Episode 09

Before accepting the job offer, Sarah negotiates a few terms of her contract.

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. You can also read the transcript.

Preparation

Transcript

Marcia: Hi! Welcome to WebWare.

Sarah: Thanks. Nice to see you again.

Marcia: You too. Erm, so you said you wanted to come in and have a chat before you started.

Sarah: Yeah, I just wanted to have a look around and ask a few more questions, if I can.

Marcia: Sure, fire away!

Sarah: Well, I was delighted to receive the job offer.

Marcia: Good. We were delighted to offer it to you.

Sarah: But before I sign the contract there were one or two specifics I wanted to talk about.

Marcia: OK, 'specifics'?

Sarah: Well, there's a pay scale, instead of a fixed salary?

Marcia: Yes, as a new employee you'd be at the lower end of the pay scale.

Sarah: But taking my experience into account ...

Marcia: Well, you haven't had that much experience. We see you as an investment ...

Sarah: But that salary would only be a little more than I'm making now. So, instead of asking for a higher level on the pay scale, I thought this could be compensated by adding certain bonuses. For instance, if I make certain sales targets, or even break them, I would be looking for a good cash payment or stock options in the company.

Marcia: Well, that is something we sometimes offer senior members of staff, but to show good faith I'll provisionally offer you the bonus scheme, but I'll have to OK it with Philip first.

Sarah: That's fine. I also see that there are 25 days' holiday.

Marcia: Yes. That's standard.

Sarah: It's not very much for a high-pressure job, though.

Marcia: I can't offer you any more holiday.

Sarah: No, but I was wondering if we could delay my start date, so instead of starting a week from now, as we discussed, I could start in a month's time?

Marcia: You're a tough negotiator, Sarah!

Sarah: That's one of the reasons you hired me!

Marcia: Yes, of course. OK, I think we can do that. I'll look forward to seeing you in a month and earning those bonuses!

Task 1

Task 2

Discussion

Download
Worksheet80.44 KB
Average: 5 (3 votes)
Do you need to speak better English at work?
Learn to speak, read, write and understand English in a variety of work situations. Join thousands of learners from around the world who are making great progress with their English level with our online courses.

Submitted by jyoti Chaudhary on Fri, 22/04/2022 - 14:24

Permalink

Is it common in your area of work to negotiate the terms of a new job, as Sarah did?
yes, it is very common in my area where negotiate the term of a new job as Sarah did. when I was starting my job in my new company I was negotiating my salary and worktime with incentives. according to my experience, I did sales in any place but I'm not punctual at my office that's why I took sufficient time to come in office and late at evening I went my home.

Submitted by Moody on Fri, 25/09/2020 - 20:15

Permalink
In my area its not common to negotiate the terms of the contract, you can only negotiate about salary but if you were overqualified , you would negotiate other terms

Submitted by Andrea Cabrera on Fri, 14/08/2020 - 17:52

Permalink
in Mexico it depends on the size on the company but usually in Mexico you can negotiate salary but not holidays

Submitted by Dodo Mohamed on Wed, 27/05/2020 - 22:40

Permalink
Yes, it's common in my field, because every company has its pay scale and incentive schemes so we should negotiate to get a proper offer matching with experiences.

Submitted by JulianoCrispi on Mon, 04/05/2020 - 21:39

Permalink
I think this kind of negotiation is for small businesses. In big companies you usually have no flexibility to ask for a bonus or ask for a few days off even before starting to work. You might be able to negotiate the pay scale tho.

Submitted by EddieLuv on Sat, 25/04/2020 - 20:48

Permalink
It's not so common but, when the right time is come, is really good have a chance to talk about receive a better salary or a promotion.
Profile picture for user OlaIELTS

Submitted by OlaIELTS on Fri, 24/04/2020 - 18:35

Permalink
Yes. It's really possible.