Senior Negotiating Non-Senior Job Offer [closed]

Question

I recently received a job offer. I really love the company and am excited about the offer and they interviewed me 3 times over the course of a month before receiving the offer. However, coming from a contractor background and multiple senior level positions. The position offered is non-senior and I am offered about 55% what I previously earned as a contractor working full time.

My concern is the title change to non-senior and the pay rate is less than what I am worth (reflects junior payrate), and close to half of what I earned a year prior. They promised that good work is rewarded and there will be opportunities to advance, although they are not able to offer me a clear roadmap for advancement. Although, my goal up until now was to advance and grow, not move backwards and in some ways, I feel that what i'd be doing as my last 3-4 position were senior. Not sure what to do, or how I should negotiate.

Also, right now when asked what my previous salary was, I can show high numbers that reflect seniority in my previous role. If things don't work out with this job offer, on my next job hunt I will need to show junior level position and respond to the 'how much did you previously earn' question with low numbers, which I am concerned is a step backwards.

To conclude, I really like the company and would like to try to find a mutual win-win scenario.

I appreciate any advice.

Answer 1

Several years ago I had a similiar experience. I was offered a more interesting job in a more attractive appearing work environment at about 75% of my then current salary. The company offering me the new job said that once I proved myself, they would bring my salary up to what I had been making beforehand. Because the job offered looked much better and the benefits and commute were better, I took the new job. (Also, I was young and single, so taking such a chance didn't affect others financially; I could never do such a thing now, with family expenses being an issue.)

Overall, the job was more interesting, enjoyable, and rewarding. My co-workers were more pleasant and helpful. It was great to cut my commute from 3 hours per day to less than 30 minutes. I stayed there for several years.

That said, the company did not really honor their promise to bring my income back to what I had been getting before. I got great reviews and after a couple years was promoted. However, even with the promotion my annual raises were in the 4% to 6% range and it took 4 years to bring my salary back to the level it had been at the previous job.

That lower salary basis has followed me through subsequent jobs and continues to affect my income now. Thus, my advice to you is to say you are interested in and excited about the opportunity, but to decline the offer they've made and make a counter offer. This counter offer would provide you with an increase above your salary and also give you a title commensurate with what you currently have. If they can't at least match what you have now, tell them you're not interested in a backwards move and that you'd be interested in other opportunities that are more appropriate for you, should they arise.

Answer 2

Never take a low starting salary, no matter what they say. I have never in 25 years of working for over 10 companies seen them move someone up the levels you are expecting. I made this mistake once too and the experience was great, and they were giving good raises to get me up, but I resented them for not being willing to fix the low starting pay issue faster.

Politely decline, stating you thought this was a higher level position, but you just can't accept the position as it is. If they want a counter, do some research and find out what the appropriate title and pay is for your area and counter with that. You won't make your contract rate, but in my experience you should make somewhere around 75% to 80% of what your raw contract rate (2000 hours times rate) was.

Answer 3

You are moving from a contractor to an employee.

For many companies they charge their customers a rate of 2x the hourly rate they play employees. This covers 10 holidays, multiple weeks of vacation, sick leave, insurance, 401K matching, training, utilities, equipment, other overhead (time cards, billing,...), business development. None of these could you directly bill for as a contractor and had to build into your hourly rate.

When taking all those expenses and hours into account the 55% of your old rate might not be so bad. Of course if you don't use/need those benefits that will make it seem like a waste.

Answer 4

It doesn't seem like this is a good fit given your experience. Obviously this is a junior position and you are a senior. There is no negotiation in that case because a company isn't trying to pay for an expensive engineer. Apply for different companies.

Answer 5

My concern is the title change to non-senior and the pay rate is less than what I am worth (reflects junior payrate),

Even if the company "can't afford to pay you more on this position" (can they ever? ☺), what they certainly can is to rename the title you are given (after all, it's just a name), so you can get them to make it better reflect what you are worth (eg. prepend a "Senior " there).

This has several implications:

• It makes clearer that you are a senior being paid lower, rather than the usual junior developer.¹

• Getting the raise later could thus be slightly easier, as you are not being moved to an higher category but adjusting the salary according to your category.

• You can use it as an "evidence" to show on future interviews.

They may object that they can't put you in that category because they pay more to those, that the company "can't" do things that way… That's their problem. Your point is that they are contracting a senior², it's just that they would be paying a junior payrate (not that you shouldn't try to improve it, too). You can even offer that they add a paragraph in the contract mentioning that it is a temporarily lower payrate that will be augmented with the good work… That could bite them later (admitting on writing what they are so happily assuring you now), but makes you look reasonable, too.

¹ Even if this was crystal clear when you get cotnracted, it may need to be explained to management, the HR guy that knows it may no longer work there, etc.

² unless they somehow expect you to act dumber during work hours? :)

Answer 6

From my experience as a CFO and HR Director, there are a few possible ways to proceed. If you really are excited about the job and feel that the experience it offers can improve your overall qualifications, then taking the job can be a move forward. When I look at qualifications, its not always the most recent job that drives my decision. Often I look at the overall experience and determine if the individual can add to our talent pool. So taking a lower level job can be a positive. However, I would also like to point out the length of time you spend in a job can effect your future, if I see an individual that was once in a senior position and then has taken a job at a lower level, I often wonder if the person was not able to function in a senior position, this is ofter confirmed if the new company does not promote the person within a reasonable time.

With regards to negotiating, taking a pay cut until you prove yourself can work in your favor, try to address the issue with the hiring company, request a review within 30 - 60 days, if possible get this in writing. It depends on how motivated your are about this job, if your job prospects are high then you can be a little firmer on your requests. You can also address it in such a manner that you would like to remain with the company for the long term and getting some assurances that your pay will be match to your talents quickly.