How much money to ask for?

I'm lucky enough that I can stay where I'm at for quite some time if I wanted to. But I want to move up the ladder to a bigger paper. Money talks, though, if you have kids to raise and student loans to pay off.

 

This reminds me of a conversation I had with my father's partner the other night.

He told me the story of when he applied for an assistant professorship (?) back in the 1970s with the university where he teaches now. They offered him a salary and he'd wanted a couple thousand more. He asked the guy making the offer, "is there any way you can do a little bit better than that?"

The guy said he'd look into it and call my dad's partner back. When he did, he said he couldn't go higher than the offer. He accepted it. Now he's been at that university for approximately 30 years.

You can ask for more money, but know when to say no and when to accept an offer.

 

I don't even know how much this story applies anymore, but I told it to somebody asking about such things the other day.

More than 20 years ago, I was running a sports section at one paper when I got an offer from a place a long ways away, and in a much more expensive place to live. It was an elite paper, and the original offer was substantially more than I was making. I wanted to take it right on the spot.

My wife at the time said there's no way we could do it for that given where we were going and said I had to ask for another astounding amount, to me a week. I said there's no way they'd do that, and no way I could possibly ask. She said fine, then you can't take the job. No way we could do it for less.

So I sheepishly went to the boss offering the job and made the request, and he said they'd look into it and get back to me.

And then they gave me the money. Aside from being thrilled, I felt really stupid for obvious reasons.

Unless you're dealing with complete assholes, I learned, it doesn't hurt to ask. And if they come back and say no way -- or meet you somewhere in between -- then you can make the decision based on a bottom-line offer.

And if they're pissed you asked, that's probably a warning sign.

 

It never hurts to ask for more, as others have said.

After college I had an internship then started to apply for jobs. I interviewed with a few papers and ended up getting two offers. Paper A told me when I was a finalist that X was the entry level wage. That fee was within my range. Paper B gave me a figure when they offered me a position that was $1-2K more than paper A. I liked paper A and its editor better, so I took that job for less money. After accepting the job I asked about possibly getting more money. The SE said that was up to the ME. I told the ME that I rejected an offer for more money because I thought they were the better paper and asked if it would be possible for him to split the difference. He said he would talk to the publisher. It turns out the publisher was thinking about changing the entry level fee. Paper A ended up meeting paper B's offer, and anyone hired within the previous 6 months or so also got a raise because of me. So, it never hurts to ask.

 

I did get an offer. I gave a number that is non-negotiable (I didn't say it) and the publisher will let me know. If I don't get it, oh well, I like the chance to interview. One of my weak points is the job interview and I could always use the practice.

 

It's not really hard to ask for more money. What's hard is being asked for an initial amount you need -- how high do you go? Do you try to make them make the first offer? That's awkward.

 

I've heard that you never give the number first. And I try to avoid the subject of pay until I get an offer.

 

Me too. Some experts differ. One guy recently wanted me to email him after our interview what my salary needs would be. You can't just say, "How much you got?"

 

Well, the decision came today and I did get what I asked. The question now is if I'm going to make the move or not, in consultation with my wife.

If I end up not taking it, it would be a good job for someone right out of school or jumping to their second.

 

Never give the first number. But if you're forced to, ask for 20 percent more than you really want.

 

Well, if you aren't desperate to change jobs, you have the luxury of walking away if the number doesn't match your needs/expectations.

I know a lot of people who have taken big pay cuts simply because that was what the market was offering. It was either that or sit it out.

The sad reality is that it's an extreme buyer's market right now and there are very, very few of us who bring anything that the next guy doesn't. While papers may give lip service to good writing, their actions show all they care about is making deadline and keeping expenses to the bare bone. So the simple fact that you may well be a better, and more experienced, reporter than the next guy does not merit you $5,000 per year more. Not now, not in this economy. Not when the applicants line stretches out the door and around the corner.