| Topic Name: |
Compensation for e-business |
| Message Name: |
salary expectations |
| Date Posted: |
05/15/2000 |
| In Reply To: |
I've been working as a producer for a top financial institution for about a year and want to move into consulting.
The question: the projects I've worked on have been pretty sophisticated but I took the job at a real entry level salary. To what degree will my current salary affect an offer? I currently earn in the 40s.
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| Message: |
Many companies make offers based on your current salary. However, there are other who will pay you whatever the market demands, though you might be paid on the lower end of the market range.
Also, $40,000 is not a terrible salary for one year's worth of work, I'm assuming, out of college. I once turned down an offer because the offer at its maximum was $40,000, though I'd long since left that figure years ago. The offer was for a dot com who expected me to appreciate the equity package it was offering to offset the lower salary. A lot of dot coms will offer equity in lieu of cash. Consider these offers CAREFULLY, because chances are greater that these pre-IPO firms will never see IPO.
The best way to maximize your salary offer is to 1) do your research to find out the market value for that job, 2) if possible, find out from insiders the firm's value of that job, 3) emphasize skills you have that they need, 4) save salary negotiation until the end of the process (or if you trust your recruiter enough and feel you would not do as good a job, have him or her do it for you - after all, they've got negotiation experience), 5) give the firm round numbers of your current salary - as in total compensation including bonus and value of your benefits package and perks (just know ahead of time they will often as for breakdowns in numbers), 6) be direct about how much you believe you are worth, but be ready to back up your convictions, especially if you feel strongly that you are underpaid.
Hope this information helps.
Good luck!
H
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