Got an offer, don't know if I want to accept

[yankeeyosh]

As some of you know, I got a job offer yesterday. I should be thrilled given all the complaining I've done in the last two years, but my emotions are tempered simply because of the salary...one of my goals was to get a new job, but I also wanted a notably higher salary...one more in line with my peers and the industry standard. The salary they offered me is $5k more than what I am making now, but I still think I'm being lowballed. After trying to negotiate, they offered me a generous sign-on bonus. However, I really would have preferred it going into a base salary, since once the bonus is spent, you don't see it again. Also, unlike most companies I've seen, they don't offer year end bonuses.

The problem is that I have been on sixteen face to face interviews, and this is the only offer I got. I don't want to spend another year trying for another job that may never come. The people I would be working with are very nice and were really excited to meet me last week. It's a much more laid back company, and there is probably more room for advancement. If it was a few thousand more, I would have been much happier, but I just hate going into a new job realizing that I'm stuck with this salary that is once again on the low side. I do have two more interviews I am awaiting the results for, but I am assuming I wind up here.

I don't want to sound spoiled, but I just want a fair deal.

[flowerpotpot]

You said you've been complaining for two years now.. the offer is 5k more than what you're making.. plus the "generous sign-on bonus." Not to mention the laid back atmosphere.

In case you haven't noticed, a lot of people on this board is also looking and finding it difficult to get any offer.

Stop complaining and accept already.

[arrow]

If you really need the extra money next year, go ahead and look for a new job then. If there really is room for advancement, maybe you will be advancing by then. It sounds like you've got a great "bird-in-hand" and you may regret it if you don't take the offer. At any rate, it's better than your current position all around.

I am in a similar position to you. I already turned down one offer and kind of regretted it for a little while, and I'm heading for more i-views, all of which I'm not sure about since I have another dangling carrot at my current job (I was told by a high-level executive/mentor that there may be something in the works for me soon, but a "maybe" isn't a guarantee). It's tough, trying to maneuver the job market and work out what's best for you, because you don't have all the information you'd like to make those decisions. You kind of have to guess, and that's not going to change.

[yankeeyosh]

You said you've been complaining for two years now.. the offer is 5k more than what you're making.. plus the "generous sign-on bonus." Not to mention the laid back atmosphere.

In case you haven't noticed, a lot of people on this board is also looking and finding it difficult to get any offer.

Stop complaining and accept already.

Why am I complaining? I only want what is fair. If you take an offer and then find out that you could have had something better that paid you 5-10k more, I don't think you would have been too thrilled about it. I know for a fact that in this town, what I was offered is about 5k less than the average. So why should I be satisfied when I know *if* I wait and eventually get a yes, I could get more? You're stuck with this salary scale for a couple of years, so your standard of living is totally dictated by the offer. It's all timing, and sometimes it may not work in your favor.

I am in a similar position to you. I already turned down one offer and kind of regretted it for a little while, and I'm heading for more i-views, all of which I'm not sure about since I have another dangling carrot at my current job (I was told by a high-level executive/mentor that there may be something in the works for me soon, but a "maybe" isn't a guarantee). It's tough, trying to maneuver the job market and work out what's best for you, because you don't have all the information you'd like to make those decisions. You kind of have to guess, and that's not going to change.

That's very similar. I spoke with a VP and he said he would try to get me into his department, but it may never happen.

[Bsig84]

You said you've been complaining for two years now.. the offer is 5k more than what you're making.. plus the "generous sign-on bonus." Not to mention the laid back atmosphere.

In case you haven't noticed, a lot of people on this board is also looking and finding it difficult to get any offer.

Stop complaining and accept already.

Ok that was a little harsh. He is not complaining about this offer. He is just asking for a little help. Give him a break.

Anyway, if it is a position that you think you would enjoy, go for it! If you still aren't satisfied with the salary after a while, you can start looking for another job and then you will have even more experience than you have now. I took the first and only job offer I had even though the salary was way below what I thought I deserved. I am sticking with it so that I can get my Masters and then look for another higher-paying job. At least I will come out of if with valuable experience. I think if you turned this job offer down, you would be taking a big risk, but this is up to you. Go with your gut on this one! Good luck!

[yankeeyosh]

Ok that was a little harsh. He is not complaining about this offer. He is just asking for a little help. Give him a break.

Anyway, if it is a position that you think you would enjoy, go for it! If you still aren't satisfied with the salary after a while, you can start looking for another job and then you will have even more experience than you have now. I took the first and only job offer I had even though the salary was way below what I thought I deserved. I am sticking with it so that I can get my Masters and then look for another higher-paying job. At least I will come out of if with valuable experience. I think if you turned this job offer down, you would be taking a big risk, but this is up to you. Go with your gut on this one! Good luck!

Thank you...I appreciate the support. I was actually thinking of deleting this thread because I felt I was offending others.

As I said, I like the place and the people. My commute will be much shorter, and the environment is not as stuffy. The base salary is really the only major stumbling point since I think I can do better somewhere else. It's not that I will be broke on this salary...I can probably even afford a small condo in the suburbs. But why settle on something when you can do better? The problem is that you never know when another "yes" will come.

Another issue is that I actually really like catastrophe modeling, but not really in the role I am in now. If I was in more of a research role, that would be ideal. This is not a cat modeling job (although it is in the same industry), and I fear that if I take this, I can never return to cat modeling again if I choose. Last Thursday's R. I. i-view and tomorrow's Chicago i-view are more on that level, so an offer from one of those could make this moot. But even if I get rejected, if I wait a few months, there might be another cat modeling position that would really suit my interests. The only problem is that there aren't too many cat modeling jobs out there right now...maybe one pops up every week or two....

