How to negotiate with Mckinsey? Have to accept offer by Friday

Hi!

Congrats! That's amazing. Even more amazing considering that now it's a bad market time. 

Indeed, the actual salary bands are fixed. 

What's not fixed is the signing + relocation bonus. 

To prepare yourself for the negotiation, build an estimate on your side for the relocation bonus. Then make it transparent to them. The point here isn't to ‘make money’ with the relocation bonus but to actually amortise your costs fully. 

In terms of the signing bonus, it would be helpful to understand from your network whether a signing bonus is customary in this market. It isn't in all of them. If you have a few friends in other firms they should already be able to tell you this with more certainty.

Best,
Cristian

Hi,

Impressive achievement, especially considering the current challenging market conditions.

It's worth noting that the actual salary ranges are non-negotiable.

However, what you can potentially negotiate are the signing and relocation bonuses.

To prepare for the negotiation, you should calculate an estimate for the relocation bonus on your end and be transparent about it with the company. The goal here isn't to profit from the relocation bonus but to ensure it covers your full costs.

Also you have to know that the salary growth will be around 15-20% per year for the next 5 years, so do not worry.

Cheers,

Alexandre 

Hi there,

Here's my thoughts on your situation:

The recruiter told be the compensation is non-negotiable. I want to discuss with them some benefits especially relocation allowance since I will be relocating locally. This is not technically part of the compensation, so you should bring it up. Ask them whether they would consider supporting you in relocating so you can set yourself up for success for the new role. Give it a positive spin and see what happens.

Also, how should I discuss the signing bonus? I was told that for a year this will be a contractual position and then permanent offer is made. If by discuss you mean ask if there is one, you can always raise the point. However, now we're getting into compensation territory, and you were already told it's non-negotiable. If it's a fixed term contract for 1yr, I really don't see it happening. Perhaps once you sign the follow-up permanent contract.

I was informed of the lunch benefits, traveling, health etc. What else do they offer? Those aren't really benefits (apart from health) since you have to eat and travel for work. As for everything else, you just have to ask. Depends on office, role, and type of contract.

Also, should I ask for these to be given in writing since my offer letter only mentions gross income. WIth ‘these’ you mean above benefits? As I said, they're not really benefits aside from health, which is pretty standard. I don't see the point in asking for this in writing and it comes across as unnecessarily distrusting

Lastly, the recruiter referred to the gross income as take home salary. Should I ask for further clarity regarding it or consider it as gross salary only? Yes, you should absolutely clarify if the salary is gross or net.

Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!

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1. If there's something you don't understand then yes, you should ask for clarity.

2. You negotiate based on what you need. If you can show you have a specific need because you are relocating, you may be able to ask a sign-up or relocation allowance to cover those costs.

You should not expect to be able to negotiate the rest.

Hire a coach.

I doubled my signing bonus from $20k to $40k.

Just like people pay accountants to do their taxes, here you need to spend money to make money.

I'd need to see your contract and see your previous communications in order to guide you to maximized your offer.

In general, you can negotiate on some perks/signing bonus…HOW you do this is critical though.