I’m in the midst of a terrible negotiation that has been completely bungled by my recruiter first (from a recruiter firm, so not really “my” recruiter since they are paid by employer) and by me second. I need tips/opinions if it is possible to salvage a deal from this wreckage as I really want the job.
The role came to me through a recruiter I had been working with. I had gotten a few opportunities that went nowhere from him before this one. Important note is that the new role would be at a consulting firm, doing the same sort of work I do now at the sort of company which would use their services. Since it is consulting you generally work 50% more hours so it is standard that for two equivalent roles the consultant would be paid somewhat more than the non-consultant. Maybe 10-15%.
The role was posted as two possible tiers it could be filled at - Sr analyst/Manager. Based on my XP, current role duties, and my current pay I am definitely at their Manager level. However my current title does not reflect my duties because my employer has “flat” titles and wide pay range (about 100K wide) with sort of unofficial hierarchy within. No manager/director etc. Management starts at AVP but there is plenty of differentiation within the Sr Analysts and I am among the top in group. Also worth noting there is no direct reports for the new potential Manager role, just project team leadership, mentoring etc, which is exactly what I do in my current role. They are equivalent roles but with higher pay - I work hard as it is and want to see it rewarded and I want to get away from this Sr Analyst title.
I made clear to recruiter that I was interested in Manager, nothing less, and they agreed enthusiastically that was where I should be. I also made clear I was looking for an offer in the +20% range from my current. I assumed the recruiter’s job included setting these expectations with the employer talent acquisition person. After a long string of interviews over a month or more, all went great, they ‘calibrate’ offer which comes in as Sr Analyst grade, pay at 10% above my current. But there is a fat sign-on of 25k, to replace my annual target bonus I’d be leaving behind and which is only 20k.
Ok I assume there’s a combination of their wanting to dangle that sign-on and see if I jump for the otherwise low ball offer (maybe I have problems at work) plus misreading my current role level. Through my recruiter, I respond that the tier is a step down and I simply can’t go backwards. I’m only interested in a Manager offer which is within the Manager pay band (which my +20% would put me in the low end of that band I’m fairly sure). They respond and it is relayed to me next day that we can call the title “whatever I need” to accept but they cannot budge on the pay.
At this point I get on phone with the company talent person myself to level-set. Thank you for offer, but I have to say I think someone misread my current position. Understandable cus the title thing. My level and duties are aligned with manager and that’s the set of responsibilities I’m looking for here. I’m excited about the company but surely I can’t take a step backwards. It’s a decline at this grade. I’m looking for next grade. Basically we should not be anchored around your initial offer because it is based on a misreading of my current grade.
Annoyingly they press for the rest of my counter position element by element, actually it’s a bit aggressive. Ok so the grade is no good, what about the bonus %? I say well with the higher grade isn’t x% standard while you have offered the standard for Sr analyst grade of x-5%. Yes x% is the bonus for manager grade. Ok I am looking for the standard year one manager comp which includes x% bonus.
What about the base - are you unhappy with that too? I say current+20% is (still) what I’m looking for, which is in line with a year 1 manager (maybe even low).
“There’s absolutely no way current+20% is going to happen. But I will bring this back to the business.”
Another detail I forgot to mention is that I’ve had big (10%+) raises each of past 2 years, which I can document. One could infer I’ll see it again in 2 months, I mentioned this as well. That would put me right at their offer. So if you look at it from that perspective, it is likely a flat pay move and role downgrade for busier consulting work.
I know a better negotiator would have been more artful so far. I could have done better on the call with the talent guy. I didn’t want to negotiate based on their initial offer but he squeezed numbers out of me. Now when he goes to business it sounds like I’m demanding movement on every point of their offer, instead of trying to get them to correct their mistake and make an appropriate initial offer (which I would likely accept, at manager grade).
Hate to say it but I think this one was stillborn and I’ll be moving on. But maybe there have been worse negotiations that were rescued by some magic.. is there any way to reset, a response I can have when they come back that gets this negotiation on track to where we are compromising? They seem to be dug in on the pay (will give a fake title), and I’m not accepting a demotion. I will accept less sign-on and maybe current+15% instead of +20% on base.
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