hi,
I am living in Europe now and I am currently pursuing a job near Atlanta in logistics. I have a masters degree in history and one in economics and have 7 years working experience, 4 of which as transport and logistics manager. But I want to know how far i can go in negotiating my year salary. So please feel free to give me an idea, or chime in on any other part.
thanks!
A lot of this will be industry specific. I can tell you that in my industry (law), Atl is considered a secondary market even relative to Dallas, with NYC/SF/Dallas/LA starting at 160 and Atl falling in with the second tier and starting at 145.
Cost of living is low, it’s an attractive place to live–it’ll be an uphill climb demanding anything like NYC market salary imo.
Have you researched the likely rate for someone with your experience in that market or one like it? I’m assuming the company who posted the job you’re pursuing is going to sponsor a work visa for you? That’s something you need to consider and factor in as well as most of your competition as well as any other comparative positions will be apropos to someone who does not require sponsorship.
Good luck!
yes, the company is a sister company of my current company. The head office makes all the arrangements for the visa.
i looked up some similar vacancies and the expected wages but they vary enormously. I calculated my wage in dollars added 15% (cost of living should be 15% more expensive, according to some websites). The question is now how much % should I add again to take into account relocation costs etc.
I would expect you would have better success negotiating them to cover the costs of the move either through reimbursement or a one time flat sum payment (if this is an intracompany move, this applies even more, I would say). Generally, you are looking at them covering the cost of moving your household goods and helping you manage getting out of your living arrangements in the old place(selling house, buying out lease, etc.) and setting them up in the new place.
Their willingness to do this may vary, but I’d say you have a better shot if they are trying to get you to move within the company. I’ve not heard of a salary increase due to one-time moving costs, only cost of living increase.
Now, if you’re taking on new responsibilities, etc., that may be cause to negotiate a raise, but I don’t think you should base that on the cost of the move, either from the standpoint of figuring out how much to ask for or justifying it to the company.
Why do you want to work in America? You will lose a lot of benefits like guaranteed time off and “free” (not really free in europe but healthcare is a mess in the USA) healthcare. Think twice and carefully about it.
As far as negotiation, you are going to want to ask high to offset health insurance costs, moving costs (they may reimburse you in exchange for a minimum of 1 year employment if the company is worth their salt), reduced vacation time, etc. I cant give you a salary estimate because I work in engineering, but you should know your skillset and what you are worth.
For a general gauge:
Middle class for a 4 family home in America should be around $140k a year (most people don’t make this)
My friends who are doing pretty well make around 70k a year living alone, but 90k is ideal living alone with no family.
[quote]Aero51 wrote:
For a general gauge:
Middle class for a 4 family home in America should be around $140k a year (most people don’t make this)
My friends who are doing pretty well make around 70k a year living alone, but 90k is ideal living alone with no family.
[/quote]
Where do you live? The lifestyle that a family of 4 in America should be able to easily manage for $140k is way beyond middle class pretty much everywhere in the world. If you live in Manhattan then maybe you need that much money to have a comfortable lifestyle, but most places it simply isn’t true.
For the record, I am providing for a family of four outside of Boston on significantly less than $140k. We’re not rich, but we’re solidly upper middle class. Giving someone advice based on what you think middle class should be is not very helpful when your definition of middle class is likely well above the middle class everywhere in the world. No, middle class incomes in Europe are not that high, even if you add in the cost of paid time off and healthcare (which most US employees with decent jobs get from their employer anyways).