Any recommendations about negotiating comp for s3-m1 during the discussion with partner ? Is it looked down upon to bring up a competing offer (if any) and use it as leverage ? Or should you talk(cont

Question

Baker Tilly 1 · Accepted Answer

If you bring a competing offer, be ready for the possibility of leaving with it.

EY · Answer

So, are you saying one should not negotiate at all?

PwC 1 · Answer

There is not much room for negotiation. The firms review comp as compared to industry and that’s what they pay.  They determine up front what you will be comped based on your evals and how you are ranked against your peers. Everyone in your level and ranking is getting the same thing so they tend not to “negotiate”. It is different in Corporate.

PwC 2 · Answer

To clarify- the firms review salary relative to the other Big 4 firms. I’m a Sr Associate at a local firm that makes what Big 4 managers do in my market. With a five minute commute and 60 hrs a week during busy season.

PwC 1 · Answer

I think a lot of younger staff consider a few thousand dollars plus or minus to be a big deal, but lose sight of the bigger picture/longer term view. Working at a Big 4 has to be considered an investment in your own career and while you may not make as much “today”, your earning potential long term is much higher by having that Big 4 experience. The training you get and companies you see just aren’t in the same stratosphere as smaller firms or if you were working in corporate at one company

Baker Tilly 1 · Answer

It’s definitely worth discussing.  I’m just saying that I know someone who brought an offer to the table while wanting to stay and the firm said nice knowin ya.  I know others who were matched.

PwC 3 · Answer

What color was your kool-aid PwC 1?

PwC 2 · Answer

Seriously. In my several years at PwC, my experience was that most of my clients were morons. To be fair, the few that weren’t were normally (but not always) ex Big 4.

PwC 1 · Answer

Pwc 3, I am sure everyone has their own experience.  My advice is meant to be helpful and is based on my experience of what I see and have seen for years. I don’t have any other agenda beyond that so take it for what it is worth and you are free to take it or leave it

KPMG 1 · Answer

First thing, if you think you are underpaid, have a competitor’s offer in hand before comp discussion and talk to your partner/counselor/Mentor that you have this offer and leaving. As mentioned above you should be willing to leave at that point. Second, you can negotiate or discuss what you are worth, the market rate and other details but this would not help this year but may help next year. 
If you are a good performer, they will try to keep you but at the time of comp discussion you are too late for adjustments unless you have an offer and ready to leave. 
I both about the bonus every year(try to be professional though) during comp discussion but nothing changes. One of my friend had an offer for a manager position with 30% raise so company said the max we can do is 20%. Be ready for situations like this and and if you still stay, unless have some good reason which you discussed, will not be good for you long term, in my humble opinion.

EY 1 · Answer

My two cents - if you have an offer in hand and want to use it to negotiate better comp to potentially stay, you need to be serious about actually taking the other offer.  Showing up to your comp meeting with the offer doesn’t give the impression of being serious about leaving, only that you’re trying to get more money.  Much more likely to have better results negotiating comp (and other aspects of your day to day that you want to change) by having a direct conversation outside of comp meetings to discuss the other opportunity and what you would need to change to stay

Senior Associate 1 · Answer

For the ones that said there is no wiggle room in comp discussions, 2/5 of my years I scoffed at the low raise they gave me and asked for more, saying it was low. One time I got 3k which I though was fair at the time. The second time I got 7.5k more. I have always been a top performer so may way in the decision. You do not need an offer in hand, talk through why you think you are underpaid and what you would like and worst they can say is no. Don’t throw around ultimatums like I’m quitting if I don’t get 5k more because they will expect you to leave if you don’t get it and then when you don’t leave you are the staff crying wolf. Just M2C

EY · Answer

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and experiences.

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Any recommendations about negotiating comp for s3-m1 during the discussion with partner ? Is it looked down upon to bring up a competing offer (if any) and use it as leverage ? Or should you talk(cont

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