Going for a Signing Bonus

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

The offer is close or there is a problem that money will make go away, under what conditions will a company be more responsive to a signing bonus.

I’m Jeff Altman, the Big Game Hunter. I’m a career coach who helps people be more effective in their job search with hiring, managing and leading teams, overall being more effective in the workplace.

Now, this is a show, this is a video, where I want to talk with you about signing bonuses, because, frankly, in good labor markets, these are golden times to go for a bonus. Now, there tend to be three situations where firms are more generous with their bonus.

Number one, you’re walking away from an annual bonus. Maybe you’re a senior professional, maybe you’re a junior, doesn’t really matter. But, you know, it’s a month or two away from bonus time. The fourth quarter of the year, bonus time. Christmas bonus, annual bonus, however your firm describes it, this bonus is coming. And of course you don’t want to leave it. You’ve got money coming you’ve been working so hard for, for so long. What do you do?

You know, I’d have to leave behind, you know, a bonus. How much was your bonus? Well, the previous year my bonus was X, but this year I’m expecting X plus Y because we’ve had a better year, yada yada yada. Okay, and that becomes part of the negotiation. Now, if… there were times when I was still doing search where people had been out of work for a while and they’d say, well in whatever two years ago was—or I’m sorry, it wasn’t that they were out of work for a while, it’s that their firm hadn’t done well in the previous year. So there was no bonus. So I’m just going to pick two dates at random. In 2018 I received a bonus of X number of dollars. How about 2019? Zero. Well, no bonus for them. So the likelihood of you getting a signing bonus to make up for the lost bonus . . . they’re not going to do that because your own firm didn’t give you that bonus, got it? But for many of you, you’re leaving a bonus behind, and that becomes a negotiating tool.

Number two is when times are good, it’s a differentiator between one firm or another. And as such, if the money’s close, there’s one of two ways you can approach it. Number one is you go for an increase in salary to get you to say yes. Number two is you go for a signing bonus. The advantage of one is the increase in salary is baked into every raise you get from that point on for the rest of your career. So for the next five years, again I’m going to pick a simple number, $100,000 and they make it 105 or 110, and you get a 3% raise, it doesn’t sound like a lot, but every raise is baked into the higher salary. In contrast, if they gave you a $10,000 bonus, it has more of an impact today. So whichever way you’re more comfortable with it, go for that approach. But clearly when markets are good, firms are giving signing bonuses for people at all levels of the spectrum.

Be Prepared to Walk Away from a Job Offer

And the third situation, which tends to be more for junior or less experienced people, is in terms of helping with a relocation. Now when they think relo, they’re thinking of the big ticket relo. We’re packing up your house, we’re moving it across the country, they’re doing that kind of a relo. But for less experienced people, they’ve got the contents of an apartment and they need a U-Haul truck and a couple of friends to pack it on both ends. And that kind of thing often is the kind of signing bonus

”I remember when I was working with consulting firms that would want someone to move from New Jersey to Florida, Florida to Naperville, Naperville to New Jersey. You know, it was a pretty common bonus and there were conditions applied to it. It could only be for moving expenses and you need to provide receipts for it as well. And it sounds quirky because it’s obviously a relocation thing that they’re calling a signing bonus.

Those are three instances that are easy to go for. Hope you found this helpful. I’m Jeff Altman. Visit my website, thebiggamehunter.us, where I’ve got thousands of posts that you can watch, listen to, or read that will help you find work more quickly. In addition, if you’re interested in one-on-one coaching from me that can include help with a salary negotiation. I obviously charge for that, of course. ”but help with a salary negotiation, critiquing your resume and LinkedIn profile, preparing you for interviews (first, second, third, wherever you are in the cycle), helping you with your networking to help you get better… Again, at my website, you can schedule time with me for one-on-one coaching, or if you’re at the beginning of your search and you want my help throughout the entire process, we can schedule a free discovery call so we can figure out if this makes sense. Lastly, if you’re watching on YouTube, in the lower right-hand corner you’ll notice a small icon. Click on that so you can subscribe to my channel, get notified whenever I release something new. I hope you have a great day today. Take care.

ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER

People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ careers easier. Those things can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues. 

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