Package Negotiations
Package Negotiations
If you were offered a position in a top tier school, had a spouse who, while not a teacher, would be working at the school, too and had two dependants who would be attending the school, what would be your top 10 package/salary requirements or ideal package you would try to negotiate for?
Re: Package Negotiations
In my experience, it doesn't work like that for schools that have integrity. I've been fortunate enough to work for a couple of them internationally, and the teacher salary and benefits are set according to a payscale, very similar to public schools in the states. For admin it seems that there is more of a negotiation process, but that's not based on direct experience.
Re: Package Negotiations
More say on housing than a typical hire, yearly flights home for all members of family (not every two years or just for adults), clarity on children's placement at the school (developmentally appropriate, not based off of arbitrary age of typical students), and as much money as you can get. Everything is negotiable at most schools.
Re: Package Negotiations
I have work at five international schools, two of them would be considered elite or tier 1 schools, and none of them allowed negotiation on salary or housing. Good luck if you can get extra, but do not be disappointed if they tell you the compensation is fixed.
Re: Package Negotiations
Only the sh_t schools would even consider negotiating - and then they would offer sh_t. You should feel lucky and grateful that a top school hired you as a teacher with a non-teaching spouse and 2 dependents.
Try to negotiate and watch the look in their eyes. But, if you are ready to be labeled a troublemaker and an ingrate right off the bat and, maybe, have the contract rescinded - that is only a maybe, go ahead and negotiate.
One question: Why do you feel you are so special that a school would offer a special package to get you? With a non-teaching spouse and 2 dependents - did I mention that already?
Try to negotiate and watch the look in their eyes. But, if you are ready to be labeled a troublemaker and an ingrate right off the bat and, maybe, have the contract rescinded - that is only a maybe, go ahead and negotiate.
One question: Why do you feel you are so special that a school would offer a special package to get you? With a non-teaching spouse and 2 dependents - did I mention that already?
Re: Package Negotiations
There won't be any kind of negotiation on your part, however, depending on the position your spouse took there might be some there. Negotiating points might revolve around housing, yearly transportation, and other minor benefits.
Re: Package Negotiations
Splendid,
I neglected to address the first part of your question, what would be your top 10 package/salary requirements?
Here are mine in relative order. I am sure different people may put them in a different order.
1. Regionally competitive salary as measured by ability to save
2. At least 10% for retirement either matched or paid directly
3. Quality housing relatively close to school.
4. Free tuition for all children
5. High quality health care that covers you in country and in your home country
6. Annual flights home for you and all dependents
7. Professional development allowance between $1,500 to $2,500 annually that can roll over to a second year if unused
8. Longevity or resigning bonus for year 3 and beyond
9. Wellness allowance to help offset out of pocket costs related to health care plan or to be used for health club membership, sporting equipment, etc.
10. Utility allowance if not covered by housing.
Most top tier schools outside of Western Europe provide many if not all of the above.
I neglected to address the first part of your question, what would be your top 10 package/salary requirements?
Here are mine in relative order. I am sure different people may put them in a different order.
1. Regionally competitive salary as measured by ability to save
2. At least 10% for retirement either matched or paid directly
3. Quality housing relatively close to school.
4. Free tuition for all children
5. High quality health care that covers you in country and in your home country
6. Annual flights home for you and all dependents
7. Professional development allowance between $1,500 to $2,500 annually that can roll over to a second year if unused
8. Longevity or resigning bonus for year 3 and beyond
9. Wellness allowance to help offset out of pocket costs related to health care plan or to be used for health club membership, sporting equipment, etc.
10. Utility allowance if not covered by housing.
Most top tier schools outside of Western Europe provide many if not all of the above.
Response
Schools generally have two approaches to compensation either they have a 1) Public/Open pay scale/salary ladder, etc. In which case the school determines the contributing factors (usually years of experience and degree level) and your salary is what ever that box says. There can be adjustments/supplements for extra duty assignments, etc. The point of this scale is that everyone with a certain category makes the same. Its "equal" if not fair (fair in my opinion is actually pretty subjective). This is a lot like the "no hassle" car dealership. The price is clearly published and thats just "how much it is".
In the second type 2): Negotiated/Closed (Private tends to be avoided, but still used) you negotiate or discuss a compensation package. This can take several forms in itself, the two most common are the face to face negotiation, usually over the phone or Skype where you politely try to sell your value to the head, and they try to get you as cheaply as possible. The second most common type is the "letter" type which either occurs with the head, or more often with HR, and involves a series of email exchanges. Where they make an initial offer, you counter offer, they "check with the boss" then they counteroffer, and back an forth until you stop seeing progress/change in the offers happening. This experience is a lot more like the traditional "used car" buy experience, where your essentially haggling.
