I want to caution all you monkeys about negotiating when receiving an offer. While if executed correctly it can add more salary, more vacation, or a signing bonus to the pay package, it could also get the offer rescinded in the blink of an eye. This is my experience of having an offer rescinded a few months ago.
A quick background on my work experience: I have been a credit analyst since March 2010 in my bank’s real estate division. For the last 6 months I have been looking to make the jump into a boutique or middle market real estate investing/acquisitions firm. I’ve had a fair amount of interviews in the past few months.
I applied online to a boutique CRE investing, leasing, and management firm and received a call back within a few days. The HR rep and I scheduled an agreed upon phone interview. Prior to the interview I was very confident, but didn’t really find a lot on the company itself since it is private. Interview questions were all fit and I easily answered them satisfactorily. I was invited to a face to face interview with the controller and the senior analyst. I hit it off with both of them and nailed all their fit questions. About an hour after the interview I received a call from the HR rep. I assumed it was to schedule another interview, but it was actually to give me an offer. I asked for 3 days to decide on it and they agreed.
I decided since they gave me an offer so fast that they really liked what I had to offer and I’d probably be able to negotiate a bit... The morning my answer was due, I countered with a 7% increase in salary and a starting date of 3 weeks after. I based my counter with salary statistics I could find along with my experience and the bonus I would lose since I would be leaving my current firm before year end. She emailed me back promptly and said that was the best they could do. I then let her know I was ok on the salary, but would rather give 2 ½ weeks notice since I am currently working on a project transitioning part of my portfolio. About an hour later the HR rep called me and told me the CFO decided to rescind the offer. I got her to admit it was due to negotiating.
Lessons learned:
- This is an employer’s market, be very careful!
- I should have known that considering this firm was a “1920s” conservative style firm that this was a take it or decline it offer
- I didn’t let this get me down, I have to remain confident.
- You are always replaceable early in your career.
I’d be happy to answer any questions. I’m not an expert, this is just my experience. Also, I won’t answer questions related to salary/bonus numbers and specific firms.
pm'd
Be glad you dodged that bullet. You came back with an honest ask and accepted the job when she told you it was the best they could do. The fact you asked for additional time to help your current employer shows the kind of employee you are.
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Had a similar situation, I was talking to a hiring manager and when I pushed a sign on of $5k to cover relocation during final round ... the guy prompted with how tons of qualified people are in line for the job. He asked me if I knew how many. I said hundreds. Didn't even get an offer as I tried to get a fucking sign on to move to NYC. Meh.
If they had so many qualified people for the job, why were they reaching out to you when you were not a local candidate?
I'm thinking that unless they explicitly said, "We are extremely particular about somebody starting on [Date X]," then it's fine to go with the customary 2 weeks notice and not burn any bridges. Were they very firm with establishing the start date?
After my initial counteroffer email, she said the start date would be in 2 weeks. I then asked if there was anyway I could get an additional couple days to finalize the project I am working on, but I added that I accept the offer either way. I was quite shocked at the offer being rescinded.
Two weeks seems standard so I dont see anything wrong with it. If the CFO had big issue with that then....... just imagine what he would be come bonus time.
2.5 Weeks is a bit over but only .5 weeks I dont think that would be a deal breaker. Definitely a weird situation.
The only thing I can think is the immediate offer right after means they didnt want to wait 2 weeks.
Excellent and really informative post. I was surprised that they rescinded your offer rather than just say the offer was non-negotiable. After all salary, vacation time, etc. are important considerations for everyone (including the firm's CFO) not sure why he reacted so harshly.
Furthermore, you are coming in as a lateral hire rather than a fresh graduate starting in an analyst program for which there is no negotiation. I would not be surprised if your would-be CFO did not negotiate his offer when he was on the other side of the table.
I think you are lucky because you do not really want to work for a firm like this. Comp and other benefits are important for everyone, wonder if they go and fire their employees who ask for a promotion.
^^I honestly never even thought of that. Huh, now that has me thinkin...
Hmm...maybe it would have better to negotiate over the phone so your intent doesn't get lost in translation. It's 20/20 hindsight now, but that probably got lost in the back and forth between HR and the CFO. Honestly, if it's a great new offer, customary 2 weeks should be more than enough time for you to finish up with your old firm. But that's just me.
Sounds a little ridiculous to me; its probably not a firm you want to be at if this is how they conduct their hiring process.
Agree. Doesn't seem like you were overly ridiculous, so that is surprising. Maybe they had someone else ready to go at the same time and saw that if you were slightly unhappy about the offer they'd just take the guy who was completely satisfied with it?
This sounds most likely to me. Starting a half week later than they wanted, so come in Wednesday instead of Monday? Doesn't sound like much of a deal breaker unless they didn't want to wait two weeks in the first place.
Sounds like you dodged a bullet.
Thanks for the comments guys. I made this post as a request to share my story as a cautionary tale to the younger monkeys. I wasn't too enthused about the firm anyway, so really not a huge loss.
I would just say that you should almost always negotiate (once you are no longer entry-level).
I'm not talking about asking for anything ridiculous, but ask for reasonable increases to perks/benefits/sign-on bonuses. Usually, they say yes or they say no, but not very often do they rescind offers. The situation of the OP is not that common.
As a hiring manager at a firm that focuses on deal-making, I would want employees that have the will to negotiate. I might say no, but I certainly would not rescind an offer over it (unless the negotiating skills were just terrible). And as a potential employee, I would want my future boss to be more open to playing ball as well.
So I disagree about cautioning everyone on negotiating offers; I promote it.
Thanks for the response and inside feeling of a hiring manager.
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