Wesley, an engineer, was ready to make a career move after nearly a decade at his company. Wesley also recently got married where he and his wife decided to start their new family by purchasing a new house. As now he has an additional financial commitment, Wesley started to actively look for new jobs with a higher salary package which will help him to fulfil his dream. 

After a few interviews, Wesley decided to transition to a role as a Project Manager with a Multi-National Company (MNC) and was excited to receive an offer from a reputable Fortune 500 company as part of their Project Management team for one of the plants in Penang. Unfortunately, the salary package was not as attractive compared to other offers but this particular role will help him to pivot and fast track his career growth.  

When the offer came in, he was relieved that it wasn’t as low as he thought it might be, but he still knew he had to ask for more. Even though the offer was lower than his expected salary, it comes with good perks and benefits. Not to give up easily, Wesley went in asking for RM1.5K/mth more; they countered at RM1K/mth more than the initial offer but with fewer benefits, and he accepted the offer!

You might be wondering, is negotiating for a higher salary worth the effort? Shouldn’t Wesley be grateful and just accept what was being offered? After all, how big does a difference of RM1K/mth make? Well, as the saying goes, the devil is in the detail. Let’s take a closer look at the numbers.

By negotiating his salary, Wesley is eligible for an additional loan of RM162,466 compared to the initial offer. Now, Wesley and his wife have more choices to select the best property as their dream house. Although they don’t have to get a property at the maximum loan eligibility of  RM750K+, the additional eligibility makes sure that they are not missing out on opportunities. 

Besides that, by negotiating a higher base salary, Wesley will also enjoy higher increments and could demand a more lucrative package when he decides to take on a new role in the future. 

The difference of RM1000 may look negligible and insignificant, but let’s say Wesley decided to invest the extra RM1000 monthly for the next 5 years in a fund that gives an annual return of 10%. At the end of the 5th year, Wesley would have accumulated RM74,016.

So, next time you are out looking for a new job, do some research on what is the salary range for that particular job and negotiate a better offer. In the next series, we will explore some negotiation tactics which will increase your odds of getting a better offer. Look out for it next Friday. 

by R.Bushan