DH and I were counseling a new grad on salary negotiation. I told the kid (mid-20's) that he needs to have a competing offer to negotiate effectively. DH suggested that the kid bring up college loans that he needs to pay off by himself. The kid does have hefty loans, paid almost full tuition for M.S. and wants to send money home to mother too who is widowed and used pension funds for his tickets and side expenses. My question is do people bring up student loans when negotiating salary in a job offer and does it help?
I think should keep this kind of personal financial situation stuff out of negotiation and have a competing offer or other reasons like brand name college or some rare technical skills that the company needs badly.
I would not bring it up. Things like loans and sending money to parents is one’s personal business. Negotiations are about the value that you can bring to the company. A competing offer is great, but if that is not imminent then they can counter within reason, based on the average salary for the position and geographic location.
Agreed with your thought process. My first thought is that talking about college loans during the negotiation of pay is a big red flag. As an interviewer/HR, I will take it that the candidate is weighed down by financial worries and will want to get out of the company the first chance he gets with a better pay. Why waste time on such a candidate by training them and losing them.
No. Negotiations are based on what one brings to the table, loan’s discussion isn’t of any value to the employer. A competing offer is the best strategy but also requires caution. One needs to be ready to accept the competing offer if negotiations don’t work. I am not sure if brand name have competitive edge in negotiations (May be in getting an offer but not after that) but skill set, yes, definitely helps getting a better offer.
A concrete cylindrical bin lying in the street corner regularly filled with food waste from near by hotels. It is always surrounded by stray dogs and crows and squirrels. A lanky man every late night reach this spot to collect the food from the bin. A street light was illuminating the waste in bin. The man was seen kicking his legs alternatively to distance the competing dogs away from bin. A foot Ball club manager with his assistants was taking rounds at this hour in his car. They were in need of a good footballer for impending seasonal matches. There effort to buy player from other clubs proving futile. They stopped the car for a while gazing at his legs being thrown in different direction quickly and haphazardly while he was busy collecting remnants of food from the waste bin. The manager and his assistants were in awe at his agility of legs and concentration on his goal of gathering food. The three alighted from car and reached him. Suggestrd to him to join their club and get trained and he would receive good compensation. He thought for a while said he had some loans to clear off and a sick mother and sister needs urgent medication. And so demanded that he be given enough money to clear off debts and funding for mother sister med-treatment. The three discussed for a while and collectively agreed. After few months training he played awesome football in successive tournaments that brought huge profits to the club. And few years later he was in lime light and reached pinnacle of GLORY. Who is or was this world famous foot-baller?
Thanks for the responses, guys. I agree with all of them. I asked in my college whatsapp group also, and there the opinion was more divided. Looks like, it can be helpful to give personal reasons along with highlighting one's unique skills and the current salary range for the position. I gathered that tagging on a "personal" and "human" reason to the other reasons can alter the tone of the negotiation. An article that went viral a few years ago describes why things like student loans are good to mention in salary negotiation. Ten Rules for Negotiating a Job Offer (part 1) How Not to Bomb Your Offer Negotiation (part 2) I found the articles worth the time it takes to read them. To go straight to the "specify personal reasons" part, search for "student loans" in part 2.
The articles are very dated. 2016 for one of the article. Personal financial obligations are not of interest to the company nor should it be shared. It’s more of what is the market average for the role and what value you can bring to the role with the experience you have. I’m working in HR.
Which of his ten suggested rules would you say are dated and no longer applicable? Let's set aside the current dismal job market.
@Rihana - I feel that negotiations can vary from industry to industry. While highlighting personal reasons could be a good strategy in one industry, might not be in other. For instance, most physicians have high student loans so may not be a good strategy. Similarly, in academia, it is common to negotiate spouse/partner's position which doesn't change the primary applicant's salary but gets two qualified people get jobs at the same place. I have negotiated higher salary when I was moving to a high cost of living area and gave that as a reason for asking better salary (negotiations happen after an offer is made so I felt my qualifications/skills already played the part). I believe one should come strong during negotiations- I alwways had statistics ready, the COL here is at least 12% higher than my previous place so to keep a similar standard of living, I would like a 15% raise plus moving cost. A reasonable employer will see that it is a fair ask.
