Is this normal from a manager?

Just curious is it normal for a manager to negotiate a salary for you?? I’m starting this job next week and the manager mentioned this when I asked about the salary

Reply 1

ThatguyAl

Original post by Anonymous

Just curious is it normal for a manager to negotiate a salary for you?? I’m starting this job next week and the manager mentioned this when I asked about the salary

It can happen, yes. The reason most likely being that HR or some similar department decides on the salary range for that position (say £30k-40k with a median 32k), then the hiring manager submits the proposition internally based on what he/she thinks about you (say 40k), the HR comes back to check for a justified reason to push that over the median to the max of that range, so they negotiate, and so on and so forth.

Alternatively, the manager could say that in attempt to stop you from negotiating your salary or generally being unhappy about your salary, while still appearing as if they did their best to give you the best of an offer they could get.

Regardless of the above, it's up to you to either accept or decline the job offer. Are the money offered well within the industry standard range for that position, offset by location (say in London or somewhere up in Scotland in the middle of nowhere), how desperate are you to put food on the table, how much do you want to work for that specific company, etc etc.

Reply 2

ChiefBrody

I have had this happen

- as above, HR will (usually) want to bring in new roles at the bottom of the salary range and need a good reason (business case) for it not being that way.

The manager will (hopefully) be keen to get the right person / skills so if you have relevant experience, skills are in short supply etc then they will put in a case for starting you further up the salary range.

Personally I (almost) always push a bit on rates and make sure I give them a good reason (in my work area there is a massive shortage of specific experience, which I have). Even if you are desperate don't let it stop you asking, you have the offer in the bag so the next step is making sure you are fairly compensated. I would also ask at the end of any probation period / a few months in for similar reasons