Recap written by PDC Committee member, Hank Li

Over 40 people gathered at the Hotel 140 in Copley Square for the Job Offers and Negotiations workshop presented by King & Bishop. Co-founder of the company and NAAAP (National Association for Asian American Professionals) member Brendan King was on site offering his vast experience along with the main speaker Senior Consultant Douglas Horbal. The session began with Sabrina Gao, a NAAAP member, offering her experience working with King & Bishop when she was deciding between two job offers and needed assistance in making the final decision. King & Bishop guided Sabrina through the six-step process for evaluating job offers and arrive at a decision that Sabrina feels is right. Two months into her new job, Sabrina has been smiling ever since.

Mr. Horbal began by describing the importance of preparing for the negotiation process by understanding the salary range and the market rate for the position in the company and knowing the other benefits such as 401K, vacations and bonuses. In the process always keep in mind the “walk-away” point that you are willing to make. The six steps of the negotiation process are:

1. Obtain the offer in writing
2. Analyze the offer and make sure all the details are listed in the contract
3. Evaluate the offer and determine the pros and cons as well as the walk-away point
4. Negotiate and propose a counteroffer
5. Repeat steps 2 to 4 if needed
6. Obtain the final agreement and have the changes documented in writing

As Mr. Horbal describes each of the steps in detail, questions surrounding the process began popping up. For example does an email offer constitutes a binding contract and the labor laws related to employee and employer rights when a contract is presented. Clearly the job offer and negotiations can be a complex issue and the audience has many questions beyond the scope of the topic. Perhaps in the future topics such as employment law will generate significant interest.

Another NAAAP member Elaine Zhou offered her experience negotiating a job offer with a potential employer while working with King & Bishop. Elaine worked with Mr. Horbal on the process and the details of the job offer and proposed a counteroffer based on her research. One tool mentioned is the power of a “whiteboard” where all the details of the offer including the cost of the employee over a course of 5 years are laid out for analysis. Throughout the presentation Mr. Horbal stressed the importance of having a friendly and non-confrontational discussion with the employer and use the powerful word “re-consider” as a way to continue the dialog. Ultimately hiring an employee and joining a company is thought as a “marriage” and should not be taken lightly. Negotiating and asking the employer to re-consider an offer is acceptable otherwise the benefits will never be realized.

Ada Chan closed the presentation by sharing her experience while negotiating a job offer at a different country where the benefits can be significantly different, and cost of living is difficult to assess. King & Bishop again offered valuable insights into weighing the benefits and negotiating a compensation package that Ada was satisfied with. Thank you to Brendan King and Mr. Horbal for providing insight to the job offer process and the NAAAP members who offered their real-world experience to enrich the presentation.