DEALING WITH UNFAVOURABLE OFFERS – REJECTION AND NEGOTIATION

Managing your instant reaction

So you’ve been made an offer and you don’t much like it. What happens now? The first and most important thing is to manage your instant reaction.

Manage your anxiety

You may well feel anxious doing this. Many candidates are concerned that the employer will change his or her mind about hiring you, just because you aren’t eager to take their first offer. Just remember the facts:

• Don’t worry – they obviously like you.
• You must be someone they want to hire, or they wouldn’t be making you an offer.
• If there is only one job available, you must be first choice to be sitting where you are now.
• Going back to a second or even third choice candidate will cost them time and money – many employers will find it easier to strike an acceptable deal with you than go back to the drawing board.

Things not to say

• ‘Thank you’ – it’s an offer you don’t like, so don’t imply you’re grateful.
• ‘Okay’ – it means ‘yes’, or ‘it’s acceptable’ to most people and gives the impression the offer is okay – which of course it isn’t.
• It should go without saying, but don’t be rude or laugh!

What you should say

The routine

This is going to sound silly to some people, but practise the following simple technique until it looks and sounds completely natural:

• say nothing . . .
• find a useful noise you can make such as hmmm, uh-huh, mmmm . . .
• if you can’t feel comfortable doing that, just repeat the figure they quoted quietly but audibly to yourself and say nothing else
• and look down
• pause and count to three . . .
• then look back at the person who made the offer as if you expect them to say something else.

What it means

This little routine will be very false to some people. Let’s see why it is so important in creating the right impression psychologically.

Your overall stance

The impression you need to give is that:

• you hear and understand what they’ve said, but
• it is making you uncomfortable/unhappy/disappointed and
• you’re too polite and professional to tell them that just yet . . .

Why is this the impression you want to give? Because it invites them to ask you what is going on, inducing them to make the first move. Think about the process here: they have just made an offer, and if you say you’re not happy with it, you are rejecting them. You are making the first move out of the comfort zone. By indirectly implying you’re unhappy, most employers will respond by asking you about it, which

Step	What it means and suggests to the employer
Say nothing.	Remember saying ‘okay’ or ‘yes’ or ‘thank you’ will give the wrong message.
Find a useful noise you can make such as hmmm, uh-huh, mmm . . . If you can’t feel comfortable doing that, just repeat the figure they quoted quietly but audibly to yourself.	This shows them that you did actually hear them – staying silent might make them wonder if you heard what they said!
Say nothing else.	This creates a gap in the conversation. Most people are uncomfortable with pauses and will try to fill them by saying something. If you don’t, the chances are that they will . . .
Look down.	This implies unhappiness/discomfort/lack of agreement with that they said, without saying so outright.
Pause and count to three.	Make that pause a little longer – it suggests you are thinking, and counting to three lengthens the pause a little longer, which may make them want to fill the silence.
Look back at the person who made the offer expectantly.	If they still haven’t said anything, look at them as if you fully expect them to and they usually will.

makes them make the first move towards a compromise. It means you haven’t asked them to negotiate, they asked you.

What if they don’t respond?

You have set up the situation to induce them to negotiate. If they don’t, what do you do then? You can’t both sit there in silence! It’s simple – just say, ‘I’m sorry, were you looking for an immediate response, because that figure was very unexpected?’

This implies yet again that you are disappointed, without actually saying that, and they will usually respond, saying ‘Why?’ This now gives you a chance to explain what your idea of an offer was, and suddenly, you’re negotiating!

Negotiating

What do you do if you have just been offered your dream job, but at a disappointingly low salary? Well, only you know the answer to that one! It depends on your bottom line, how much you want the job, whether or not you feel there’s any room for negotiation. Negotiation is probably your best idea here. Having tried the above routine, and now you and the employer are in a conversation, how do you negotiate that offer? These steps will help:

• Express your appreciation for the offer.
• Express your enthusiasm for the job, but . . .
• Ask whether or not there is any flexibility regarding the salary.
• Listen carefully to the response, because it will give you an idea of whether or not it’s worthwhile to pursue the issue.
• If the salary itself cannot be increased, ask when the next review will be and request a salary review after, say, six months.
• Don’t make any decision on financial grounds alone, unless the offer is below your bottom line.

Rejecting an offer (in person)

Sometimes you will want to reject an offer outright. It depends on the situation, how much you want the job, the rapport and relationship you have built up with the inter-viewer(s) – a range of factors. If you wish to do this, try this technique.

