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When presented with an offer, is it reasonable or appropriate to discuss a career development package as a part of compensation negotiations. In other words, can I ask for an ongoing MT subscription as part of my employment package?
Here is the background. I am about to go into my second interview with a highly professional small company. I never would have made it this far if it was not for the MT interview series and the resume review service by the way. While I don't have an offer right now, I want to be prepared when I reach that objective.
Listening to Mark and Mike's guidance on compensation, I have no plans to negotiate salary when I receive an offer. That said, I am curious if the same applies to things like systematic career development resources like MT Premium, The Wall Street Journal subscriptions and other career critical tools. Is it appropriate to ask for those kinds of things at the point an offer is made?
Finally, while I suspect I know the answer, is it against MT wisdom to negotiate for more vacation time at the point an offer?
Best Wishes!
Only if it is worth the job to you
Definitely not on the subscriptions. Maybe on the vacation - if it's a deal-killer for you.
MT and WSJ subscriptions are tools of the trade and fairly low cost. You risk appearing petty or unprofessional. Petty because you are bringing up issues that are miniscule compared to what they are going to pay you. Unprofessional because it suggests you are not willing to sacrifice a little personally to have the tools to do the very best work for the company. Don't do it. The best professionals will find a way to have the very best tools so they can do their very best work even if that means quite a bit of personal sacrifice.
Asking for more vacation is a different matter. If you are willing to walk away from the offer over vacation then you should very respectfully ask if the offering manager can do more. Were you getting more at your last job? Managers usually have more latitude than they think on vacation but you absolutely must not come across as saying "but I want it."
Good luck.
George
No, and no
Don't negotiate.
Don't ask for the development stuff. Wait six months or a year, and once you know how to ask, depending upon your boss, then ask.
Ask for more vacation no earlier than 1-2 years after you start. Since you didn't tell us how much you have, how much they offer, and how much you want, it's hard to say anything more than that.
Mark