losing 10 days vacationsI received a call on Wednesday from a staffing agency looking for a staffing manager to work at one of their locations. This is a direct hire position. Since I have been looking for a new job anyway because I am not happy with what I am doing, I set up an interview for Friday because it sounded like something I would be interested in doing. The interview went great. I was asked what my salary requirements where and I made the mistake of saying that I would need at least 50K to take the job. I know now that I should have stated a range. That is not what bothers me now. After the interview I started wondering what the benefits information for the job was because we didn't get a chance to talk about this. The first lady that called me was a corporate recruiter and was not the person that I interviewed with. This same lady called me to find out how the interview went. I told her that I thought it went well and that I had gone on their website and saw that they offered benefits like 401k and holidays. One of my questions was in regards to PTO. She said she would e-mail me the info so I could look it over. After looking over the benefits information I found that they only offer 12 days of vacation each year. At my current job I get 22 days a year. This is a 10 day difference. My question is should I bring this up and ask for more money beings that I will be losing this time. 50k is already about 17% more then what I’m making now 43k. Also I already give them my requirement and was told that this should not be a problem. I'm not sure what to do now. I really like this new job. I have not received an official offer yet but I expect to be getting one any day. Should I just keep my mouth shut and get over it? I know that I was very lucky to get that much PTO at my current job and that this is not the norm. Please help!
You simply cannot expect to change jobs from one at which you've been for some time, or one that offers exceptional benefits, and get that kind of time off... It's unrealistic. If the time is more important to you than the money, stay where you are until you can find a job that offers the equivalent PTO as you have now. And 12 days of vacation in the first year is more than most companies offer--it's usually 10 days (2 weeks). If you end up getting a $7,000 increase, that more than makes up for the 10-day difference if you are calculating hours actually worked vs. pay. You'd still be making over $100/week more. Also, are you comparing total PTO, or just vacation time? Make sure you match the time up apples to apples. Do you now have 22 days of vacation plus personal days, sick days, etc.? Or 22 days total PTO? With the other job, is it 12 days total PTO, or 12 days of vacation plus those other things? Also look at their holidays--there can be a very big difference in the number of holidays you are paid for from one job to another. Regardless, for that kind of increase, if you are unhappy with your current job, and get this offer, I'd take it if I were you and would not negotiate more pay as a tradeoff for less time off--you're already getting that in a 17% increase!!!!!! The experts here (and I am not one) recommend a 10 to 15% increase to switch jobs--you're at more than that if you get the $50k. Don't get greedy. Thanks I think I just needed some conformation that I'm doing the right thing. Its a little scarry to be leaving a job that I have been at for over 8 years. Actually the 22 days is total PTO. At this new job its 12 vacation days and 5 sick days. So I guess I'm really getting 17 days a year. (not that I would use the sick time unless I was in fact really sick). You start to accrue your time once you start at 1 day per month Vac and .4 sick days a month. So at first I won't get any time. Not that I'm expecting to be taking any time off for the first 6 or so months. Of course it's scary to be thinking about leaving a job you've been at for 8 years--understandable! But, sometimes leaving your comfort zone is the only way to spread your wings and grow! I hope it comes through for you, and really, when you think about it, losing 5 paid days per year for a $7,000 increase in salary ain't such a bad deal after all! Best of luck! Since you're going to probably be offered a 17% increase, and since you don't like your present job, I don't think I'd rock the boat by trying to squeeze more paid days off from this employer. Were you to try and negotiate another 10 paid days off, think how that might sound to the prospective employer. What you'd be asking is to receive pay for NOT working another two week per year. That probably would not sit well with the prospective employer since you're already getting more than two weeks off with pay from the beginning. Asking to be paid not to work isn't the best way to land a job you want. Paul W. Barada The Negotiation Expert | |
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