NEGA Job Negotiation Assignment |

Planning Document

A. A brief introduction of

• Myself: I am a Computer Engineer from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (University

of Delhi). Post that, I did my Masters in CS at the University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Then, joined Microsoft, Redmond with their Office team as a Software Engineer. At

Microsoft, I gained a breadth of experience in Software development, Program and product

management and software testing.

• Job/Industry you wish to join: I wish to go back to software products industry as a

product manager for a web2.0 product. I believe that my experience and interests match

perfectly well with this job profile and industry.

• The companies you wish to join: Ideally, I would like to work for Google. Or

alternatively with a growing mid-sized internet company in India. Some names that come

to mind are MakeMyTrip, Flipkart, and Cleartrip in decreasing order of preference.

B. The Scoring Sheet

ISSUE SUBISSUE POINTS YOUR INTEREST OTHERS’

INTEREST

Salary Base 25 Aspirational 25 lakhs Range 21-24

(45 points) p.a (base not CTC). lakhs p.a. as per

Range 23-25 lakhs. industry average

Joining Bonus 8 Aspirational 2.5 lakhs. 1-2 lakhs as per

Range 1.5-2.5 lakhs industry average

Stock Options 7 Aspirational 1 lakh p.a. 0 to 1 lakh

NEGA Job Negotiation Assignment |

But can do without it.

Yearly Bonus 5 Aspirational 15% of 10%

and increments salary. Range 10-15%

Location My initial 11 Would like to choose it Forced based on

(35 points) location myself demand

Relocation 9 Around one month 0

Allowance salary.

Tier 1 city / 8 Tier 1 cities Tier 1 cities

Tier 2 city

Extra salary 7 Salary increases for Salary not tied to

under inflation inflation inflation

Reporting Deciding start 10 Decide my own starting They decide my

Date date date start date

Time How much 5 3 weeks 1 week

duration for time do I get

deciding on for making a

offer decision

Other Vacations 5 4 weeks 3 weeks

Benefits

Total 100

BATNA 17-20 Lakhs Hire others

Reservation 20 Lakhs 25 lakhs

Price *57 points **36 points

NEGA Job Negotiation Assignment |

Aspiration 25 Lakhs 22 lakhs

Price 70 points 70 points

Multiple BATNAs : I’ll have following multiple BATNAs,

- To go back to software industry and join back as a developer. (17-20 lakhs)

- To start my own venture with a VC funding. I’d earn around 12-15 lakhs p.a with that

*Reservation Price Calculation: Assuming I want to break even on my ISB investment

in 3 years, every year I need to make savings of at least 8 lakhs. Assuming 40% savings,

the minimum I can accept is 20 lakhs. Score wise, the minimum score I will accept is

(25+8+5+9+10) = 57 i.e. from base, joining & yearly bonus, relocation allowance and

reporting date.

C. For the other party,

Important Issues

➢ No more salary beyond a limit – After a limit of somewhere near 25 lakhs, they would

have a hard line since it would start trampling on the salary for the next levels.

➢ My location – since they want to fill in where the demand is

➢ Compensation for inflation – They won’t make this exception just for me as this would

go against their hiring norms

BATNA To hire someone else with lesser education and at a lower salary and low demands
NEGA Job Negotiation Assignment |

**Reservation Price They wouldn’t give me more than 25 lakhs as the number starts

moving into the salary figures for the next level. Further, they might not compromise on

choosing my location and start date which puts their reservation price at 11+8+7+10 = 36

Aspiration Price They would like to offer me a salary of 22 lakhs as mentioned above.

Scorewise, they would aspire for something about 70 which is basically everything minus

some leeway to me on salary.

D. Three Negotiation Strategies and why they’ll work

➢ Anchor on my Aspiration Price, not RP (value claiming): I will anchor on my AP of

25 lakhs, not RP. This way after iterations on negotiations and giving and gaining

concessions, I will settle somewhere around 23-24 lakhs.

➢ Package issues and avoid sequential bargaining (value creating) Find out the

distributive, integrative and collaborative issues. Keep in mind your and their interests

and priorities and the issues you can trade off as per the planning document. Packaging

issues yield more integrative outcomes than if the issues are approached sequentially.

Also, it enables framing of MESOs, giving the other party chance to choose, giving them

a perception of flexibility and building trust.

➢ Post-Settlement Settlements I will also actively try to get other job(s) in parallel to

improve my BATNA. And if I get one, I will go back to the negotiating table, reveal

some information about my new BATNA, remind them about what I bring to the table

and what they might be losing out. I’ll tell them that though I want to join their company,

their offer is making it hard for me to do so.