Job advice

[lilstubbletgvp]

So I interviewed for a promotion at the company I currently work for. I currently am a Tier II systems engineer, I make a base pay of 20.5 per hour and with overtime last year i made 50k. The job i interviewed for is a Junior Technology Manager. My current supervisor has told me multiple times that the position i interviewed for is going to pay 60k. Im pretty sure im going to get the position as i was told that it was down to me and another gentleman (from outside the company) who has no IT experience or technical skill at all.

My question to you guys is. My wife, direct supervisor and I all believe they will low ball me on the offer. They have been making a big deal of the fact that i dont have a degree and the other guy does. How should i go about making sure i get what I believe is a fair offer. I am a horrible negotiator and have never negotiated a salary at all.

I know i do have one chip in my pocket that helps me out and that is that i am the only person currently in the company who is anywhere close to taking a test for a microsoft certification. They need this done by february in order to maintain their partnership with Microsoft and get discounted licenses etc etc.

[divsnowball]

Maybe poke around for other jobs to see what you are actually worth on the "open" market.  It serves multiple benefits for you because...
1. You can see if you are actually worth the 60k
2. You will have some bargaining power- you dont have much right now.  If they offer you say 50k for it, what ammo do you have to come back with? Not much.  With a job offer in hand- you have all the power
3. Maybe youll find on the open market another job you like better for more money

Win Win Win

[MrMoogle]

The best way to negotiate is to have ammo.  Yes another offer is nice, but that takes time.  If you can go back to your projects that you've done for your company and say this is what I've done, and this is how it helped the company. 

If you can put it in dollar figures, that's the best way.  Maintaining your Microsoft partnership is a good example.  Because of your certification, you're saving the company $XX in licenses. 

IT encompasses a lot of things, a lot of which are considered support that don't directly charge to projects.  So you can say you've satisfied so many tickets.  If you know how many other people have done, and show you do more, that's even better. 

If you get feedback and have a satisfaction rating, these are other good things to use.

[Angie55]

I would also check into the OT requirements of the new position. If you are jumping from hourly to salaried unpaid OT may be expected as it often is. So it might actually not be in your benefit and this could be a bargaining chip also.