Hi all,
I have received a call from HR to inform me that they are interested in giving me an offer in a governmental job, and as they assured me that there is a standard computation of in the civil service, I disclosed my current salary to them and some variable components. I am unsure, on hindsight, if this would affect my salary offer. Hence, I have the following questions:
- Am I able to negotiate for a higher salary after the offer letter is received should it be below my expectations, e.g., it is lower than the range seen in Glassdoor?
- What is the usual way of doing so, especially given that they already know my current salary? Am I allowed to ask for the details of how they calculate the salary? I noticed that the pay ranges for each grade (e.g., MX12, MX13) is quite wide.
- Can I clarify and/or negotiate other terms, such as HR benefits and variable salary components, during this stage? If yes, what are the benefits I can ask about without sounding over-demanding? A sharing of general benefits in civil service would be helpful!
- What is the general procedure like should there be changes in conditions set from the initial offer letter due to negotiations? (e.g., would there be rounds of checks from different people, processing time, email or call, is it standard practice to come up with a counter proposal)
- Am I allowed to negotiate the starting date that is different from what I presented in the application stages? And if yes, what is a good reason to state?
- How long can I take to ponder over the conditions stated in the offer letter before signing it?
Thank you and sorry for the many questions. This is my first time negotiating salary (I didn't in my first job, which is bad!) and I don't want to end up lowballing myself.
Please also advise me to a more appropriate resource/platform if need be. Thank you so much!