My current job pays ~$19/hr it’s a nose pickers job that I took out of desperation. It’s a joint partnership between two companies where one of the companies is the sole customer. Management has been screwing us by making us work a ton of overtime because production is ramping back up. I’m supposed to go back to a regular 40 hr week “soon.” They laid off 30% of their staff a year ago. I’ve been there 5 months and trained 3 different people as they are hiring an entire 3rd shift at the moment.
I generally enjoy my coworkers as they are almost all foreigners from many different places and older. Management is generally nice enough, their hands are tied due to the parent company.
The benefits are 5% 401k company match, 160 hrs of PTO/ yr, good insurance for me and one child is $100/mo similar instance is $1k on the marketplace.
Job I’m looking at is offering close to $25/hr, is a small global company, same 8hr shift 2 weeks of vacation a year, high deductible plan for ~$400/mo which would cost me $600 on the open market, a discretionary 401k company contribution currently at 6%. I would also have more opportunities for advancement at this place and the work would be more engaging to me and likely more opportunities to improve my career as my current job is a major step back for me.
Commute is identical as they are directly across the street from each other. I would also have at least an additional $175 in medical expenses every month as I see a doctor once a month for a chronic condition. If I place a value on my time off based on my current pay rate and subtract my additional costs I figure I would only be making an extra $300/mo and that’s if I don’t have any other medical expenses. It’s also possible that I’d be walking into a more toxic working environment.
Do you have any wiggle room on negotiating the compensation?
I’d tell them that the career advancement opportunities and company seem compelling, but total compensation isn’t great given your household’s medical expenses and their insurance plan. I’d propose a bump in base pay and give them a number that you think would be reasonable.
Best advice here. An offer is just that, an offer. Not sure how negotiating benefits would work, never known that to be done, kinda written in stone at OP’s level. (Worked IT for a payroll firm, benefit exceptions just don’t happen, it’s a nightmare for several reasons.) But OP should ask for more pay to offset, that’s 100% doable.
For you young folk who may not have experience: What they say they’ll pay is the bottom. If you take it, good for them. Hit 'em higher, higher than you expect. If they’re truly interested, they’ll meet you in the middle.
I’m such a dumbass, HR was literally shaken giving me an offer ($70K), double what I had been making at my then current job. As in, worried I’d be offended. I played it off like, “That should work to start. Let’s see where it goes from there.” While my heart was slamming…
Fuck me. I should have aimed WAY higher! “That’s in the zone, but I understand my peers with the same experience can expect $85-90K.” Promise I would have scored $80K, easy. 4-years later and I just now topped that figure.
This is normal life, nothing to be stressed about. Ask for the damned money. It’s expected. No one’s handing $ out just because you’re a great person.
LOL, my new boss gets me laughing every week. We went from a cost center to dragging in a couple of million a year. Know why? He tells customers, and our management, and the CEO, to get fucking bent. “That’s not our company’s mission, nor is it my team’s job. If $customer wants it, $customer will sign a contract agreeing to pay $X. If you will not do this, you will expand my team. And here’s what that will cost…” The sales team is torqued off that us lowly techs are pulling more than them.
Last week I went to deploy a replacement server for free, standard stuff. Boss: “No. Do not send that. Let me talk to $customer’s account manager.” Now it’s $800 to $customer. And guess who will be arguing more money for the team (and me) next go round? Guess who gets to put, “Made company $X, and saved company $Y on the following initiatives…” Dolla dolla bill y’all.
tl;dr: Ask for the fucking money.
First lesson in business: Don’t mess with the fucking money.
Anecdotal experience alert: I work with a guy that is one of the leading sales operators in my field. I’ve been in another somewhat related field for 20+ years but didn’t really have to work on my sales techniques. This guy is a genius in simplicity. His basic tip is screw all the MBA metrics. When you’re dealing with people you need to make connections. Camp out and get to know them, their family, and their likes/hobbies. The craziest sales always have the same thing in common, not talking about whatever you’re selling. People buy when they like you. That builds trust and confidence. That’s it. Super simple but it’s why my small branch is carrying the entire state at the moment. Whenever my sales guys call the first question we ask is, that’s cool but what did you learn about the customer? They’re starting to get what we mean and learning things about people and their sales and 5 star reviews have skyrocketed.
Or even negotiate with the current employer. If they’re okay there, then ask for a raise.
Yeah, I’ve totally done that in the past. That said, I wouldn’t do that until you have an employment offer in hand for the other gig. That way you actually have leverage and can walk.
I don’t think asking for a raise means you have to leave if they say no.
Agreed. I’m just saying that they have the leverage. They can walk if they want.
It’s usually easier to get a raise if they need you more than you need them.
I’ve never seen negotiating with a current employer go well in anything resembling the long term.
If you’ve been there long enough, performance is good (better than expected) and haven’t had a raise, it is quite normal here. YMMV where you are though.