TODO
Example:
Hi John,
I thought over your offer and that's what I've got in the end: I was totally excited about the whole process of interviews and I must say your team has a great experience in doing technical interviews.
It was difficult for me to make a final decision Probably, I have to decline this job offer due to several reasons:
- Salary expectations
That's almost as much as I am making right now working in the office and I would rather expect a higher salary when switching to remote.
- Immaturity
I believe you are looking for someone more mature in terms of making decisions. I feel like I still need a lot of mentoring, pair programming sessions, etc to become stand-alone. Talking about that, it seems better for me to stay in the office for some more time here in Lviv.
What I want to add is that I highly appreciate your time and an offer itself and I would really like to stay in touch in order to arrange possible collaboration further - probably in a half of a year I will be ready to start working 100% remotely. Thank you for your consideration.
BR, Dmytro.
- Always keep the door open - give employer an opportunity to affect your decision by changing the variables - salary, flexibility of schedule, etc. Always leave an opportunity to continue negotiating. You must become a master of verbal karate to keep this communication clear and understandable. I believe, clearing your concerns is the best thing you can do during the negotiating process and let employer satisfy these concerns.
- Spread the positive vibe - keep your communication positive and stay excited about each offer you get. That's extremely important when you are able to show your attitude so employer can notice one more time your general ability to work in team and spread positive vibes and inspire everyone. There are a lot of shitty offers - there is nothing to it. But once you start negotiating you will be able to improve an offer by showing your professional skills of communication which is highly valuable at any level. In the end, current offer might be based on some limitations of customer and project, but only if you were able to impress employer with such professional offer decline, you will be first in line when these limitations will be weakened.
- Remember: your goal is to give way. You must be beatable in negotiation. It's not a challenge which you must win and always up the stakes. The best you can do is to give company a clear path how to get you working for them: salary N, working schedule of X hours/month, library at the office, technical meetups Y times a year, shower, Z displays, etc. Try to stop this bullshit game you might think of. That's not a game - that's business with risks and business people try to calculate everything. Give them this chance.
Let's go on and see how the conversation from example could be continued.
Hi Dmytro,
Thanks for your quick reply.
Btw, the salary offered was based on your ask. Were you expecting a higher salary? We can start at this salary point, but as you prove your mantle, raise it based on performance.
The ideal candidate is always a mythical creature; but we are perfectly ok taking someone junior, but with the correct core competencies; intelligence and motivations; and raise him to the levels we want.
I really think the project is sexy, and the team is already full of mature developers that you would both learn and contribute a lot.
Making a decision is always difficult and if all your concerns are the ones listed; we can find a solution here that makes you feel better. I think it is better to start at a position where you can demonstrate growth. It would have been much more difficult to show progress if you were a senior person as we would have had higher expectations from you. We really want to invest into your future; because we feel like you will definitely grow and become a high performer.
I've asked Igor to contact you and talk with you; I would appreciate if you can give him the opportunity to understand your concerns and maybe find a resolution that makes you happy.
Here you can see the example of great negotiation applied. Employer has each and every concern about negotiation in mind and he keeps his communication clear, leaving you with one and only message - What should we do to have you join us?
Most of the time, such negotiation leads to accepting offer.
Hi John,
I've thought this through - wasn't easy however.
On Friday I will have a talk with our CEO, that will define how much time I need to spend finishing on those things I'm working right now. Probably, I will be offered to have hourly rate and become a contractor there for some time to share knowledge with developers who will replace me. However, I assure you, this won't affect my availability. I would say I'm looking forward to start working fulltime with your team on Jun 18. I would really appreciate an opportunity to get to know team even before that date. Please, let me know whether you need some paperwork or additional information about me beforehand.
Thanks for an opportunity, I'm in :)
What you need to know about negotiation an offer is that transparency is the key - keep things clear and let employer understand your concerns. Once you do that, the path is clear and they will raise initial salary (usually +- 500$/month doesn't make much difference), adjust your schedule, give you more vacation days, etc.