RE: Salary, Negotiation, and Salary Requirement/Total Compensation

Subject: RE: Salary, Negotiation, and Salary Requirement/Total Compensation
From: Andrew Warren <awarren -at- synaptics -dot- com>
To: TECHWR-L Administrator <admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com>, "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:13:16 -0800

TECHWR-L Administrator [admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com] wrote:

> When you are interviewing for a job, and someone asks you how much
> you are looking for, do you give them a salary requirement or a total
> compensation?

Short answer: Salary requirement, of course.

Longer answer: After asking for every detail about all the benefits,
smiling and nodding and looking pleasantly surprised, then appearing
to do some mental calculations figuring the value of those benefits...
And THEN I'd give my salary requirement.

> When you are interviewing a candidate FOR a job, and you ask them
> how much they are looking for, are you expecting a salary requirement
> or a total compensation?

Salary, of course.

> If $20,000 extra per year is going to be that major a concern,
> should I just start running now?

You're anonymous, so I don't know where you are and I only have a
small clue as to the industry you're in... But even if you're here in
Silicon Valley where techwriters can make $100K, $20K is a lot of
money.

If I advised you to run, it wouldn't be because of the importance
the company places on saving $20K. Rather, it'd be because your
interviewer was so dishonest as to pretend that he thought you
were giving your "total compensation" requirements when he knew
perfectly well that you were talking only about the salary. I'd
expect someone like that to be unpleasant to work for.

> Do you have any suggestions for handling this?

If you don't run, I'd suggest doing some math: Figure out exactly
what this employer's benefits are worth to you. Don't forget about
the portion of your self-employment tax that they'll be covering,
and try to realistically calculate the value of their health insurance;
if you're young and healthy, it'll be worth a lot less to you than if
you're not.

If I understand correctly, the company's willing to pay $20K per year
for those benefits. If the benefits are worth less than that to you,
the company would save money by keeping you on as a contractor
at a rate equivalent to your desired salary plus the value to you of
their benefits.

If the benefits are actually worth more than $20K to you, the
employment offer is better than it first seemed; even though the
salary is lower than you thought you needed, you could end up
ahead of the game if you accepted the offer...

But seriously, you don't want to work for this weasel.

-Andrew
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FWD: Salary, Negotiation, and Salary Requirement/Total Compensation: From: TECHWR-L Administrator

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