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I have been in this situation before where I was flown out and the company low balled me on salary with 5% pay cut despite the cost of living be way higher. My

I have been in this situation before where I was flown out and the company low balled me on salary with 5% pay cut despite the cost of living be way higher. My time and energy was wasted. Trust me, companies do the same things all time to prospective employees. Even for a startup, flying someone out and putting them in a hotel for a night is the cost of doing business and the risk you take for finding the right candidates.

beachstartup 10y ago
if you didn't tell them how much you want to make, they're going to just guess. and it sounds like they guessed pretty well, if they came within 5% of what you currently make. amateur hour advice like "never be the first one to name a price" is nonsense. just tell them what you want and see if there's a fit, or not. it's how business gets done 99% of the time.
- badmadrad 10y ago
  I did tell them what I make but I didn't tell them what would make me leave because it usually goes without saying... more money.
  - beachstartup 10y ago
    right, so exactly as i suspected, you didn't tell them how much you want to make. and no, it doesn't go without saying. you need to say it. tell them your requirements. do it without them asking. what if you wanted to buy a car, but the dealer wouldn't tell you the price? what would you do? offer them MORE than what you think the car is worth?
    - chrisabrams 10y ago
      Yes you are correct. Because sometimes companies think its the project, or the location, or the weather, or who knows what. But if its the money, then you gotta say so.
    - badmadrad 10y ago
      I actually see it a bit differently than buying a car. To me it's more like an auction where the person only has to actually sell the item if they are pleased with the final price. So if the price starts at $100 dollars and you bid $95 that person will probably not give you the item and wait for a better deal or at the very least sell at cost. That being said, I certainly could have been more assertive and said I will only move if you pay me X amount but then you run the risk of not getting the best offer they can provide because you have given them number. At the end of the day after the company low balled me, I told them I would need more money than that and they wouldn't budge so even so it was still a waste of energy.
- AnimalMuppet 10y ago
  > just tell them what you want and see if there's a fit, or not. What you want. Not what you're making now. For example, I don't currently have any toxic co-workers, but in a move, I take that risk. You've got to pay me enough more to make it worth my while to move. I've decided that my answer to "How much are you making now?" will be "That's not a relevant number. The two relevant numbers are how much it would take for me to want to take the job, and how much you think I'm worth." (I've never actually tried it, since I've been on my current job for seven years, and I came up with that more recently.)

beachstartup 10y ago

if you didn't tell them how much you want to make, they're going to just guess. and it sounds like they guessed pretty well, if they came within 5% of what you currently make. amateur hour advice like "never be the first one to name a price" is nonsense. just tell them what you want and see if there's a fit, or not. it's how business gets done 99% of the time.

badmadrad 10y ago
I did tell them what I make but I didn't tell them what would make me leave because it usually goes without saying... more money.
- beachstartup 10y ago
  right, so exactly as i suspected, you didn't tell them how much you want to make. and no, it doesn't go without saying. you need to say it. tell them your requirements. do it without them asking. what if you wanted to buy a car, but the dealer wouldn't tell you the price? what would you do? offer them MORE than what you think the car is worth?
  - chrisabrams 10y ago
    Yes you are correct. Because sometimes companies think its the project, or the location, or the weather, or who knows what. But if its the money, then you gotta say so.
  - badmadrad 10y ago
    I actually see it a bit differently than buying a car. To me it's more like an auction where the person only has to actually sell the item if they are pleased with the final price. So if the price starts at $100 dollars and you bid $95 that person will probably not give you the item and wait for a better deal or at the very least sell at cost. That being said, I certainly could have been more assertive and said I will only move if you pay me X amount but then you run the risk of not getting the best offer they can provide because you have given them number. At the end of the day after the company low balled me, I told them I would need more money than that and they wouldn't budge so even so it was still a waste of energy.
AnimalMuppet 10y ago
> just tell them what you want and see if there's a fit, or not. What you want. Not what you're making now. For example, I don't currently have any toxic co-workers, but in a move, I take that risk. You've got to pay me enough more to make it worth my while to move. I've decided that my answer to "How much are you making now?" will be "That's not a relevant number. The two relevant numbers are how much it would take for me to want to take the job, and how much you think I'm worth." (I've never actually tried it, since I've been on my current job for seven years, and I came up with that more recently.)