job offers - negotiation expected?

Amleto said:
I was just wondering if it usual to negotiate/haggle after receiving (reasonable/good) offers?
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Depends on the job and who is offering / how secure the offers are:

I mean if its a shelf stacking job then limited room to negotiate:D

But yer haggle away. However make sure you get the deal up front and avoid the 6 month review scenario.
 
I think 3month/6month probation or review is very hard to avoid now, isn't it?

A bit surprised at a 2 week notice period though :eek:
 
I applied for a last month, got it, thought about it, turned it down.
Got called back, offered more money.
Turned it down.
Got offered a better position and more money.
Thinking about it.

So yes, room for negotiation.
 
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I'd say definitely room to neg your package but notice periods tend to be the same for everyone at the same grade/level.
 
It's hard to know what to suggest as your original post is a bit sparse. Did you get the job through an agency? If so, they should've covered this when they sent your details to the company.
Did the company advertise a salary range?
Is it a promotion for you, or a sideways move? Have you more responsibility, or about the same?
 
I think you've turned it down enough. Now it's time to simply say to them 'I like the position. If you would increase the package by x then I would take the position'.

You don't get jack come 6 month reviews. It just means they'll look at the situation and is not a guarantee at all.
 
Job through an agency. salary not advertised. Promotion in terms of salary, and challenge, but probably not responsibility - I'll still be quite junior.

edit: to above, I haven't turned it down at all. Maybe responding to a different post in thread? :)
 
Did the agency ask what you're currently on? It seems pretty unusual for there to be no information about salary throughout the process.
Any negotiation will be done through the agent, so they should have some idea how much 'wiggle room' you'll have.
Is this a full time, or contract (i.e daily/hourly rate)?
I'd be surprised if the agent hadn't given the employer at least some idea of salary expectations.
 
Amleto said:
Job through an agency. salary not advertised. Promotion in terms of salary, and challenge, but probably not responsibility - I'll still be quite junior.

edit: to above, I haven't turned it down at all. Maybe responding to a different post in thread? :)
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Sorry, read someone elses post and got confused.

Haggle after interview and offer has been...offered. I would always haggle - haggling at time of job offer is the best time - a review period mean nothing. Doesn't mean more cash.
 
When I was offered my current job, which in a roundabout way came through an agency (I was a contractor then got offered the job perm) I haggled to get my starting level up. The boss didn't put up any kind of resistance to my first request of starting a level higher than he wanted so thought that was too easy, so said if he put me on yet another level higher I'd do it :p
 
Amleto said:
I think 3month/6month probation or review is very hard to avoid now, isn't it?

A bit surprised at a 2 week notice period though :eek:
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I think what he's driving at is that you should try and get any increase in salary upon completion of probation in writing rather than just a promise to 'review' it. That way you know that unless you are terrible at your job (and hence get let go) you are guarenteed to get what you want in a few months time. For my current job I agreed to come in on a 'low' salary to prove my worth, with a 15% rise after 4 month probation.

The reason I think this can be effective is that it shows the employer that you are confident in your ability to settle within the team, and are willing to put up with a reduced salary in the short term until you have proven your worth. Bear in mind that if you are on probation for say 3 months, with annual salary reduced by say £4k, that is only the equivalent of £1k lost income, before any deductions for tax/ni etc)

The only downside of course is if your employer has a policy along the lines of "only 1 pay rise allowed within x month period". For this reason you would need to enquire (during negotiation stage obviously, not at interview!) whether this would affect any annual pay review/rise.

I had a 1-week notice period while on probation.
 
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Thanks, thats all useful info. They offered approx 4% pay rise after the 3 month probation, so it wouldn't be dependent on a review.

I will check about max pay rise per x months :)
 
robbiemc said:
Did the agency ask what you're currently on? It seems pretty unusual for there to be no information about salary throughout the process.
Any negotiation will be done through the agent, so they should have some idea how much 'wiggle room' you'll have.
Is this a full time, or contract (i.e daily/hourly rate)?
I'd be surprised if the agent hadn't given the employer at least some idea of salary expectations.
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It's full time.

The agency knows my current, and minimum salary expectation. This offer is a lot more compared to what a same-sector company in oxford was prepared to offer.
 
So they're offering a 4% increase on your offer after your probation period, or is the 4% an increase on your current salary?
I understand why companies sometimes offer an increase after a probation, but this is often in cases where the candidates skills/experience are slightly in question (in my experience anyway). You say it's a junior position, so how long have you been in this line of work? I presume you must have some sort of portfolio to prove experience etc?
I'm just asking because if you're an experienced candidate, I would be inclined to ask your agent to remove the lower-salary probation period.
 
Only started c++ in september, and have been doing quite simple coding since.

They had a c++ test where I had to fix compiler errors, bad pointer errors, memory access violations in run-time, and logic errors. They gave me the offer the day after so I must done at least OK :)

The 4% increase is from their probation salary offer. The probation salary is about 24% over what I'm on atm.
 
Take it.

If you feel your being underpaid you can always speak to a senior manager to discuss a evaluation.
 
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