Job offer and salary increase 1

[Dimtec]

First of all, sorry for my bad English. I am not native spoken English.
My situation is as follows: I am mechanical engineer with 8 years of experience. I have been working for my actual company for 4 years. This is a small engineering company, subsidiary of other bigger one. We are around 20 people.
Recently we have a boss change. Other person and I were candidate for the position of office manager, but finally the other person was promoted.
That person doesn’t have a good relationship with part of the other engineers, and we have 4 people that have left the company in the last 2 months; for the rest of us the ambient is not very motivating.
I have received a job offer from other company; basically is the same that I am doing now, with a 10% salary increase. Conditions are similar as my current jobs, although I would have to work more extra hours (usually we don’t need to do extra hours).
My wife works for other company in the same city as I am. The new work is in other city about 2 hours drive from here. For her, I think it would be easily to change work (she is engineer, she is in abetter position than me). That city is our natal city, so I we go very often and have a home there.
Basically I don’t think the offer is enough interesting to change, I would like to wait for a better one, but I would like to use this opportunity to talk to my boss and ask him for a salary increase, since I have the other offer. What do you think I should talk with him?
My relationship with him is not the best. I Know he is very stressed because all the people that is leaving (and could leave) the company, and the difficulty to find replacement (we are far from everything, large city about 150 km far), and I know that the supervisor from the mother company had talked with him seriously about this situation, that could put us is a difficult situation with our larger client.

Thanks in advance.

 

[PSE]

How did this second job offer come about? How soon do you need to accept or reject it? Were you actively looking? Is the additional workload worth doing for a 10% salary increase? What would your wife think about a possible move?

I would go ahead and talk with your new boss about the potential for a raise but I would not bring up the job offer that you have received. Your boss is likely feeling uncomfortable and mentioning a second job could appear threatening. You apparently do not have the best relationship with him so proceed carefully. You also need to decide if you wish to work for this person. Apparently others have decided not too and left.

Once this first meeting is behind you, talk it over in detail with your wife. Her input would be of great value. If you then want to meet again with your boss and mention that you have received an offer, go ahead. It has been my experience that someone who has used this "leverage" to gain a raise, soon left the company anyway.

Regards,

 

[ajack1]

Dimtec, I think you and your wife need to sit down and work out exactly what it is you want.

I seriously doubt that a 10% raise will make you happy in a job you clearly don’t enjoy or that 10% more money will seem good value when you are working extra hours and travelling 4 hours a day.

 

[Dimtec]

Thanks your responses.
My wife and I have talked a lot, and we both agree that we should only change if the offer is really good.
Our plan is to live in the new town (not planning to drive every day), so first, one of us would move, and later the other one.
I am not actively looking, I only sent a resume to this offer to see how is the job market, because the colleagues that were leaving the company, only in case.
I am nearly 100% convinced not to take the new job, but what I see from my new job offer and from the colleagues that left the company, is that our salaries are under the average. I am happy with the majority of other aspects of my job. So my question is, is a good idea to use the argument that you have received an offer from other company and you are considering it (but without compromise) to have a salary increase?

 

[MadMango]

I would say yes, let your supervisor know that you have a job offer you are considering, but you don't have to let it be known that is was a potential 10% raise. Talk with him one-on-one, try to determine what his plans for your department are, how does he see you being used now that others have left. If it seems that you have some stability in your future there, indicate that you want a 15-20% raise to stay.

There is no harm in asking. If he says yes, then you are in good position and he understands your value to the company. If he says no, then you have some more thinking to do.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[gerhardl]

Hello Dimtec,
already having decided to 'wait a while' you could use the time you have given yourself in your present company to try to improve long-term relationship with your boss.

Ask for a personal talk, tell him that you at present are very satisfied with the type of work you are doing, tell him something of the type of work and position/responsibility you look for in your present company. Also: give him the news that you at present do not have the intention of leaving the company. (Keep your offer for a new job as a 'hidden card' for the next time you want to take up this discussion)

Then let him talk and see what kind of signals or message he is giving you.

You dont have to respond immidiately to his signals, talk it through with your wife, and try to push (over time) for improvements.

If you are not satisfied: push harder or change job anyway.

 

[MikeHalloran]

In any country, a 10% raise and a 2 hour commute and more hours 'expected' is a large net loss. But your boss doesn't have to know that part.




Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[jmw]

It sounds to me that the job offer you have isn't quite what you want, looked at as a pure advancement, but you are not happy to stay where you are. Therefore using the job offer to leverage a better set of conditions isn't worth the effort if you are going to go anyway and if you intend to stay, then it isn't worth the effort unless you will do this every time pay review comes round or at the next promotion chance. And hey, guess what, it only ever works once anyway, if then.

Look at your situation:
You are in a job in a poor location where they have recruitment problems and yet they are paying below average wages.

You have signalled that you have ambition and that you don't see this job as where you want to be for the next twenty years.
What has been their response?
OK, they didn't give you the office managers job but in any internal promotion contest there are often three jobs to fill:
[ul][li] the job on offer[/li]
[li] the successful candidates old job[/li]
[li] the unsuccessful candidates job[/li][/ul]
The unsuccessful candidate has shown ambition and been frustrated.
He may rest awhile at his old job but evidently he wants more than this. If he cannot advance internally he must do so externally.

What signs have you that your boss recognises this? has he spoken to you about how valuable you are and what other opportunities there may be? Or did he do nothing and say nothing? If the latter, then you have a problem with this company. You are probably going nowhere.

OK, give it a chance, you do need to see him and remind him that you do not see yourself as just contentedly carrying on indefinitely as you are. Ask him what your future is with the company.
He may make some promises (that won't be worth the paper they are not written on). He may adjust your wage and conditions.
You need to see if he will do this fairly. If he doesn't then you need to judge why not. How do you think the better conditions you might then get by showing a job offer, will better your situation?

If you go straight in with a job offer, you will never know if what you get is a genuine recognition of your abilities or if it is simply a temporising action... he needs to find a replacement before he lets you go... in his time.

Many bosses do not react well to "blackmail". They may well claw the money and benefits back through later poor pay awards and worsening conditions or simply hope you "get the message" and go when it suits them.

On the other hand, you may see this job offer as a step on the right path even if it isn't an end in itself. Does it put you in a better company? does that company give you better advancement opportunities? does it let you locate where you have a better choice of jobs to go for and where the next change will be with fewer add on costs because you are already in the right place?

Or you may choose to look for a better offer.
But are you really saying you will stay where you are? under what circumstances?
I think not or you would have rejected this offer anyway. In which case, settle for the situation you get from a meeting and keep looking for that better job and take it when it comes.


JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com