What to do
I have been faced with a rather difficult situation and I need advice on how to negotiate pay. I spent nine years in the US Army and just recently separated. My pay with benefits (cost of living allowances) was roughly $4600 a month before taxes and deductions. Which is about $52,000 a year. After taxes I was bringing home about $3600. I have been offered a new job with the government and the pay band is $45,000 to $55,000. Being that I have never worked in the government system I was told they will try to bring you on board at the very bottom which to me is considerably way less than what I was making 6 months ago. I was also told that I have room to negotiate my salary but they will only go so far. My monthly expenses are still the same as before and starting at the bottom of the pay scale for that position will cause me to struggle with my finances. In order to maintain my household, I need to make as close to $50k as possible but that will increase the step they will have to offer me to make the pay....I am just afraid they won't do that. So what do I do?
You're moving into a totally different system. Unlike the miltary where your pay is based on grade, you're going to a job where your pay is based on your value to the organization. Although the way government jobs work is closer to the military in some respects than private industry would be, you're going to have to switch gears. So, regardless of what you made before and regardless of what you need for your household, the real question is- what are you worth to the employer? Do you have skills and abilities that THEY feel are worth $52K a year or not? If not, then you're going to have to build up to where you want to be or get skills and abilities that are worth that much somewhere. If you do have them, then you might need to pass on this job and look for one that agrees with you on that value. Keep in mind, however, that you don't have a job now and it might be a while before another opportunity comes along. It is unlikely that they will bring you in above the mid-point (if they'll even go that high). Government jobs (as a rule) are not particularly flexible in salary and usually calculate their offer on a very stringent and quantifiable set of criteria. Things like: We'll throw in $1K more if he's got a degree. $2K if he's done X, Y and Z... "I used to make $52K and I need that much to get by" is not going to cut it. So, if you have experience, courses, education and skills that they haven't considered, you can bring that up when you see what offer they have in mind and see if you can get bumped up a bit. Tess I'd at least pursue this as far as it will go. I can't imagine that they'll offer you a salary that's a dime above $50K, and what you're actually offered will depend on how closely your actual qualifications match the book's definition of the requirements of the job that comes closest to describing your qualifications. Let this play out and see what sort of offer you receive. If it's closer to $45K than $50K you can always ask if the offer is negotiable, but you'd also better be prepared to point out just how your qualifications for the job match the requirements of the job. Make sense? Paul W. Barada The Negotiation Expert | |
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