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by credit_guy 604 days ago
Just today a recruiter called me and told me about a job that I think could be a good fit for me, and I do intend to interview for that.

I hate negotiations. So I'll be frank. I was already frank with the recruiter today: I love my current job, on Mondays I can't wait to get to work. Moving to another company entails risk. I need to be compensated for that risk, so I don't intend to even interview if they can't offer me at least a 20% raise. Many think that this becomes the ceiling rather than the floor. But if I get the offer, I'll simply tell the guys that I am an honest person, and I don't play games, and I would appreciate them not playing games either. More precisely, I tell them that I am not interviewing with them in order to get leverage for a raise at my current job (lots of people do that). But, if my current company will make me a counteroffer, I will accept it and I stop there. I do not want to be the subject of a bidding war ( * ). In other words, they have only one opportunity to make an offer. The should think twice about making a low-ball offer.

That's it. That's my non-negotiation tactic.

( * ) Why not let people bid on your compensation? Because word leaks out. The new colleagues at the new company will think "who does this guy think he is?". I need to work with these guys, and I don't want to start from this position. The colleagues at the old company will think "what a prima donna". Plus, I think it's a better position from a game theory point of view, a-la Thomas Shelling. I did not study game theory, so I have no idea if this is true, but it's not impossible. More importantly, I just find the idea quite distateful. Other people might find it flattering, but to me it's just gross.

1 comments

HR really likes folks like you, because you're selling your services at a discount.

I got one FAANG to increase their offer to 2.5 times the original amount. I'm fine with taking a bit of heat from the team if I get paid that much.

If you got an offer bumped up by 2.5x, was the original one above your current comp? If it was below, then it was a total low-ball, but if it was above, it follows that you tolerated being underpaid at your job. By maybe a factor of 3. Are you sure you are in a position to give salary negotiation advice?
The original offer was about 50% above my current comp.

Sure I was underpaid, but that's life working for a startup run by a friend.

After this situation, I heard of several situations where this company generally starts low and can go high.