douner

SDR

Hiring Managers - How much wiggle room do you really have with candidates?

Looking for feedback from hiring managers for SDRs/AEs that might have some feedback about this situation so I can understand your mindset better for the future :)

Recently took an offer at 40% under what I could've got elsewhere due to relocation. (Took 60k US OTE vs getting 75k OTE @ my last co, think I could do 100k OTE now with my experience). I took this role bc I really want to be @ this company. It's a BigCo that you definitely know.

The recruiter gave me the OTE at the very beginning of the interview process and told me that was top-of-band. I said "sure" anyway because I didn't have other opps at the time.

He reassured me he wasn't fucking around and trying to nickel and dime me. I get the sense based on his tone that he was being sincere.

As I reached the end of the interview process, I didn't negotiate for fear that I'd get the offer rescinded, but I got amazing feedback from the hiring team, so much so that they held off on interviewing their other candidates and the rest of the interview process as I was the top candidate. I was told there were only 2 other "good" candidates.

I'm looking back as a learning experience to see what I could've done better - given how keen they were on me as a candidate (I'm severely overqualified for this role), do you think I could've leveraged the hiring manager as a champion to bump me another, let's say 10k? As a hiring manager, what would that take?

Or is the process wholly owned by HR, and the hiring manager has no influence on the hiring budget?

I find myself a little dissatisfied with the salary at this point and I start next week. Wondering if there's anything I can still do. Obviously keeping the job is a priority but I think having another 10-15k would really ease my mind.

🤝 Interviewing/Offer

🗣 Interviewing

10

13 comments

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Revenue_Rambo

Politicker

5

Bad MFer

Hiring manager has a lot of discretion but I've also seen it where HR has a more holistic picture and puts a hard cap on spend. In bigger companies those pay bands are pretty black and white. When you are at the top there is little or no means to increase your base unless you change roles.

jefe

Arsonist

2

🍁

^^^

douner

Politicker

1

SDR

Thanks for the input. It's an SDR role but I've only recently learned about how your payband increase is generally capped to a 15% increase at most companies based on what your existing salary is. I didn't really care about this year's pay at the time because I thought the promo to AE would have me at whatever market rate was anyway. Which means I'd be getting 60k OTE as an SDR (This is about 20k less than my last role) --> 70k OTE as an AE (Still less than my last SDR role). Pretty wacky.

At this point, I'm starting the role in 5 business days and I feel inclined to bring up this issue to my manager. Think this would be wise?

Revenue_Rambo

Politicker

3

Bad MFer

At this point you either trust the hiring manager and that the offer is at the top of the pay scale or you don’t.

Personally if I put you at the top of the scale and you kept pushing for more I’d walk away because pay will always be an issue moving forward.

SaulBadman

Big Shot

4

Senior Account Executive

I dont know anyone who's offer was rescinded for negotiating. There's a good chance they'll say no though. A lot of times its just a matter of paying everyone in the same position the same.

medhardwaredr

Politicker

2

Director of Sales NA

Depends on the company. Hr does hold the key at a lot of smb and med lar companies but again it varies by company. No one is going to rescind the offer based on negotiation.

douner

Politicker

1

SDR

It's like 10k employees. I start in 5 days, do you have any input regarding if I should address my concern with the hiring manager? How I'm afraid of being anchored to this salary come time for (hopeful) AE Promotion?

medhardwaredr

Politicker

2

Director of Sales NA

If you start in 5 days it would be too late but a lesson learned. I would not address the issue with anyone and focus on the job at hand at this point. Work hard do well and make up the gap with your next promotion. If it’s a great company the benefits outside of pay and opportunity to grow are valuable assets to have as well.
This is my opinion however I am a sales hiring manager for all of North America at my company

Gasty

Notable Contributor

2

War Room Community Manager

Budgets are often set, with hiring managers having more flexibility in smaller companies. In large enterprises, compensation caps are set by management and rarely revisited. There’s usually some wiggle room. HR is given a budget with flexibility, it all comes down to how you present your case and how much can they "wiggle".

You could've tried with: "I really appreciate you considering me for this role and extending the offer. I know you mentioned this is the best you can do, but I truly believe I’m qualified for this position, and an additional 10-15K in my OTE would help me thrive even more. If there’s any room to adjust, I’d really appreciate it. If not, I'll understand. Also, given that I’m relocating, this increase would make a meaningful difference."

I'd also like to stress that what's done is done. You wanted to get into the company. Now you got in. So, basically satisfaction is a myth. There will always be something better. If you think you can talk about your comp, go for it, if not, let it be.

Congratulations!!!

Gasty

Notable Contributor

1

War Room Community Manager

Also, great first post!!

Welcome to the War Room, this is Gasty, the Community Manager here.

A few pointers to keep in mind;
War Room is a Sales community platform with some of the best Sales people anyone has to offer. Their advice is pure gold.

We frequently post fun Friday’s, leaderboards, who’s hiring, and more.
This isn’t LinkedIn so you can go as detailed as you want. Just focus on providing value.
Lastly, have you checked out the commission store yet? If not, I highly recommend. Earning commission points is also very simple, just engage and post more. Upvotes get you points.

TargetFocused

Executive

1

Account Executive

Big company it tends to be within bands and controlled by HR. Just know that if they start to look at layoffs, the highest salaries tend to get attention first.

1nbatopshotfan

Politicker

1

Sales

You should negotiate. I generally can go about 10% above list/range. But the person needs to be worth it. Budgets are getting tight!

0

Ex - Sales Manager turned Headhunter

The impact and flexibility an individual hiring manager has on the budget/ increasing the offer depends on the company - size/ maturity: smaller and well funded companies have hiring managers with quite a lot of power.

In general: No serious company takes back an offer when/ if you negotiate. If its within a reasonable range.

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