BulldogBoy
Programmer
About 6 or 8 months ago I was talking with a company about going to work with them as one of their 2 lead programmers. They offered me the job at about 5K (USD) less than I was hoping, and I would have to move about 400 miles away from where I live now, but I would have still considered it. Unfortunately, the timing was off. They offered me the job just a few weeks after both my mother and grandmother passed away, and it was also about a month before I got married. At that point in time, I just could not justify moving 400 miles away from my father who had just lost both his wife and mother within less than 3 weeks of each other. I'm sorry, but my family comes first. When I explained this to my would-be boss at the company, he said he completely understood and admired my decision, and that he would keep my info in case something came up in the future
About 2 weeks ago, while surfing on the 'Net, I inadvertently discovered that their other lead programmer (the guy I would have been working side by side with), had taken another job and had left the company. The only reason I know this is because, while researching some new programming features, I stumbled across his personal blog site. I reckognized the guy's name and picture on his website, and after reading his blog I knew it was him. Anyway, he had a posting about him getting a new job somwhere around the end of last month.
At the end of last week, I got a call from the guy that offered me the job several months ago. I was right in the middle of something and had some people with me, so I really couldn't talk, but I told him I would call him back today. I feel pretty confident that he wants to talk to me again about coming to work for him, especially since his lead guy just left. (He doesn't know I that I know this) I haven't talked to him yet, so I don't know if he's going to offer me the same salary as before or not, or if he's even going to offer me a job. I really like the area that the job is in, and my wife and I are wanting to move there anyway, even though it's 400 miles away from where we are now.
After all of my ramblings, my question is this: How would I go about salary negotiations in this situation? Obviously they must want me, if they just up and call out of the blue several months after talking with them originally. Their lead guy is gone, so they really need someone. If they offer me the same thing as they did before, should I just accept it or try to get a little more? If they offer me a little more than before, should I accept that or still try to negotiate? I don't want to get greedy, I'm sure they've got other people they can call and offer the job. I've never been good at this sort of thing, I always just take (or leave) what's offered and have never really tried to negotiate. Plus, I have to consider the whole relocation factor, but I doubt they offer any assistance with that.
Any thoughts?
About 2 weeks ago, while surfing on the 'Net, I inadvertently discovered that their other lead programmer (the guy I would have been working side by side with), had taken another job and had left the company. The only reason I know this is because, while researching some new programming features, I stumbled across his personal blog site. I reckognized the guy's name and picture on his website, and after reading his blog I knew it was him. Anyway, he had a posting about him getting a new job somwhere around the end of last month.
At the end of last week, I got a call from the guy that offered me the job several months ago. I was right in the middle of something and had some people with me, so I really couldn't talk, but I told him I would call him back today. I feel pretty confident that he wants to talk to me again about coming to work for him, especially since his lead guy just left. (He doesn't know I that I know this) I haven't talked to him yet, so I don't know if he's going to offer me the same salary as before or not, or if he's even going to offer me a job. I really like the area that the job is in, and my wife and I are wanting to move there anyway, even though it's 400 miles away from where we are now.
After all of my ramblings, my question is this: How would I go about salary negotiations in this situation? Obviously they must want me, if they just up and call out of the blue several months after talking with them originally. Their lead guy is gone, so they really need someone. If they offer me the same thing as they did before, should I just accept it or try to get a little more? If they offer me a little more than before, should I accept that or still try to negotiate? I don't want to get greedy, I'm sure they've got other people they can call and offer the job. I've never been good at this sort of thing, I always just take (or leave) what's offered and have never really tried to negotiate. Plus, I have to consider the whole relocation factor, but I doubt they offer any assistance with that.
Any thoughts?