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Discussion

have you ever countered an initial salary offer

I was reading- my usual...there was an article about job interviews for nurses. The article mentioned not to take the first offered salary. I was dumbfounded! I have never thought about countering an offer- or maybe, because I usually worked 'premium', meaning their top offered salary with no benefits what-so-ever. Have any of you countered? I am curious- might help me when I return to work, someday! Also, do males counter more than women? Males still earn about 6% more than the same position that a female nurse has.

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I haven't in nursing but I have twice in job negotiations which got me MUCH higher pay than they were offering.

One job, they offered ten to start after telling me all my duties, and I said that I felt the job description was pretty intense and my skills were excellent and I felt worth more than $10 an hour. I ended up with $15 an hour to start!

Another, I was again offered ten, and stated that job duties, and travel (I lived pretty far away) made it impossible to accept anything less than $14, and I got it! I took the lower wage as they paid 100% medical and dental (Great coverage too!) for me and family, profit sharing, 4 wks paid vacation, and week between Christmas and New Years was also off paid as well as profit sharing and retirement and other great benefits you rarely see around here.

I guess if you can negotiate, and state your case you are likely to get it. I had no problems with it, and I think I was better respected knowing my own worth and understanding what was being asked of me. The first time I did it, I was shocked I did it, I have no idea where that came from inside me, but I felt really, really good afterwards!! And hey, it got me a great boost in salary right out of the gate!

I have also seen people negotiate to have benefits start sooner or have them cover your cobra payments until theirs kicks in. I think this may be harder in a large facility though.

oh- males ask for more, and get it, There is a book on why women need to ask for more but I can't think of the title.

The only person I know that negotiated did it for vacation pay. The person was up to four weeks of vacation in the job they had and said they couldn't accept the new job and go back to two weeks. They got the four weeks vacation from the new employers plus the pay raise and improved benefits at the new job.

Yes, I have, and I was successful in getting more money.

Always try. All they can do is tell you no and then you can decide if you're willing to work for their offered pay.

Remember that they are not the only ones doing the interviewing! You are as well... and their pay and benefits package is part of what you have to consider.

I have never countered myself when I have been interviewed for a position. But, when I am interviewing nurses now, it seems like more and more of them are trying to counter what i have offered. I sit with a range I can offer nurses based on experience and I have to weight what my current staff is making also. I do offer higher to those that ask and have had a good interview. It is the ones that coem in and act like they are entitled and expect me to deliver everything on a platter that I do not offer more.

  • Expert

It rarely hurts to ask ... but whether or not you will be successful depends on the circumstances. Most hospitals have standard pay packages for jobs in which many people do the same job (such as staff nurse). If they pay some people more than others for doing the same work, it will cuase bad morale, competition, and resentment among the staff. So, they have a standard pay scale based on reasonably objective factors such as years of experience.

Think about it ... How would you feel if your coworker (with less experience than you) got paid more just because the manager liked their looks or personality more? Can you imagine the bad staff relationships that would result from a situation like that? That's why hospitals have standard compensation packages.

However, sometimes you can negotiate to have your experience counted in a way to benefit you -- so that you get a slightly higher "standard salary level." For example a half a year of employment could be rounded up rather than down ... experience as an LPN can be fully counted ... etc. You can often negotiate for some unpaid time off to be taken before you are entitled to use vacation time ... or something special in your schedule or orientation or something.

It's a lot easier to negotiate if you are applying for a position that it is unique, rather than a standard position in which a lot of people hold the same job. The employer can look at it as a single business decision and not have to deal with as many negative consequences from other employees who might resent the special deal being negotiated.

So, if you are going to negotiate, you have to do your homework ahead of time and think it through carefully. Asking for "the moon" will only make you look foolish in the eyes of the employer -- and that won't help your cause. You also don't want to risk a positive relationship with the employer by being unreasonable in your negotiating.

If you're going to play the game, you need to play it well. Playing it badly can cuase you trouble.

I have tried twice.. and lost... I won't try it a third time. I lost two jobs I wanted because of this.

  • Expert
I have tried twice.. and lost... I won't try it a third time. I lost two jobs I wanted because of this.

I'm sorry you have had such bad experiences. I don't mean to pry into situations that you don't want to share ... but perhaps if you told a little bit about your experiences, it would help other people avoid the same mistakes.

As I said in an earlier post, negotiating a salary is risky. If it's not done just right, it can cost you a job that you want. On the other hand, it IS sometimes possible to negotiate a better deal for yourself. A lot depends upon the situation and the way you approach it.

For example, I think "playing hard ball" rarely works in nursing. If the appliclant threatens to refuse the offer, they will usually lose. Few job candidates are so valuable to an employer that the employer would be willing to cave in to a threat. Also, few employers will increase the salary of a basic staff nurse when there is an existent set salary scale that governs the pay rates for a large staff. They simply can't afford to anger the whole staff to get that one new nurse. However, I have found that many people are successful in negotiating some schedule flexibility, unpaid vacation time, start dates, additional orientation time, etc. -- even at the basic staff nurse level.

I think it rarely hurts to ask, "How was that salary offer determined? Is it based on my previous experience? Can we review my experience so that I can know how it was counted? Is that a set amount or is that open for negotiation?" etc. That opening gives you a chance to see how the potential responds to such questions, but rarely causes enough hard feelings to lose you a job. If you sense that they are not used to negotiating, you can pleasantly back off and thank them for explaining their salary offer in more detail without damaging your relationship. If you sense that they are willing to negotiate, you can procede gently.

I guess I am just not good at negotiating.. and we'll leave it at that.

I've been very successful in getting a higher wage through negotiation, experience,many awesome reference letters from "Doctors". I agree the first time it happened I couldn't believe I pulled it off and had it in me. It does take some self-controllled skill in assertiveness.

I've negotiated twice and got what I wanted. Once was as for a nursing instructor position for an LPN program. I informed them that the job I was leaving paid $XX and that I needed a figure closer to that and they did increase the offer. It was not the exact same amount, but the position I was leaving was a float position with premium pay but no benefits; I didn't mention that part during the negotiations :lol2: In the end I didn't take the job because I decided I didnt' want to teach anyway. My second negotiation pertained to scheduling at my current job. The money they offered was already great, but I didn't want to work every other weekend like the rest of the staff; the job I was in I had rarely worked weekends, so I was used to that type of schedule. The manager offered me Mon-Fri evening shift with no weekends and I countered with every third weekend to work just to be able to have time off during the week sometimes.

The way I see it, the worse they can say is no. If the timing is right and the request is made properly, I don't see how it could cost someone a job offer. Obviously it can, as previous posters have mentioned, but I wonder about the reason behind the job offer withdrawal. I love nursing and am not money hungry, but I do still have bills to pay and need to take care of myself, so money is important to me.

  • Expert

I have never been able to negotiate successfully for a staff nurse position. However, once I got my advanced practice license, I have negotiated $20k more than what I was initially offered.

  • Author

Geez you guys- I must have had my head in a hole- I had no idea that you could negotiate! If I ever get to work again, I will be better informed! Thanks llg, for the tips.

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