What are the components of a job offer? When should I start talking about salary ranges? What is negotiable? We dive into these questions and more with Alisa Tazioli, Managing Director at Major, Lindsey & Africa in Seattle. Alisa takes us through which questions to ask yourself, the recruiter or hiring manager, and what to do when you get the offer.
Alisa Tazioli is a Managing Director in the Seattle office of Major, Lindsey & Africa. Alisa brings legal recruiting experience both from law firm and corporate settings, having lead corporate counsel searches, including for general counsel, for public and private companies based in the Pacific Northwest. She leads in-house counsel searches for clients throughout the Pacific Northwest market placing high-performing candidates in Fortune 500, publicly traded and privately held companies across a wide range of industries. Alisa makes her home in the Seattle area.
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- Alisa TazioliShow Notes
- An employment offer is the compensation and benefits
- Compensation is the number that ends up on your W2
- What is typically negotiable vs non-negotiable?
- Negotiable: Dollar value (base salary, bonus, equity components such as stock, etc)
- Non-negotiable: Offered to all employees and have an intrinsic value (healthcare, paid time off, gym, phone reimbursement, pension or 401(k) plan)
- Salaries usually fall under a range by function (eg., sales, marketing, software development)
- Companies benchmark salary ranges based on industry research
- Salary ranges allow for incremental increases based on performance
- Start the conversation with the recruiter or hiring manager throughout the process
- Do your own research
- Where am I at financially right now (compensation)?
- What is important to you (value to marketplace, your function, etc)?
- Do you want more responsibility in your current company or are you looking to explore opportunities externally?
- Set realistic expectations on what the market is paying for your function, experience, skills, and achievements
- Make sure the dollar amount doesn't overshadow your values
- When do you start talking about compensation?
- Have the conversation sooner than later (this sets expectations on both sides)
- Companies have a budget to manage based on their deliverables and what the market is paying
- Talk about what your expectations are
- Recruiter asks for "what is your current compensation package?"
- "Here's what my current compensation looks like, here's what I'm looking for"
- Not being willing to talk about compensation until the offer stage, you're not allowing the employer to put together a competitive offer
- When the recruiter/company asks the question, they can determine whether they're in the ball park based on their approved salary range for that role
When you receive the offer
- TIP: Respond with "This is great, thank you for the offer."
- Components of the offer
- Salary
- Bonus
- Healthcare
- Paid time off
- TIP: Acknowledge the details of the offer, don't interrupt, be positive, this is not the time to negotiate (even if you decide to decline the offer after further evaluation)
- When asking questions, deliver them in the order in which the offer was delivered
- TIP: Take at least 24 hours to evaluate before formally responding to an offer but be as prompt as you can
- When a company makes an offer, know that they want to hire you
- When you receive an offer:
- Do stay positive and enthusiastic throughout the whole process
- Do negotiate a win-win
- Do be responsive and timely
- Do evaluate the total offer before you negotiate (compare and contrast what is more important)
- Do prioritize your top needs and concerns
- Don't be emotional, keep it factual
- Don't overdo it or try to be cute
- Don't start negotiating in the same conversation as when you receive the offer
- Don't piece-meal the negotiation
- Don't take a counter-offer from your current company
What do you do when you get a great offer? TAKE IT!