It is not wrong to negotiate an offer if you need to. There are various good reasons for doing so, and you can read about them here.
What is really wrong for a candidate to do, in my view, is:
#1 Not demonstrating sincerity in working towards offer closure
#2 Using skewed, biased or unjustifiable data for negotiation
#3 Reneging his/her offer acceptance
As a recruiter, these are my greatest pet peeves of all times that will cause me to instantly regret shortlisting the candidate forward in the first place.
Recruiter's pet peeve #1: Not demonstrating sincerity in working towards offer closure
Oh, this is a BIG one.
A recruiter's job at the offer stage is to broker a win-win deal among the hiring manager, HR and the candidate.
This is irregardless whether the recruiter belongs internally (as part of the company's HR department) or externally (as a headhunter).
The last thing recruiters want to see is the offer negotiation fall apart, as it means needing to restart the entire interview and selection process! This will be an absolute waste of time, resources and effort on everyone's part.
Offer negotiation scenarios I've encountered and deemed insincere, include:
1. The Haggler: haggling over every single aspect of the job offer. From compensation (salary) and benefits to company welfare and work hours, etc.
2. The Sloth Negotiator: negotiate multiple issues in the offer, one by one - resulting in an elongated and inefficient process
3. The Playing Hard-to-Get: rejects offer even though it has matched expectations, for absurd reasons
If you identify as any one of the above, I have the following advice.
1. The Haggler
Leave haggling to the wet markets and Carousell, please.
According to Google Dictionary, haggling is to "dispute or bargain persistently, especially over the cost of something."
Haggling is not negotiation.
Regrettably, I have encountered candidates haggling over wanting $20-$30 more in monthly salary, and to be issued more annual leave to start off their first employment year if they join. These are but a couple of examples.
Eventually, I had to throw in an ultimatum "take it or leave it" because of the candidate(s) denial that we, the employer, have tried but could not accede to their requests.
Remember...a recruiter's job at the offer stage is to broker a win-win deal among the hiring manager, HR and the candidate.
Your recruiter's priority is to close the offer with YOU on board.
If your recruiter have gone back and forth and was still unable to get necessary management approvals on your requests, please trust that they have indeed gone the extra mile and have done their best for you.
It is also important that you understand every company has their unique blend of benefits and welfare.
Don't split hairs when comparing company A's policies against company B's.
Also, most established companies have everything stated in the employee handbook for harmonisation and fairness. Many therefore do not offer exception handling when it comes to benefits and welfare policies.
Some companies may, but most do not. Feel free to ask about it, but do not expect an outright "yes". Rather, treat it as a bonus if your future employer agrees to it.
Compensation-wise, avoid haggling for further increase if your future employer has already matched your expected salary or have done their best to shorten the gap towards your expected salary.
If you insist further, some hiring managers or HR will start to doubt if selecting you was the right choice to begin with.
It hints at the candidate's inability to look beyond short-term growth with them.
In the worst case scenario, the employer may simply decide to rescind the offer and extend a new one to their next choice candidate instead.
2. The Sloth Negotiator
Time is an extremely precious commodity for the hiring team. Do consolidate all your negotiation requests and share concisely within a single session with your recruiter.
I cannot find a better way to put this across than Harvard Business Review's 15 Rules for Negotiating a Job Offer (2014). I quote the relevant excerpt below.
Don’t say, “The salary is a bit low. Could you do something about it?” and then, once [the recruiter] worked on it, come back with “Thanks. Now here are two other things I’d like…”
If you ask for only one thing initially, she may assume that getting it will make you ready to accept the offer (or at least to make a decision).
If you keep saying “and one more thing…,” she is unlikely to remain in a generous or understanding mood.
Furthermore, if you have more than one request, don’t simply mention all the things you want—A, B, C, and D; [it is important to] signal the relative importance of each to you.
Otherwise, she may pick the two things you value least, because they’re pretty easy to give you, and feel she’s met you halfway.
Then you’ll have an offer that’s not much better and a negotiating partner who thinks her job is done.
3. The Playing Hard-to-Get
Please, do not interview at a job or a company that you are not interested or ready to join.
An interesting personal anecdote to drive this point home:
A university tutor for one of the Human Resource modules back in my university days, encouraged all of us students to attend interviews, even if it's just for the sake of practice and to test our market value.
She used herself as a shining example. She practised that and proudly proclaimed her success in progressing into offer stages with a company (or a few companies...I couldn't recall exactly).
However, as she was just testing her market value and had no genuine interest in leaving her current job, she declined those offer(s).
Photo credit: memecrunch
Back then, I did not agree with her approach. Even now with the benefit of hindsight, my view remains resolute that her approach was neither ethical nor professional.
While I get that her intention might be good i.e. getting the unconfident undergraduates that we were to exit our comfort/fear zones, it can end tragically if the recruiter realises he or she has been played out by a candidate that had never intended to join the company.
The natural next step is for the recruiter to notify the hiring team and the candidate will be blacklisted for future hiring opportunities, despite being qualified.
Don't get me wrong - it is perfectly fine to go through interviews before you're certain that it is the right company for you. That is the purpose of an interview.
What is not alright is advancing all the way to the offer stage, with the sole agenda of wanting to find out your market value, rather than sincerely working towards an offer acceptance.
On a somewhat similar note, I have encountered a candidate who was solely using an offer I extended to obtain a counter-offer - with no intention of leaving her current employer.
This is a huge taboo you should avoid committing as a candidate as well.
Recruiter's pet peeve #2: Using skewed, biased or unjustifiable data for negotiation
As shared in my previous blog post, one of my greatest professional pet peeves is reasoning with candidates that negotiate using skewed or biased data.
It shows a lack of integrity both in the data AND the person presenting it.
This can be easily overcome by using free online tools as outlined in my previous blog post. Do check out the post if you have yet to!
Recruiter's pet peeve #3: Reneging an offer acceptance
Reneging means going back on a promise.
To withdraw an offer acceptance is a great taboo if not handled well by the candidate.
This is so especially if one has already given a written commitment via signing the employment letter, either digitally or hard copy.
There are reasons for reneging an offer and any of these could be valid, if it is handled and communicated well by the candidate.
Examples:
- Unforeseen health, personal or family issues rendering one unfit to assume the new opportunity
- Accepting a better offer that came later. BUT, do be prepared to face possible penalty according to contractual obligations with the existing offer you've accepted in writing.
- You've received reliable industry news of a company's instability, impending liquidation, merger or acquisition, etc. that decreased your confidence in the company's long term stability and growth if you join them.
- Accepting a counter-offer
The key, as I've mentioned, is in communicating the reasons clearly and respectfully to the company you are withdrawing from, ensuring that you bring damage of the burning bridge down to the minimum.
The consequence of not doing so will be the lack of potential future opportunities to rejoin the same employer, because such a track record now exists in their system.
Usually, recruiters keep track of such incidents in a centralised applicants' tracking system (ATS) on the offered candidate's profile for future reference.
Final Words
I hope the above gives you deeper insights on key behaviours to avoid committing if you are an offered candidate.
Never burn bridges with your current or prospective future employers. If you decide to take the risk, ensure that you do whatever it takes to cushion the impact and minimise the damage.
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