"Support officer" -- help me negotiate a salary?

scrimshaw on 09/06/2016 - 22:33
Last edited 09/06/2016 - 22:34

Hi guys. I'm applying for this job:

As a Junior Support Officer, your primary responsibility will be to ensure that the needs of our mobile advertiser and publisher (app developer) clients are met. You will work internally across all business areas to find the right answers and appropriate solutions to resolve client queries.

You will touch every department and be a 'go to' person for people throughout the business and for our clients. The daily activities and responsibilities of the role will include customer service, account management, and mobile integration support. You may also be required to assist with various other Support projects and activities.

After the initial training period, this position may be partially conducted from home and out of hours (some days). Please be aware that weekend work will be required for this role.

Required Skills & Experience:

  • A big list of pretty generic stuff, the only technical requirement is MS Office Word and Excel and Outlook

This is a full-time position based in our CBD office (but some roles will be a combination of office-based and structured weekend work from home).

I looked on Payscale and couldn't find a job matching that job title, so I'm guessing this is some kind of quasi-level 1 tech support kind of role or customer service representative. Which amounts to roughly 46K PA.

However this differs from tech support in that there's weekend work (from home). I'm throwing in 50K as some arbitrary figure.

What kind of salary should I expect and negotiate from this role?

Education & Work

Comments

  • GameChanger on 09/06/2016 - 23:07
    +6

    The biggest issue you face is that this roles attracts any where from 100-400 applicants and so the room to negotiate is very small.

    I have seen figures around $45k inclusive of super, are you thinking inclusive or ex?

    • scrimshaw on 09/06/2016 - 23:52

      inclusive

      yes you are right. That never crossed my mind that it was a junior position. I might have to say yes to whatever they offer

      • bluesky on 10/06/2016 - 02:28
        +3

        If you say yes to whatever they offer now (so long as not too ridiculous), it is still OK. The important thing is to see if the role has scope for progression to bigger things.

        Once you prove yourself to be extremely useful, they will have to keep you happy, and give you reviews and payrises.

        At this stage, if you would like to get the job, best not to focus too much on the pay, but what you can offer, and what you aspire to, in the organisation.

      • the-mal on 10/06/2016 - 08:38
        +7

        I might have to say yes to whatever they offer

        Treat job interviews like selling a car. Get them sold on the product (yourself) before you even start to talk price. They'll try pin you down (I know I do) because it's in their best interests to hold you to a price whilst they hold the cards.

        If they ask what you want to be paid you can answer in a way like the following: "As long as the offer was in line with the market then I'd be fine, my reason for pursuing this role is because it seems like a great fit for my interests and skills…" and lead them onto another topic. I have always politely refused to talk dollar values in interviews until offer stage. It is a big rookie pitfall.

        Once you've wowed them in interviews they'll make an offer. And then you're holding some cards. This means they've put their hand on the table, they like you, they're interested, you're their first choice. Then you can ask for some more: "I am incredibly excited and thankfu for your offer and would be thrilled to take up this role. I've crunched the numbers with my significant other and to make it viable for me expense-wise I'd be happy to accept Revised $ Value." They'll either give it to you, or say no. But the offer will still stand.

        If you try to negotiate earlier than this you'll taint your chances of making it this far. And if you don't try to negotiate you'll usually be doing yourself out of some cash.

        Put it this way, most first offers are the same as first offers for a car sale. We know there will probably be negotiation so we low ball. If you accept the low ball, we won't stop you. But if you ask to negotiate, you'll usually get a bit more.

        Promises of pay rises in the future, career progression, yearly pay appraisals etc are all next to worthless. You're getting paid for the offer on the table, not what may happen in the future.

        Don't sell yourself short, just know the right time to negotiate. Know the cards you're holding.

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