This is the fourth and final letter of a four-part series. The job offer has been made and countered. The company is coming back with their best and final offer. The tone of their letter is friendly, businesslike, and optimistic--a good sign. Yet they're denying--or not mentioning--several things David asked for.

ABC Manufacturing, Inc. January 17, xxxx David R. Willford 2200 North Forsythe Road Los Angeles, CA 89900 Sent Via Fax: 818-723-9996 Dear Mr. Willford: We have reviewed the points you have raised in your January 15th letter. Before addressing those points, I would like to reiterate our commitment to give you all the support needed to make this a successful "marriage". As we discussed in our meeting, we have been nurturing and supporting this company for the last 10 years and have brought it to this level of stability. The company is positioned for very high potential of big profits. As a newcomer you can see that a lot of hard "leg work" has been put in to bring it to this level. Now we are looking for an executive to take the challenge of reaping the benefits. We understand your requests. We would not have had any problems with meeting all of your requests, had the company been in a position to do so today. Nevertheless, we are ready to commit to the following: Severance Pay: Severance pay to be considered after you have permanently relocated to Orlando, which is assumed to be six months from your starting date. Your permanent relocation will be the indication that both parties are comfortable to continue the relationship. From that point on ABC will commit to you six months of severance pay anytime your employment is terminated without cause. Base salary to be $85,000. Bonus program to be the greater of 6% of net profit or 0.5 cents per pound of product sales over 30,000,000 pounds. Sale price to be within the company pricing guidelines. Relocation: ABC to pay 50% of your expenses up to a maximum of $10,000, this amount to be paid upon your permanent relocation to Orlando, Florida (i.e. after six months). I trust that you will be in agreement with the above, so that we can move on to accomplish our ABC Super Bowl goals! Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Ronald Lando

 

ABC Manufacturing raised the bonus 2%, and made some other concessions. But quite honestly, David was disappointed that they didn't meet his $100,000 base salary request. He said he was neutral on the offer. The job itself was an 8 on a scale of 10. But the salary was low. He decided to call them back and ask for $90K, which he did. They accepted, and shook hands on the deal. All in all, it was a big win for everyone. You can see by the agreement that both parties view this as a trial marriage. Relocation and severance don't kick in for six months. This is a small company with $6 milion in sales. A larger company might have written these into the initial offer and not quibbled about them.

[ Home | Search | For Your Career | For Your Company | Bookstore ]