Career Development
Position Comparison:
How to Evaluate a Job Offer
Figuring the Bottom Line
The best approach to putting the deal together
is to decide whether you want the job before an offer is extended. This
allows you to clarify whether the job suits your needs. Unless you're
motivated solely by money, it's doubtful a few extra dollars will turn a
bad job into a good one.
If the job interests you, then determine the
conditions under which you'll accept. These fall into two categories:
Bottom Lines and Porcupines.
The term bottom line refers to the amount of
compensation you feel is absolutely necessary to accept the job offer.
If, for example, you really want $46,000 but would think about $45,000
or settle for $44,000, then you haven't established your bottom line.
The bottom line is one dollar more than the figure you would positively
walk away from. Setting a bottom line clarifies your sense of worth, and
helps avoid an unpredictable bargaining session.
I recommend against "negotiating" an
offer in the classic sense, where the company makes a proposal, you
counter it, they counter your counter, and so on. While this type of tit
for tat format may be customary for negotiating a residential real
estate deal, job offers should be handled in a more straightforward
manner.
Here's how: Determine your bottom line in
advance, and wait for the offer. If the company offers you more than
your bottom line, great. If they offer you less, then you have the
option of turning the offer down or revealing to them your bottom line
as a condition of acceptance. At that point, they can raise the ante or
walk away.
Lay Your Cards on the Table
Once the bottom line is known, you can avoid
the haggling that so often causes aggravation, disappointment, or hurt
feelings.
My experience has shown that it's much better
to lay your cards on the table in the beginning than to barter to
get what you want. An employer can get very irritable when a candidate
says, "I'll think it over," or keeps coming back with new
demands again and again. Even if you get what you want, you've created a
negative impression with the company which will carry over after you've
been hired. In effect, you may win the battle, but lose the war.
By determining your own acceptance conditions
in advance, you'll never be accused of negotiating in bad faith or of
being indecisive. Whether you're representing yourself or working with a
recruiter, learning to differentiate between financial fact and fantasy
will facilitate the job changing process.
You may want to itemize your bottom line, and,
if it's appropriate, show it to the company (or your recruiter) as a
means to justify your salary request. Carefully figure your total
package, and document any loss of income that may result from a
differential in benefits, geographic location, car expenses, and the
like.
If a recruiter asks for your bottom line, he or
she isn't trying to manipulate you or conspire with an employer that
plans to "lowball " its candidates. The recruiter is simply
making a good faith effort to discover what makes you happy, and put
together two interested parties.
< Previous Page •
Next Page > The Porcupine Category
Position Comparison: How to
Evaluate a Job Offer
> Position Comparison: How to Evaluate
a Job Offer
> Keeping Score
> The Economic
Factor
> Figuring the Bottom Line
> Lay Your Cards on the Table
> The Porcupine Category
> How an Offer
is Staged
> Accepting the Offer
> New Angles and Unusual
Deals
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