Negotiating Job Offers
What Machiavelli would advise:
- Say yes to the private equity, delay the signature...
... Nitpick on some clauses when they send you the contract. Your goal is simply to buy time until you hear from GS.
It should be very easy given it's just a few days.
If GS say "yes", then make up an excuse to refuse the private equity so that you also maintain the relationship. Or even better you can simply be honest:
You: you guys are awesome, but I got this offer from GS and there's more money there, plus you know how valuable GS is on your CV
- Say yes to the private equity, sign...
... Then quit if you get the offer from GS.
Should be two weeks notice, right? As long as GS's starting date is later than 2 weeks it's no issue at all.
If it's not 2 weeks, you can actually buy time asking to reduce it to 2 weeks.
If you sign and GS says "you must start right away" but you're still under the notice period, then do the same thing: nitpick on GS' contract to buy time.
If not possible, the worst-case scenario is that you just don't show up to the private equity (you got cough and Covid symptoms. Or you just pay any possible penalty if any).
The former is better of course.
That's the more rationally amoral approach.
I personally see individual-business dealings very differently than with Individuals-individuals (learned it the hard way, too), so more amoral approaches also have more latitude in my book.
Otherwise, the eagle, straight-shooter approach:
- Call private equity, ask for a deadline extension
You can be very upfront, say that you love their offer, but that you're also still interviewing and before deciding you prefer to have all options.
You can also make a joke and say that's the type of mindset you'd also bring to their business: always negotiate with more than one option to win available.
People like honesty and you might be able to get an extension.
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Quote from Lucio Buffalmano on October 12, 2021, 12:37 amOtherwise, the eagle, straight-shooter approach:
- Call private equity, ask for a deadline extension
You can be very upfront, say that you love their offer, but that you're also still interviewing and before deciding you prefer to have all options.
You can also make a joke and say that's the type of mindset you'd also bring to their business: always negotiate with more than one option to win available.
People like honesty and you might be able to get an extension.
In my opinion, this comes across as high-power and confident too.
That's the more rationally amoral approach.
I personally see individual-business dealings very differently than with Individuals-individuals (learned it the hard way, too), so more amoral approaches also have more latitude in my book.
I think so too.
Businesses as entities are structured to focus on profits.
As such, a business as an entity tends to be more amoral than an individual.
Hence, you need to protect yourself via more Machiavellian approaches to prevent the business from taking advantage of you to maximise profits.
I also find that human resource departments can function in a very cold, calculative manner.
I think we have seen a few firing or retrenchment scenes on this website.