This one is a little different but still in the theme of getting what you’re worth. I’ve been in a contract position for a few months (after five years of no one hiring me so I had to start my own consultancy) and now they want to bring me on full-time. Short version: the original salary negotiation (when I didn’t know they were thinking of bringing me) was fine when it was a fee from just another consulting client but is way, WAY lower than where I should be if I were to come on board. Like, 100% below where I would be (that’s why they hire consultants – it’s way cheaper but the tradeoff is they only get part of the consultant’s time). Complication: this is not exactly in my chosen industry but rather a parallel one that works closely with my old one (it’s professional services), and my old industry does pay way higher – but my purported executive comes from that industry so she knows the rates there.
Also: I don’t want to go back to the old industry, I like these people, enjoy working with them. The work is as interesting but the stress level is geometrically lower, they actually compliment me for work, and the quality standards are also much, much lower than I’ve been used to for the past 20 years. Now, while I can’t stay very long at the salary they have in mind, neither do I need anywhere near the full 100% difference. I could be happy with 50% higher than we are now. So how do I negotiate this without poisoning the waters, without the obvious threat of “youu know if I go back to X, I’ll get more” (she’d likely say “well we’re not in X”) – but I would like that concept, that I could be lured away, to be there. Really, I could see myself staying there for a long while, so I want to handle this just so.