Anybody have any insight into salary negotiation. I've been offered a new job at a different employer but the salary I was quoted was only $2k more than I make now. I applied online & had to provide my current salary in order to submit my resume so they knew upfront. The new position is similar to the one I have now.

I didn't have any dreams of a big jump in pay but two grand seems like a slap in the face almost.

Unless your unhappy where you are at right now, and there's no more room for growth at your current company what's the point of leaving?


Are there any other perks? Shorter commute or better benefits package?

What made you want to leave your current job? This is 2000 extra per year right not month.

I'm a little unhappy since I seem to have hit a ceiling but it's not to the point where I hate my job or anything.


My wife & I can commute together since her office is just down the street. Benefits are about the same.


Yes it's per year.

The biggest reason why I'm considering a change is that many of the execs/management that hand out the promotions, raises & bonuses are 'company men' & think everybody should be. They work days, nights, & weekends. They're defined by their jobs. It's pretty sad when you get emails & memos from them on Christmas Day or Thanksgiving Day or any random Sunday morning at 4 am.

It seems to me that there is an extra benefit to the new job - not being expected to work longer hours to move up. Do you really know that the new job is noy the same way in that area?

Regarding the salary, it's a personal choice based on other conditions. If the working conditions were the same and everything else were equal, you'd probably e pretty pleased with a $2000 raise at your current job, right? So it comes down to whether the different conditions make the job at least equal to the old one.

It's hard to advise you on negotiation without knowing the field and the sizes of the companies involved. You might be EXPECTED to counter offer. Sometimes when someone comes in and accepts the first offer it can be viewed a bit negatively. What kind of business person does that? In other fields/companies though there is no room for bargaining.

I guess if I were in your shoes I would decide what it would truly take to make you jump at the new job and throw your heart into it. Then, give them that number as a counter offer. The worse that could happen is that you don't get the new job. But my suggestion could change if I knew more details.

No, I don't for sure. I don't think it is since I know somebody who used to work there & they said it was generally 8-5 & they were generous with the vacation & paid time off. But it depends on what department you worked in.


Great point, DH.


Both jobs are in corporate finance in service related industries. Large, privately owned companies with revenues of several billion a year.


I'm really interested in this job since they do some things with financing that my current employer doesn't. If all else fails I could stay there a couple of years & use it as a resume builder.

*Update*

Well I accepted this new job after I countered their offer at a higher number & ask for a little extra vacation time. They didn't give me the number I wanted but did raise their offer so that we met in the middle. I don't guess I could ask for a much better outcome considering our economy is still lagging.

That's awesome! Did you get the extra vacation time though?

Sort of. I didn't get *more* days but I did negotiate to be able to take vacation time whenever I want it instead of making me have to accrue it. The company policy is no vacation for 90 days for new hires.

I have six weeks of vacation time now that I rarely use so it's not really an issue for me to wait 90 days but I figured I'd get the most out of the deal.

Can you opt to put the vacation money your due, into your retirement accounts especially a deferred compensation account.$$$

Thant's a great idea Fantasma

I don't know how it works for Tightwad. But once when I left a job I had about 2 months of vacation accrued that I was going to get paid for. I was able to bump up my 401K contribution amount for the last paycheck to a huge amount so that most of my accrued vacation pay went into the 401k.

That is a great idea!!! I'll be able to pocket only 30 days of unused vacation but it may be too late since next week is my last week. I can...however...increase my EF with it or put it in my Roth.

I don't think I've ever had more than a day or two of unused vacation time. In fact, at my last job I was short a couple days, though I got HR to waive the deficiency as part of my severance.

Congratulations on your new opportunity!

But to the original question, if you want to push salary negotiations into a whole different ballpark then you need to market yourself within the organization you are in and externally until someone agrees with your valuation. That is a LOT of work. but then the fun begins.

i don't know if i am allowed to come to this thread or not to share what i have now.
i am a student and work as an article writer (full time worker). here is the deal. the business i am joining now is just started for about 8 months ago. so yes, i have been through the bad times more than the good one
but i really don't take that as matter. i am the only one who work in this business and talk about vacation time, i feel so hesitate to talk about this to my boss. well as i am her only worker, i just have a thought that the business would stop if i don't get to work. what do you think about this? should i talk about this to my boss?

You are an article writer? With that grammar? I hope your writing is not in English.