[SpaceMonkey]

I think you should take it. It's clearly better for you in the short-term, and I think getting away from the negative attitude about your current job should be your primary goal right now. You never know how things will turn out down the road, so I would resist the urge to over-analyze how this will impact your career direction, cat-modeling or otherwise. You wrote that it's in the same industry, so, although I'm not very knowledgeable about your field by any means, it seems logical to me that you could still make a parallel jump to cat-modeling down the road, especially if you stay engaged in that area outside of your 9-5 job (are there conferences or things like that you could go to?).

[Bsig84]

I see what you are saying. I guess if I was in that situation (which I kinda was) I would accept the job and then keep looking for something that was exactly what I wanted. That way, you would still be making more money at a job you enjoyed (and is better than your current job) and you could take your time and really look for that "perfect" job! Just because you take this new job doesn't mean you can't keep looking or never go back to what you are really interested in.

[Jabberwocky]

Almost the same thing happen to me last week. I got an offer for a good chunk of change more than what I'm making now but I thought that they were still low balling me. I was a bit insulted and turned it down on the spot. In retrospect I was a little too hasty. I should have went along with it and asked the recruiter if there was any chance they could make me a better offer, then take the offer to current current employer t see if they would counter.

Sign on bonuses are nice if they are unconditional. Some companies tie it to your staying for X amount of time and that can be annoying. Especially if you end up at a really bad company and want to leave.

As for the person who said you were on a high horse, I would ignore them. If you were desperate, then you can't be picky, but you have a job so you can afford to be picky. other people being desperate has nothing to do with your situation. It would not look good on a resume to switch companies, if I were in the same shoes (and I kind of am), I would wait until I get an offer that I'm sure to be satisfied with for at least another year.

[spokes]

negotiating the best deal for yourself is important - and the best time to do that is before you start.

if you could provide them with some real data on compensation then that might be useful to bolster your argument. alternatively would you be open to other forms of compensation, i.e. flex days/more holidays or do you really want the ca$h?

[yankeeyosh]

negotiating the best deal for yourself is important - and the best time to do that is before you start.

if you could provide them with some real data on compensation then that might be useful to bolster your argument. alternatively would you be open to other forms of compensation, i.e. flex days/more holidays or do you really want the ca$h?

They cannot neg base salary...they said there was something having to do with equity or something that prohibited them from negotiating. They gave me the bonus and two extra vacation days, which is fair. But again, I prefer additional pay over a sign-on because it helps the cash flow.

[yankeeyosh]

Some news...the hiring manager is willing to do a six month review, which is not done too often at this company per HR (usually it's annual). So that really shows two things: a) I can probably get a bump in pay earlier, and b) they really think highly of me.

[arrow]

I'd take it! It sounds like a winner and a ticket out of where you are now.

[winneythepooh7]

I would take it. As you know Mark, I recently was in a situation where I needed to find a new job. I thought I'd be offered higher salaries given my education and having 10 years of working experience in my field. If anything, I was offered salaries starting at 10-15k less than I am making now. My starting salary at the new job was only a couple thousand more a year than what I was already making. It was an advancement though, and there was no guarantee that I would find something better than that anytime soon.

You can always leave a place later on down the road if something better comes along, so I say if things suck as much as you say the do, move on to this opportunity.

[TinyDancer]

Okay, ignore the comment about complaining. . . I don't see it as that at all. You have goals, and you're weighing out pros and cons. It's not an easy thing.

It sounds like this is a much better environment. I would hate to see you miss out on this opportunity holding out for something that may or may not materialize. Yes, it's not the money that you wanted. . . but the review sounds promising.

I think only you can really make this decision. . . but it sounds like a good thing, and I'm really happy for you regardless!

[awhitmer83]

Just wanted to say I know where you're coming from. I just accepted a position that pays more than I make now, but still not what I should be making. It is also a more laid back environment with a group of people I'll like. I was very torn about what to do - I despise my current job, but I kept thinking maybe I could interview more and find something that pays more.

In the end, I decided that happiness and challenging (not impossible) work is more important to me than money. I'll actually be making nearly 5k less than I did at my FIRST job out of school, but the opportunities for advancement are better and the benefits are great. If I'm happier at work, maybe I won't spend so much money on the weekends trying to escape the hell of the work week.

Good luck with your decision, Mark. It's never easy, but only you know what is the best option for you. Congrats on the offer either way - I know it's been a long time coming!

[koolkat1980]

Who's to say that any other jobs are going to be better or worse! All jobs have their pros and cons!

Unless you are 100% sure you don't want it.

[Rage]

Dude, take the job. It sounds like it's what you want. You could always think of the base salary as a nice raise.

I was in the same situation as you. Sometimes people get caught up in the ego of what they think they should be making. As you know, there are a number of factors that contribute to salary. I remember one company telling me that they just didn't have any more room in the budget to expand the offer. I didn't take it, but that was also 20K less than I thought I should be offered. This job I just accepted offered me 10K less than I was thinking I would be offered based on talking with friends and doing research (figures I got from research were all over the map and didn't help much), but the benefits are amazing from what I've seen and it made up for the difference. Plus, I wanted to get back into a certain niche I had been ignoring for a year and I REALLY want out of my current job, so it is a good move for me.

As others have suggested - you can always use the opportunity as a stepping stone to other things. The big thing is to show forward progression, right? In short, I'd try not to get hung up on the base salary. Look at the whole package and the position, and then think about the job search you've had and where you are now. I think you'll see the wisdom in accepting the offer.