In my experience the open/public approach is the most popular, for two reasons (and different situations). The better schools are interested in fairness, equality and simplicity, its makes payroll easier (especially at bigger schools, which also tend to be the better schools). The second reason, is in schools that really dont care about the quality of their teachers, and they just want the cheapest body in the classroom they can get. They know they pay peanuts, and they dont really care, because anyone whos a decent teacher wouldnt teach there anyway, and likely has better offers.
The Closed/negotiated salary scale is usually found at 2nd tier schools all over the globe, who are usually young schools, have small enrollments, or constant turn around in faculty. For them minimizing costs is very important, as many teachers simply dont stay longer then their initial two year contract before moving on, so investing in faculty is a lost cause for them. Lastly, they just have more of a "paycheck to paycheck" mentality, they dont know what their enrollment will be in the future and with a small school it doesnt take much change in enrollment before they are over budget. For them a good teacher at less cost is better then a great teacher who is more expensive.
My advice to teachers, is that if there is nothing special about your qualifications, then you want the open/public type of compensation determination. If you have something thats special or "adds real value" (not to be confused with perceived value, like your "just a super great teacher") then your likely to benefit from a closed/negotiated compensation package, since the assumption is that you bring more "value" to the table then a comparable teacher.
Trends i see, is that when it comes to closed/negotiated packages, woman tend to get the face to face approach (typically against an assertive male), on the assumption that woman are less comfortable with conflict, and will cave to negotiation stress quickly (there are a couple heads ive met who were proven VERY incorrect in that assumption). Men tend to get the letter exchange typically with what you would infer is a younger female contact at the schools HR department. The assumption that the intermediary (the HR contact) is just the messenger, and little old them has no power to do anything, except relay your demands to the boss. men tend to be less aggressive, in those situation, as they are indoctrinated to yield ld to the female gender, and to exercise restraint when confronted with an inferior opponent.
Elite tier ISs generally dont negotiate salary directly. they have an open published scale based on some combination of experience and education. What you can sometimes negotiate is the placement on that scale. You need to feel out the IS during the interview. You can then make an argument that you have this extra experience thats relevant to something the IS values and then suggest that experience is worth a higher step. You can suggest non education work experience, ASPs, additional studies that dont equate to a degree, additional credentials and unique skills. That pathway is more successful than stating you want $X coin, in which case the IS is very likely to just pass or stand firm on their offer.
Housing isnt something you can usually negotiate, its a logistic issue, the IS has a business process for what they provide, and they likely arent equipped to do something else. If an IS provides housing your asking them to pay housing twice in giving you an allowance, they likely have long term leases and will have an empty apartment/flat they will still have to pay for.
What you could negotiate is the length of temporary housing if you get a housing allowance, but it wont be long. ISs that take this route provide a property agent to show you apartments/flats based on your preferences and they will do it quickly. What your most likely to be successful negotiating would be an IS that provides an option of housing or allowance but requires new ITs to take the housing their first year or their first contract, you could likely get the allowance if you pushed for it, but the IS wont provide assistance in finding that housing.
Insurance generally isnt something you can negotiate. The IS has a policy and most of the governance and benefits are contracted and not amendable. Any changes will likely require riders and separate policies, and many recruiters dont understand more about their policy then how it applies to them as a user. What you MAY be able to negotiate is full coverage for dependents when the ISs policy is to only cover a portion, as this arrangement is just a business office adjustment.
Retirement is generally not something you can negotiate. The IS offers what it offers and there isnt anything to negotiate for more that doesnt equate to more coin in the salary. An IS isnt going to secure an investment or pension program for an IT.
PD is something you usually cant negotiate, you get the benefit you get. What you can negotiate is the discretion allowed in using that benefit, using the PD allowance for what you want and not what leadership wants. This is best discussed during the negotiation, in essence your asking for advance approval.
Travel, Wellness and Utility (such as mobile) allowances are typically not something you can negotiate. Either the IS has them and they are set or they dont, asking for one is perceived as asking for more coin.
Tuition Places have wide variation. If the IS is at capacity, of which many ISs are then each of those places is an average value of $10K/each, which can be a substantial increase in comp. If the IS isnt at capacity than its one of the easiest factors to negotiate. Some recruiters purposefully reduce the tuition exemptions to use as a negotiating tool. They will offer you one, and then you come back with a counter offer and they give you 2 (or 3 or 4) and you think youre doing well. What you casnt do is negotiate cash equivalent of a tuition place.
Relocation Allowances are the most negotiable. Travel and flights vary depending on family size. Its easier to negotiate a yearly flight allowance when its employees, start adding dependents and its just cost that becomes more unattractive. The average flight is $1500 - $2K per traveler.
A shipping allowance value can sometimes be negotiated into a shopping allowance (meaning you get coin for the shipping). Your landing allowance is typically set. The best option is being able to aggregate all of these into one cash equivalent allowance, book your own travel at savings, and pocket all of it.
The other issue you can negotiate is the delivery of those reimbursements, you want them on arrival.
