the balance of power. When you have a sense of the
relative strengths of your BATNA and that of the company, that can help in
your decision-making and strategizing.
You also indicate that, if this new company were to pay you appropriately,
you feel taking the job would contribute to your career development. But
when you say that the internal politics the process has revealed to you lead
you to question the company's integrity.
Take a piece of paper and list WHAT you want. Then, for each item, think of
all the reasons WHY each of those objectives is important to you -- or why a
particular outcome is negative.
Ultimately it sounds as if you need more information, clearer answers to the
questions in your mind. This is probably an excellent time in your
relationship with the company to let them understand that you are not simply
a pawn on a game board, that you are genuinely curious about how they are
operating both generally and in relation to you. Asking questions -- and
listening hard to the answers -- is a sign of wisdom as well as an
intelligent strategy for pursuing the issues in the negotiation process.
I am certain that you will make the right decision -- either by yourself or
with the assistance of the information the company provides in response to
your questions. Good luck,
Steve
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