The position is for senior IC and I would love to work there because the work is super interesting and would look very well in my resume. However, the company says they can't pay more in my country even though there's no single employee here and they pay higher salaries in other places. What is the best strategy to convince them to pay what I think I'm worth?
$45k is beyond silly; it's disrespectful for senior talent, regardless of where they live. If the manager holds the same line as HR, consider yourself lucky as that company is not where you'd want to work.
Super interesting work is overrated compared to maximizing comp. Money buys opportunities and freedom. Optimize for comp and quality of life. Lots of inspiration in that regard in this recent Ask HN thread [1].
(i do the same and would not give advice I don’t practice myself)
To a degree. In this particular case the numbers are so far apart that I wouldn't accept the low offer.
But fun and exciting work is part of my quality of life. If I were deciding between two offers in the same numeric "neighborhood" I'd take the one that was more interesting even if it were the lower of the two. A mind-sucking slog purely for money would not be desirable to me.
- Make what you want claer. "I really like the sound of your company and your team. The only thing that is stopping me is that the offer is far lower than I would like. I was hoping for $x/year in total compensation". If you have base, bonus, stock expectations mention that
- Make it clear you are able to negotiate if you are ("I can go down to $y/year if I have a clear growth path to $x/year") and that you are not going to negotiate if not ("That is the minimum I am willing to accept")
- Be prepared to walk politely. "Thank you for the interview. I enjoyed meeting the team. Ultimately, I talked to many good teams and had to choose one." You can optionally mention which one you're going to go with and mention that you are open to talking in a couple of years.
Remember that this is an iterated game. If you failed to negotiate this time, you may succeed a different time. A lot of people on the Internet have poor social skills and will advise you to do certain things. Here are some common pitfalls that you can fall into:
- People will tell you to be vindictive. "Actually, this is so low it's disrespectful. Never talk to me again"
- People will tell you to sell yourself. "I have done X, Y, and Z. I deserve $x". That part is over. It won't matter here.
- People will you to rub it in their face. "Actually, I got a better offer from A so now you know what I'm worth".
Comp negotiations are very easy and directness will benefit you. A pre-existing offer raises your BATNA. You're in good shape. Remember that you always have to be prepared to choose the BATNA or it is not a BATNA.
I'm also from a low-cost country, and recently got a new remote job paying upwards of $150k, using exactly the technique I described above. They just didn't have alternatives, and knew that similar people to me probably wouldn't work for much less anyway.
Consider that your problem will also not just be the initial offer. If you are considered above market rate in the company you will never get any raise, and just be stuck with what you originally agreed on.
The collaborative approach is usually the best one to negotiation. People want to help and solve problems, and that includes the recruiter. This hits all the points you made while giving them a solution to the “problem” you pose on a silver platter.
I think they saw an average of salaries in Glassdoor. The problem is that in Argentina we have 60% inflation annually so information there gets old pretty quickly. Salaries grow 2x every 2 or 3 years. Maybe explaining that helps. I would like to know where they got their estimation for the salary.
Of course some companies are just never going to “get it” and they’ll all end up suffering as a result.
Maybe the company would pay you more but the recruiter either:
- told them you're cheap, mistakenly or not
- wants to get you in cheap so they get follow on work
- doesn't know you expect a lot more
- is getting a bonus if they find suitable cheaper candidates
- doesn't yet know what you're telling us and so hasn't passed on the feedback on the poor offer.
- would be happy to fight for higher pay as they're paid a % of your annual rate.
I do, I am mid level, but I work for a company in the US hiring globally remote. So I earn more than that because I speak English and take the time to find companies that are paying US salaries. But I know a lot of developers that are much better and experienced than me that earn less than that.
If a prospective company do due diligence they will likely find out you worked below market rate and use that to lowball you. You would have to give a good justification why you are worth paying 2x more.
I got tired of wasting multiple personal days off of work to interview and then receive a stupidly lowball offer in return.
So I name my price up front now. Doesn't have to be what I'm currently making - it's what number will make me jump. It's a binary decision at that point for both of us.
One can always qualify the initially named number with some words assuming a reasonable similarity in work environment, responsibilities, benefits, vacation, etc. Adjustments after can always be discussed in a that kind of context.
But I also try to keep a rough concept of what's paying in my area. It seems unlikely I'm going to dramatically undercut myself, at it seems low odds that the practice might cut off some magic high pay
By doing that, you set an anchor at that offer and the other party will see you as being compromising/them getting a break with anything you concede from that point.
It’s a hard ball negotiating tactic and deliberately doing it is ethically questionable. However, people offering advice to the contrary is a bit misguided in my opinion and made up of a bunch of people convinced they got a great deal when the other party conceded their position :-).
/S
You will not work on interesting things, you will be shit on from every angle at that job, I guarantee. Consider a bullet dodged.
If you insist on making bad decisions in life.... I would send them a thank you for the generous offer. You will compare with your current comp (screenshot bank deposit), and other offers (letter attached with company name whited out), and with additional offers I expect later in the week. I will be in contact no later than Friday if this works out to be the best opportunity. Thank you for you and your teams time, You.
Be sure to CC any hiring managers if you can (check interview invites). If they actually want you for a valued position, they will apologize and correct the offer. If they just want someone to pee on, they won't.