• Express your appreciation for the gesture of confidence in you which they are making.
• Find something positive and diplomatic to say.
• Tell them that unfortunately it isn’t acceptable to you, and apologise that things haven’t worked out.
• If they respond with some discussion or negotiation, always be prepared to negotiate – but be prepared to still say no eventually if necessary. Keep an open mind.
• Unless they respond with anything else, such as a revised offer or discussion, you need to leave politely.

An example

Jane was asked to a final interview for a job described in the job advert as paying £25,000 to £28,000. Jane earned £25,000, and had outgrown her role and was looking for something more senior, which was a good description of the job she was interviewing for. The interviewers already knew her current salary (obviously she hadn’t read this book yet).

In the final interview, after about 30 minutes of questions and discussions with her potential boss and two other senior managers, the interviewers suddenly looked at each other, nodded and came out with a surprise.

‘We have some good news,’ one of them said, ‘we’d like to offer you the job.’

‘Thank you,’ said Jane, ‘I’m delighted.’

‘Yes,’ the interviewer continued, ‘the salary would be £25,000 to start, rising annually to the maximum of £28,000.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said Jane, ‘it appears we have been wasting each others’ time. I know you’re aware I already earn that in my current role, and that has far less responsibility than you are looking for me to take here. I hope you also realise that I really liked the idea of working for you – this job would have been perfect for my next move. I apologise for the way things have turned out, but there’s no way I would be able to accept that figure for your role here.’ And she started to stand up to leave.

What do you think happened next? Actually, she got the job at £28,000, but that’s not important. What is important is that she was polite, and made the employers aware of how she felt, but at the same time she was firm and very nicely rejected the offer. This was a case of an offer rejection that turned quickly into a negotiation.

Had the situation not changed, she should have left the interview politely, shaking hands and saying goodbye with each one, and then written to them to confirm the conversation. Actually, sometimes this also gets results – by writing to them it confirms your decision and sometimes the employer will ask you back to discuss a revised offer.

DEALING WITH FAVOURABLE OFFERS – ACCEPTING A JOB OFFER (IN PERSON)

Okay, so you’ve been offered the job, on a salary that is acceptable to you. You want to say yes, don’t you? But why not wait a little, just in case?

Don’t accept immediately

Obviously this depends on the situation. Sometimes the offer is good, the job is perfect and you know this company doesn’t negotiate – so say yes! For other situations, try this instead:

• No matter how good the offer is, don’t accept it right away.
• Show your appreciation of the offer.
• Say that you’re very interested and excited about the opportunity and will get back to them in 24 hours.
• You might even ask to have a little more time to get back to them, especially if you are in the process of interviewing and have already made other appointments.
• Ask if you can make a note of the main points.
• Ask them about other benefits you might be entitled to such as:
  • —health insurance
  • —holidays
  • —annual salary review
  • —pensions
  • —bonus schemes.
• Tell them you will think it over and get back to them quickly.
• Be prepared to reassure them if they seem disappointed by this, by reinforcing how excited and pleased you are.
• If you really don’t need to wait 24 hours, say you’d be delighted to accept, subject to written confirmation of the offer and terms/conditions.
• Don’t ruin things by being too grateful and grovelling!

DEALING WITH OFFERS OF ALTERNATIVE JOBS

Very occasionally you get invited to a meeting and are given ‘good news and bad news’. You haven’t got the job, but they do like you and they have another job opening they’d like to offer you instead.

Lesser jobs

Is this good news? It all depends on whether or not you like the new job that’s on offer. You may be offered a job that is lesser; for example, you may be offered a clerical assistant role instead of the administrator role you applied for.

Sometimes this is acceptable, sometimes not. Here are the factors you need to carefully weigh up, and then respond just as with any other offer.

• What does the job involve? If the work is substantially different from the job you applied for, is it something for which you would have applied? You don’t have to be grateful for anything you’re offered! You must ask about the job itself before the salary, to show your interest, not your disappointment and suspicion!
• What is the salary? You need to know this, but never ask before you have asked about the job itself. You don’t want to give the impression you are motivated by money, or make a decision financially before you have all the facts.
• It can also sometimes be useful to know why they have offered you this job and not the other. Maybe they really liked you but someone else was better – this is no reflection on you, as they liked you enough to want to hire you anyway.

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