Should boss get mad at salary counteroffer ?

[JC1]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
I was part of a job interview in which my boss made the person a job offer with a decent wage for their skill set / training. The person interviewing counteroffered with a salary $7000 more than what my boss offered. My boss seemed annoyed that the person did this and the interview was over shorty after that with my boss saying..... "I'll think about it."

Should my boss get mad at salary counteroffer ?
How much % of salary offer increase expectation is a realistic for person to ask for ?



What type of job is this? Since we don't know what the Salary was offered, then we cannot determine if the person in the interview was out of line.

If this person is really skilled then maybe they are worth the extra 7K per year. This person probably understands their value and what they bring to your company.

Your boss sounds like the type that would hire someone that would take the offered salary, and then they would probably have to hire and fire three different people before they would admit the guy who wanted 7K more would have been 10K more productive all along.

I could be wrong, but if your boss does his homework on checking out this guys credentials, maybe he'll land himself a great new employee.

 

[Chris142]

I have never heard of bartering your pay. I was always offered the same starting pay as any other new hire. If someone tried to do that around here they would not get a 2nd interview

 

[Andrew1972]

Tell her to get her panties out of a bunch..

Negotiation is part of job offer process. Don't you work for a massive company that likely has manager learning programs? I watched part of a video (developing a elearning site) on this exact thing in required learning for managers and hiring managers

 

[Leo99]

I asked for, and received, $25k more than what was first offered at my job. I think I'm still underpaid relative to my coworkers.

I interviewed a guy for a senior level position in my company and he was a great candidate. His counter offer included perks such as a company car and other pie in the sky perks. We dropped him. He called back to say he was flexible and it was his recruiter that told him to ask.

Everyone negotiates. Well, except for Chris142.

 

[gathermewool]

Not really understanding some of the ridiculous posts, especially the borderline sexist ones. The answer is, at it usually is: "it depends." We'd need to know the line of work, typical pay and qualifications of the applicant. Asking for $7k more to manage burger flippers isn't the same as for a tech lead who will be in charge of your next major project.

I haven't interviewed for a ton of jobs, but for each I went in knowing about what I would be offered. It's also not always appropriate to discuss salary at a first interview, unless you're a shoe-in, IMO. Sometimes, if the job is a promotion or a lateral with more potential for upward mobility and growth, it might be worth accepting for less than the pay grade might otherwise pay. Other times, a higher than typical offer may be made for an open paygrade than usual, just to get you in the company/department/etc.

 

[Mr Nice]

JC1,

It's for a field service position traveling in the region. This person has not been trained on anesthesia machines and will have to attend training out of state, then work with experienced tech for approximately 6 months before they are on their own. Boss offered $32 an hour starting + benefits.

I think her offer was fair for this job and its requirements.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
JC1,

It's for a field service position traveling in the region. This person has not been trained on anesthesia machines and will have to attend training out of state, then work with experienced tech for approximately 6 months before they are on their own. Boss offered $32 an hour starting + benefits.

I think her offer was fair for this job and its requirements.



Does the position need to be filled now?

Were there many other qualified applicants?

I can see that she might be annoyed, if she had a ton of qualified applicants and perceived the situation as fully in her favor and/or the applicant was arrogant or inappropriate about the counter.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
I have never heard of bartering your pay. I was always offered the same starting pay as any other new hire. If someone tried to do that around here they would not get a 2nd interview


My old job was like this. We knew we sucked. We had some brilliant applicants come through and basically told them when they tried for more that we weren't looking for the best employee, we were looking for the best who'd work for $x/hr. Sometimes the position is what it is, and middle management gets the credit/blame if the lackey works or doesn't.

 

[supton]

Maybe the boss simply didn't show his/her emotions well. I mean, interview goes good, ready to take the person on, then only to find out this glitch. Which may drive one back to square one and have to start interviewing all over again.

For all we know, your boss's boss has stated no more than x for salary, and this person asked for x+$7k, so they just priced themself out the door.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Leo99
Everyone negotiates. Well, except for Chris142.


If you're a low man on the totem pole, negotiating marks you as first one to go when financial times get tough.

I've never negotiated salary either. I do know I lost an opportunity to work closer to home, when asked what my salary expectations were I basically wanted something close to what I was already making. That wasn't going to happen.

 

[Vikas]

Why is she talking to you about salary of somebody who does NOT report to you? I would be hopping mad and would most likely rat on both of you if such thing were to occur at our organization.

YOU HAVE F ING NO BUSINESS KNOWING THE SALARY OF THE OTHER PERSON.

 

[AuthorEditor]

Personally, I wish all salaries were public information and required to be posted by law--that would cause some people some anguish, but many, many more would finally have strong evidence to go to court and fight for "equal pay for equal work."

