Got a low ball offer from firm A. Not going to take it but I want to leverage that into an offer at firm B. Have a callback at firm B on Monday Any advice for how to do this? My idea is to mention the offer to the HR woman and make sure she knows that I’m “deciding” but I don’t want to make it seem like they can just blow me off.
If they ask what the offer is for, DO NOT give up the number. My suggestion would be to say that it came in at market rate for this position, and, given that the position with YOUR firm (the one you want the offer from) has increased responsibilities, etc. it is your opinion that said firm should offer a somewhat higher rate than the previous offer to entice you to take that role. Or something tempered to the situation, given that they haven’t made an offer to you yet. I guess just go with the “market rate” quote if they ask for a number. Is the callback a meeting with just HR? Wouldn’t you be past that point if it is a second/third interview? Definitely mention it to anyone whom you interview with that you are considering taking the offer, but would prefer to work with YOUR firm, given that the opportunities for growth are better and the firm has such a strong reputation, etc. blah blah blah. Work it into conversation - it is the strongest tool you have to get them to give you an offer.
mcthorp Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > If they ask what the offer is for, DO NOT give up > the number. My suggestion would be to say that it > came in at market rate for this position, and, > given that the position with YOUR firm (the one > you want the offer from) has increased > responsibilities, etc. it is your opinion that > said firm should offer a somewhat higher rate than > the previous offer to entice you to take that > role. Or something tempered to the situation, > given that they haven’t made an offer to you yet. > I guess just go with the “market rate” quote if > they ask for a number. > > Is the callback a meeting with just HR? Wouldn’t > you be past that point if it is a second/third > interview? Definitely mention it to anyone whom > you interview with that you are considering taking > the offer, but would prefer to work with YOUR > firm, given that the opportunities for growth are > better and the firm has such a strong reputation, > etc. blah blah blah. Work it into conversation - > it is the strongest tool you have to get them to > give you an offer. It’s a callback.
If it gets to the point where it looks like company A might offer you the job, then certainly bring up the fact that you’ve also interviewed elsewhere and were offered a position in company B. Say you’d prefer the position in company A because their company is just great and you’d fit in so well there and would be able to offer so much to the company while coming in to work every day with a smile on your face yadda yadda yadda. You know - the ususal interview schmooze. Then leave it up to them to make you an offer. I’d advice against telling them a firm number. Just say something like it was a good offer from company B at a premium to your current level. So if you’re currently on $40k, let them start worrying that you might have an offer of $50k plus in. Then if they want you, they’ll shoot higher to be safe. I did something along those lines when I interviewed for my current position and got a good offer. Of course that was in a pre-Lehman’s world when firms were still hiring and good employees weren’t a dime a dozen. Still, if you’ve got one offer in this market already and another in the works, you must have some skills they find desirable so you should leverage that as much as you can.