Negotiating your Offer

"In business as in life, you don’t get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate."

– Chester L. Karrass

Congratulations!  Your hard work and the process that you followed have resulted in an offer of employment.   Or luck was on your side.  It doesn’t matter how you got there, now you have some more work to do.  The job offer might be a short single page, or it could be several pages and have attachments.  You’re not home yet, so don’t rush to sign on the dotted line.  Take a moment.  It's time to work on negotiating your offer. You will want to read the document they put in front of you carefully and ask some questions.   You are looking at committing the next months, years and possibly decades to this organization and you should be sure that you understand what you are jumping into.  They should give you a couple days or a week to think about and accept the position.

The balance of power in the job search arena has now become a bit more balanced.  The employer has indicated that they want you for this role.  That doesn’t mean they don’t have other candidates in the wings that could take on this role, but for the moment you were selected.  You can afford to ask a few questions and possibly negotiate a few areas. 

You have some questions to ask that should include:

• Is the compensation what you were looking for or expecting?

• Do you pay weekly, bi-monthly or monthly?

• What does the benefits package include (healthcare, retirement plans, etc.)?

• How and when do benefits start and is there an advantage to the date you would start?

• Is there a signing bonus?

• Is there an annual bonus program, profit sharing or holiday bonus?  How is the bonus calculated?

• Are equity options, discounted stock shares or stock grants part of the compensation?

• Do you provide a business cell phone or some sort of monthly stipend?

• Does the start date work for you?

• What drug test or background checks are they requiring?

• How many vacation, sick, and personal days are offered?

• Are unused vacation days rolled over or paid out?

• What is the parental leave policy?

• Are there non-compete agreements or other contractual restrictions?

• What are the terms for terminating the contract (notice period, severance)?

• How often are salary adjustments or raises reviewed?

This doesn’t mean that you can negotiate all of these issues.  However, you need to understand the details of what you are signing.  Read through it and if you don’t understand some of it then phone a friend, use ChatGPT or ask the potential employer.  Be sure that you understand the landscape that you are signing up for.

Each situation will be a bit unique.  Perhaps you have some very unique skills that are hard to find and align with this particular role…then you are in a stronger position to negotiate.  If there were five candidates interviewing and you came out on top, then you position might be more delicate.  In either case, if you handle the communications professionally you should be o.k.  Most Human Resources people are used to some level of back-and-forth discussions at this stage.  How the company handles the discussions after they present you with an offer can also be telling about the company.  Be aware that this communication is also saying something about yourself with your new prospective employer as well.

"The single and most dangerous word in negotiation is 'fair.' Fairness is subjective, and everyone thinks they’re being fair."

– Chris Voss

Think through the entirety of the offer.  Now you should separate out your concerns, preferences and wishes.  Are there any parts that you are really having a hard time with and could keep you from accepting the offer?  What are the things you could probably live with but would like some adjustments?  What are things that you hoped for but are not present in the offer?  Don’t go overboard here and overthink this.  You should quickly be able to list out the key issues that aren’t perfect. 

Now you can pick a few of these off this list and put a thoughtful e-mail together that is both thankful for the offer but asks some questions about the offer details.  Start the note with a friendly introduction and appreciation for the offer.  Something like the following:

“It was a pleasure meeting you and the team during the interview process and I hope that this finds you well.  Thank you for the offer of employment.  I have read through the agreement.  I appreciate its professionalism, and I have no major issues.  I do, of course, have a few points I would like to clarify and/or adjust.”

Now you need to be very clear and easy to follow in the points of clarification.  These may be requests for an adjustment or they could just be questions.  If they have used numbered sections or headers to sections, you should use those as references.  Itemize your couple points and offer your counter. 

“I understand that the vacation days are ___, but at my current employer I am getting ____ days.  I am hopeful there is some flexibility, and you could match what I am currently getting.”

“In Section ___ it mentions the need for a background check prior to starting.  I would like to complete a satisfactory background check prior to giving notice to my current employer.  I’m happy to start that process immediately.”

You get the idea. Start from the beginning of their offer letter and move through the contents of it in order.  Be careful with the number of clarifications, the tone and the percent change you are requesting.  Getting another 5% increase on the salary is likely fine, but requesting 25% will likely end discussions. Negotiate for yourself but be reasonable.

Getting an offer is a great achievement and most of the time we will end up accepting these offers.  You owe it to yourself to think carefully through the offer and negotiate key areas of concern prior to accepting the offer.  You will not get a chance to do this after you start the job.