[USER]

Husband was offered a professional position with a higher education system (though not an educator position).

He was told they really, really want him for the position.

The position only requires 4 years of experience, but 8 years is preferred. My husband has 23.

They also prefer a professional license, which my husband has.

He was offered 101,500K.

The upper end of the range listed in the offer was 105K.

My husband happens to know they offered someone else the very same amount they offered him (there are 2 positions), and the other person only has 8 years of experience and no professional license yet.

My husband has been in his current position for 22 years, and it was his 2nd job after college.

So he has no real experience negotiating a salary. WWYD in his situation?

Make a counter offer?

If so, how much? Or would you just say yes or no based on the current offer?

[John]

He should have gone into this expecting no more than $105k. The offer is quite close to that.

Would he feel different if there was only ONE position open and he was the selected candidate?

Or does it chafe him that someone of supposed lesser qualification got the same offer?

Don’t compete with the Joneses! I guess it would be legit to ask for the top range of the job and quite likely he would get it.

I come from the defense industry, both as active duty and as a contractor.

Being stagnant in a role is the kiss or death; one is expected to maintain an upward trajectory in their career.

22 years in the same position?

As a recruiter, that would be a big red flag to me.

Perhaps it’s not like that in other industries.

[Yesenia]

I always negotiate my salary. I dont always get what I want, but they always come close.

Always ask for a sign on bonus also.

In my previous job I was offered $89k with no sigon bonus.

I counter to $97k plus at least $5k sign-on bonus.

I got $93k plus $5k sign on bonus.

Same situation with my current job, I negotiated and got more.

His experience is extremely valuable, his learning curve with be way less than other people with less experience, never underestimate that.

If I where in your shoes, I would ask for at least $110k, he is probably worth more in my opinion.

He can say that he is excited to start to partner with them in this new position and contribute with his over 23 years of experience which will help us both grow and acheive new exciting goals.

My expectations for this role was to be in the $110k to 115k range with some type of sign on bonus to help with my transition to this new role.” … Something along those lines.

Best of luck! Praying this go well!

Also, negotiating reflects that he has good negotiating skills for other tasks that will probably be required in his bew role.

A recruiter once told this to me and said it was expected.

[Caro]

Always counter! They won’t just drop him or raise an eyebrow unless he said like 150 when post was 105.

I kinda like the idea of going 10% over.

What’s the raise structure?

Any yearly COLA or merit?

[Laura]

If he wants the job, just counter citing the experience.

[Ailene]

A couple questions: how does the offer compare to his current salary? How does the total comp package compare?

Are there any other benefits you can negotiate against?

More PTO for example or bonus?

He could certainly negotiate.

Maybe start the discussion by asking if the posted range is the full pay grade for the position or the range at which they start candidates?

This would tell you if they have more room than the 3.5k between the offer and the listing.

[Ashley]

He can say “I am really excited about this position and I know I will instantly provide value.

I was hoping to get closer to $108k.

Is that something we can consider?”

I promise they won’t rescind.

It’s not pushy.

They are expecting him to negotiate- that’s how it works.

[Bonnie]

Is he in a higher education system now? It would not hurt to ask for additional compensation within reason.

Just be straight forward . . . “I am aware that I bring additional experience to this position, can I expect to be compensated for that experience versus another candidate?”

I work in a university system and you can’t beat the benefits and the university schedule, for work life balance.

Plus we get regular pay pumps.

I have found it to be a great work environment.

[Jennifer]

Absolutely negotiate! I’m in higher Ed. Entering the field is the only time you can really negotiate.

After that, raises are only about 2-4% annually in my 15 year experience.

If he doesn’t feel comfortable going over the posted amount, then at least ask for that. He has the experience.

They can do it.

[Carl]

Having worked in higher ed, I can say that the posted higher end is usually not the highest they can offer.

There’s often 10% wiggle room – or more – for the right candidate.

Given what they offered the other person, I would bet there is extra gas in the tank.

He should ask them to sweeten the deal.

[Danielle]

Of course, counter-offer to ask for the upper limit. They are almost always going to present an offer with room to negotiate.

[Joey]

If your husband does research, there’s typically a separate research budget, professional development budget, etc.

I’d ask for more in these buckets.

If you need to relocate, I’d ask for relocation compensation.

You can also ask to shorten the timeline for next increase eligibility.

Lots of places to get compensated besides the bottom line.

I’d start with that 401k/403b match increase suggested by others.

That could yield the greatest return in the long-run.

[张扬]

What would he regret more: asking for more and having the offer get rescinded, or not asking for more and taking less than what he feels he’s worth?

I’ve faced both of these scenarios, with the same employer! They reached out to me both times.

The first time, their offer matched what I was earning at the time.

I asked if they could increase it to make it worth the jump, and they rescinded their offer.

I was surprised but ended up being recruited by a different company that paid significantly more.

Many years later, they reached out to me again, and I told them what my compensation was and what I needed to make it worth the switch, and this time they agreed! Same employer, but different management teams and different results.

[Dani]

Another thing you may be able to negotiate is an increased % match for the 403b.

I did this in my higher Ed position and got my match % doubled when they wouldn’t budge much on the salary during negotiations.

[Author]

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