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
Personally, I wish all salaries were public information and required to be posted by law--that would cause some people some anguish, but many, many more would finally have strong evidence to go to court and fight for "equal pay for equal work."


When I quit my last job I told my replacement what I was making, to the penny. I already knew what he was making, figured it was fair, and would help him get closer to what he deserved.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
Personally, I wish all salaries were public information and required to be posted by law--that would cause some people some anguish, but many, many more would finally have strong evidence to go to court and fight for "equal pay for equal work."


That fails because you can't tell equal work. How do you know that person a works as much as person b? If I were a manager and had two people under me, one does 10% more work, then I will pay that person 10% more. But it may well be the same position. And I may well be content with that setup.

 

[AuthorEditor]

Quote:
That fails because you can't tell equal work. How do you know that person a works as much as person b? If I were a manager and had two people under me, one does 10% more work, then I will pay that person 10% more. But it may well be the same position. And I may well be content with that setup.

That's the theory, but in reality the boss pays his girlfriend to be his assistant and she never has to show up but makes twice what the managers do, and they all make different amounts depending on who they are pals with up the ladder. Then there's the guy on the loading dock who works twice as hard as anyone in management, and he gets paid next to nothing but he gets paid more than the other guy who is the wrong color. Etc., etc. Since nobody knows they have no information. No information is leverage for management, not employees. You have no way to know that you are actually getting that 10% more than the guy who is lazy, when in reality he is probably paid 20% more than you because he is pals with someone.

 

[javacontour]

You can start your own firm and make your dream come true. Hire people and post their salaries on you company website.

Don't just wish, work to make it happen.

But don't start telling others what they should do. You have every right to publish your information. You have no right to tell others what they must say.

Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
Personally, I wish all salaries were public information and required to be posted by law--that would cause some people some anguish, but many, many more would finally have strong evidence to go to court and fight for "equal pay for equal work."

 

[cptbarkey]

Originally Posted By: Mr Nice
JC1,

It's for a field service position traveling in the region. This person has not been trained on anesthesia machines and will have to attend training out of state, then work with experienced tech for approximately 6 months before they are on their own. Boss offered $32 an hour starting + benefits.

I think her offer was fair for this job and its requirements.



All of that should have been said up front to the potential employee to counter the negotiations. Good luck.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Why is she talking to you about salary of somebody who does NOT report to you? I would be hopping mad and would most likely rat on both of you if such thing were to occur at our organization.

YOU HAVE F ING NO BUSINESS KNOWING THE SALARY OF THE OTHER PERSON.


That's a really weird attitude. It's to the advantage of the company not to have employees know what others make. Having that information favors the employees. There were lots of times when I figured out what people made. A classic one was where someone mentioned that she puts the max in her 401k and mentioned the dollar amount. So the max was 10% and we got paid every 2 weeks so bingo, we knew what she made.

 

[AuthorEditor]

Quote:
Don't just wish, work to make it happen.

I have been self-employed full-time for a good chunk of my life, and even when working for others I always have had my own business on the side. When I have managed others I have always been open with them about salary and wages. I told them what the salary range was when they were interviewed or I advertised the pay with the job description. Works well. It is a waste of time to try to hire someone only to find out later that your pay level is too low for that person, or if they accept at too low a level they will not be happy and will always be looking for another job. I think my system worked because at several companies where I worked previously people I originally hired are still there decades after I left.

 

[pottymouth]

Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
Quote:
That fails because you can't tell equal work. How do you know that person a works as much as person b? If I were a manager and had two people under me, one does 10% more work, then I will pay that person 10% more. But it may well be the same position. And I may well be content with that setup.

That's the theory, but in reality the boss pays his girlfriend to be his assistant and she never has to show up but makes twice what the managers do, and they all make different amounts depending on who they are pals with up the ladder. Then there's the guy on the loading dock who works twice as hard as anyone in management, and he gets paid next to nothing but he gets paid more than the other guy who is the wrong color. Etc., etc. Since nobody knows they have no information. No information is leverage for management, not employees. You have no way to know that you are actually getting that 10% more than the guy who is lazy, when in reality he is probably paid 20% more than you because he is pals with someone.


In reality, these situations sound like the arguments of people who want to blame their troubles on the unfair world. The guy on the loading dock probably thinks he works harder than everyone else, but that doesn't make it so.

It's also pretty foolish to compare pay between different positions like that. No matter how hard the guy on the loading dock works, his job is easily replicated. What little specialized knowledge he has is not difficult to teach someone new.

I've always found that the people in the office who most badly want to talk about salary are generally the deadest wood in the building. They think they should make what I make just because. Because they have been there longer, because they have more kids, because, because, because. It's a real rarity when any of these people can actually articulate a justification for making more that has something to do with actual value to the company. Sorry, you've got to be worth the money to command the money. In my business, you get paid to produce. Period.