Key Strategies for Gaining Control in Job Offer Negotiations

www.PaulFalconeHR.com
Paul@PaulFalconeHR.com

Contents
Premise: “Candidate Control” is Key
Interview Questioning “Musts”
The Nature of the Match
References to the Rescue
2www.PaulFalconeHR.com

Contents (cont.)
Debriefs after Final Interviews
Resignation Drills
The Offer
The Close and Ensuing Negotiations

Stages Leading up to Offer
Workforce planning + job posting / outreach
» Interviewing
Identification of finalist(s) / debriefs
Pre-offer: Reference checks and pre-employment
tests
» Salary negotiations and offer
Post-offer: Background checks, drug screens, and/or
pre-employment physicals

Premise: “Candidate Control” is Key
Once you extend an employment offer to a job
candidate, the balance of power shifts because you
give up control of the negotiation process.
You’ll know you’ve fallen victim to a troubled
negotiation when you’ve extended an offer and the
candidate introduces new information:

Premise (cont.)
“I recently learned that I was in line for a promotion
with my current company. Can we make that a
consideration in terms of my starting salary?”
“I appreciate the offer. Could I let you know my
decision by next Friday?”

Premise (cont.)
“I accept your offer! By the way, did I tell you need
that I need to give 4 weeks’ notice, and I’ve got a 3-
week trip to Cabo planned for next month?”
The goal is to pre-close the candidate throughout
the hiring process

Lesson Learned
Because candidates can throw you similar last-minute
curve balls, you should be wary of extending offers
and giving away your negotiation power prematurely.
Job offer negotiations are all about gaining the
necessary information to control critical variables.

Interview Questioning “Musts”
Question 1: What would be your next logical move in career
progression if you remained with your current company?
How long would it take to get there?

Interviewing “Musts” (cont.)
Question 2: What would have to change at your current
company in order for you stay?
[LOGIC: You need to know right up front if there’s a
possibility of this candidate accepting a counteroffer.]

Question 3: What’s the reason for leaving (RFL) your
current company?
LOGIC: The reason for leaving is the link in a
candidate’s career progression. The reason for leaving
their current company must be fulfilled by your
company!

Distinguish between RFLs that are outside of a
candidate’s control (e.g., layoffs) and RFLs that result
from candidates’ orchestrating their own moves (e.g.,
“No room for growth”)
“Qualify” a layoff and challenge the “No room for
growth” response

If the job you’re offering is a “been there -- done that”
for the individual, the likelihood of a long-term
successful hire is minimal.
“Overqualified” is a term applied not only to salary
but also to responsibility level.

The Nature of the Match
100%+ match > overqualified
80% match > ideal / opportunities for career growth
and professional development; “learning curve”
60% match > probably won’t meet your
organization’s immediate needs

References to the Rescue
It’s become all too common that candidates interview
for positions at significant cuts in pay. The issue
becomes, Is this really a good move in career
progression for the individual, or is this the only
available “port in the storm”?

References (cont.)
References could be a very valuable resource to judge
whether the candidate is being forthright in her
statement that she’s flexible to take a cut in pay.
Try the following questions in your next reference
check:

References (cont.)
Opener: “I know Janet’s in transition and looking
to re-establish herself career-wise. Did she
mention to you why she was so interested in this
job?”
Closer: “My concern is that this would entail a
20% cut in pay from her last position. She’s aware
of that, but you know her better than I do. Will
that eventually become an issue for her?”

References (cont.)
Tips for Getting Employers to Open Up to You
during the Reference-Checking Phone Call:
1. Shift the burden of opening the lines of
communication with prior supervisors back to the
candidate: “Tell Janet Smith from XYZ Company
that we put a lot of value on references from prior
employers and that we’d like to speak with her
about your candidacy. Call me once that’s all set up.
. .” (Alternative: Have the references call you.)

References (cont.)
2. Open up the call this way:
 “Janet told me some very nice things about your
ability to give her structure and direction in her
day, and I was hoping you’d be able to share some
insights into her ability to excel at our
company . . .”

References (cont.)
3. Overcome Objections
“I appreciate that your company has policies in
place re: no references – so does ours. In our
experience, though, we’ve found that managers
who like their past subordinates and want to
help them get a leg up in their careers will often
share their insights confidentially. We value
references tremendously at our firm – Can I ask
you just a few questions? . . . “

References (cont.)
4. Challenge the “Stone Waller”. . .
“I understand. Unfortunately we tend to view no news
as bad news when it comes to prior supervisors’
recommendations, and we may not be able to hire
her without validation from someone who was an
immediate superior. Is there any way we could talk
off the record?”

Debrief after Final Interviews
Question 4: What’s changed since the last time we spoke?
Red Flags: Beware sudden increases in
responsibilities, salary increases, or a job offer from
another company.

Debriefs (cont.)
Your response: Put the offer process on hold.
Discussing new developments with a candidate allows
her to make the first move in the negotiation.
Lesson: Don’t assume that time has frozen since your
last discussion.

Debriefs (cont.)
Question 5: Tell me again why you feel that the position
you’re applying for meets your career needs or why
joining our company would be a good move in career
progression for you.

Debriefs (cont.)
Question 6: On a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being you’re really
excited about accepting our offer, 1 being there’s no
interest), where do you stand?
Why are you a [ ] (e.g., 8)?
What would make you a 10?

Resignation Drill
Question 7: I don’t want your emotions at the time of the offer
to cloud your better business judgment. If you were to give
notice right now, what would your company say to keep you?
Red Flag: Candidate may respond that she’d stay if she
were given a counteroffer. If so, pull away like this:

Resignation Drill (cont.)
“Why don’t you speak with your current boss about
that? If you get the raise / promotion / equity
partnership, then this interview will certainly have
been a good use of your time. If not, then call me back
so we could pursue this a little more seriously. . .”

The Offer
Question 8: If we were to make you an offer today, when
would you be in a position either to accept or reject it?
Red Flags: Candidates who ask for more than 24
hours may be delaying their commitment to you
because there’s another offer on the line.

The Offer (cont.)
Your Response: “Janet, I’ve found that people who
suddenly need more time at the finish line usually
have another offer on the table. If that’s the case,
that’s okay. Still, I’d like to know where we stand
relative to your other offer.”

The Offer (cont.)
Lesson: Don’t attempt to convince a candidate that
your offer is superior. Her focus is definitely on the
other offer -- Otherwise you would have heard an “I
accept!” already.
Always place the candidate’s career interests above
your own; otherwise, you’ll weaken your negotiating
power.

The Offer (cont.)
Question 9: Again, if we were to make you an offer, tell
me ideally when you’d be able to start. How much notice
would you need to give your current employer?

The Offer (cont.)
Etiquette Red Flag: Beware of candidates who don’t feel
obligated to give their current employers 2 weeks’
notice.
Don’t pressure candidates to start earlier than would
be appropriate; recommend an additional week off
between jobs whenever possible.

The Offer (cont.)
Question 10: Share with me what final questions I could
answer about the position or about our company to help you
come to a more informed career decision.

The Close
The $64,000 Question: At what point dollar-wise
would you accept our offer, and at what
point dollar-wise would you reject it?
Note: Candidates typically expect to “hear” offers
rather than volunteer numbers themselves.

The Close (cont.)
Caveat: The Interest - Demand Barometer
When interest is high, demands are low; when
demands go up, it’s because interest has gone down
Ideally, candidates will close themselves at lateral
moves to their current base salaries.

The Close (cont.)
Candidates will more commonly peg an increase to a
percentage of their base pay -- often 5% to 20% --
depending on their interest in the job and their
perception of their market worth. Assuming that this
is in your salary range, then you’re safe to extend the
offer.

The Negotiation
Scenario 1: The Malleable Candidate
Smooth negotiations because of reasonable
expectations on the candidate’s part and a satisfactory
budget / internal equity analysis on the company’s
part

The Negotiation (cont.)
Scenario 2: The Law of Inverse Gravity
Beware of mentioning salary ranges to candidates who
will typically only hear the tops of the range. You’ll be
upside down in the deal if the candidate feels you’re
being cheap.

The “Internal Equity Defense”
Issue: What if the department hiring manager let’s
the cat out of the bag and mentions the top of the
salary range?
An explanation of the internal equity concept will
always help you defend your offer because it’s
objective:

“We don’t make salary offers in a vacuum. What’s in
budget is one factor; slotting a new hire’s years of
experience, skills and knowledge to the tenure and
abilities of our existing staff is equally important. This
offer closely matches the salary benchmarks of the
existing employees in the group, and that’s why we
feel it’s fair and objective. . .”

Scenario 3: Offers for newly created positions (when
you’ve got discretion and flexibility)
Key: Involve the candidate in the creation of the total
compensation package!

“Janet, now that you’ve studied our annual report, met
with the key players, and understand the key aspects
of the role you’ll play if you join us, help me – You tell
me how to best develop an overall compensation plan
relative to your position’s impact on the corporate
bottom line – and I’ll bring it to our Compensation
Committee for approval . . .”

The Moral of the Story
Retain control of the negotiation until you’ve had all
your most critical questions answered.
As an employer, you wouldn’t expect a candidate to
accept an offer without all the information necessary
to come to an informed career decision.

The Moral (cont.)
Expect no less of yourself -- for a candidate’s behavior
during the actual offer negotiation may in itself
strengthen your commitment to bring that individual
aboard or cast doubt on the person’s ultimate
suitability.

The Moral (cont.)
As in all negotiations and communications, be
open, honest, and put the other person’s needs
above your own. You’ll find that in most cases,
people will respond in kind and appreciate your
honesty and openness – What a great way to
begin your new employment relationship!

Q&A: Questions and Actions
Paul Falcone
www.PaulFalconeHR.com
Paul@PaulFalconeHR.com
www.PaulFalconeHR.com 46

Key Strategies for Gaining Control in Job Offer Negotiations

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