Bonuses are something you an absolutely negotiable, but if they arent in policy they are worthless. Its too easy for the IS to get out of them if they want to. The contract is over and the IS will offer you what they think it takes to keep you. They will give you a new contract at resigning that removes the bonus. Those ISs that have a bonus policy will give you whats in the policy.
Given your scenario, your an expensive hire to fill one classroom, the IS is already employing your spouse in a created position supplementing your salary as it is. Id push for the following in order of increasing difficulty
1) Two full tuition placements
2) A cash equivalent relocation package.
3) Extra steps on the comp scale.
In the second type 2): Negotiated/Closed (Private tends to be avoided, but still used) you negotiate or discuss a compensation package. This can take several forms in itself, the two most common are the face to face negotiation, usually over the phone or Skype where you politely try to sell your value to the head, and they try to get you as cheaply as possible. The second most common type is the "letter" type which either occurs with the head, or more often with HR, and involves a series of email exchanges. Where they make an initial offer, you counter offer, they "check with the boss" then they counteroffer, and back an forth until you stop seeing progress/change in the offers happening. This experience is a lot more like the traditional "used car" buy experience, where your essentially haggling.
In my experience the open/public approach is the most popular, for two reasons (and different situations). The better schools are interested in fairness, equality and simplicity, its makes payroll easier (especially at bigger schools, which also tend to be the better schools). The second reason, is in schools that really dont care about the quality of their teachers, and they just want the cheapest body in the classroom they can get. They know they pay peanuts, and they dont really care, because anyone whos a decent teacher wouldnt teach there anyway, and likely has better offers.
The Closed/negotiated salary scale is usually found at 2nd tier schools all over the globe, who are usually young schools, have small enrollments, or constant turn around in faculty. For them minimizing costs is very important, as many teachers simply dont stay longer then their initial two year contract before moving on, so investing in faculty is a lost cause for them. Lastly, they just have more of a "paycheck to paycheck" mentality, they dont know what their enrollment will be in the future and with a small school it doesnt take much change in enrollment before they are over budget. For them a good teacher at less cost is better then a great teacher who is more expensive.
My advice to teachers, is that if there is nothing special about your qualifications, then you want the open/public type of compensation determination. If you have something thats special or "adds real value" (not to be confused with perceived value, like your "just a super great teacher") then your likely to benefit from a closed/negotiated compensation package, since the assumption is that you bring more "value" to the table then a comparable teacher.
Trends i see, is that when it comes to closed/negotiated packages, woman tend to get the face to face approach (typically against an assertive male), on the assumption that woman are less comfortable with conflict, and will cave to negotiation stress quickly (there are a couple heads ive met who were proven VERY incorrect in that assumption). Men tend to get the letter exchange typically with what you would infer is a younger female contact at the schools HR department. The assumption that the intermediary (the HR contact) is just the messenger, and little old them has no power to do anything, except relay your demands to the boss. men tend to be less aggressive, in those situation, as they are indoctrinated to yield ld to the female gender, and to exercise restraint when confronted with an inferior opponent.
Elite tier ISs generally dont negotiate salary directly. they have an open published scale based on some combination of experience and education. What you can sometimes negotiate is the placement on that scale. You need to feel out the IS during the interview. You can then make an argument that you have this extra experience thats relevant to something the IS values and then suggest that experience is worth a higher step. You can suggest non education work experience, ASPs, additional studies that dont equate to a degree, additional credentials and unique skills. That pathway is more successful than stating you want $X coin, in which case the IS is very likely to just pass or stand firm on their offer.
Housing isnt something you can usually negotiate, its a logistic issue, the IS has a business process for what they provide, and they likely arent equipped to do something else. If an IS provides housing your asking them to pay housing twice in giving you an allowance, they likely have long term leases and will have an empty apartment/flat they will still have to pay for.
What you could negotiate is the length of temporary housing if you get a housing allowance, but it wont be long. ISs that take this route provide a property agent to show you apartments/flats based on your preferences and they will do it quickly. What your most likely to be successful negotiating would be an IS that provides an option of housing or allowance but requires new ITs to take the housing their first year or their first contract, you could likely get the allowance if you pushed for it, but the IS wont provide assistance in finding that housing.
Insurance generally isnt something you can negotiate. The IS has a policy and most of the governance and benefits are contracted and not amendable. Any changes will likely require riders and separate policies, and many recruiters dont understand more about their policy then how it applies to them as a user. What you MAY be able to negotiate is full coverage for dependents when the ISs policy is to only cover a portion, as this arrangement is just a business office adjustment.
Retirement is generally not something you can negotiate. The IS offers what it offers and there isnt anything to negotiate for more that doesnt equate to more coin in the salary. An IS isnt going to secure an investment or pension program for an IT.
PD is something you usually cant negotiate, you get the benefit you get. What you can negotiate is the discretion allowed in using that benefit, using the PD allowance for what you want and not what leadership wants. This is best discussed during the negotiation, in essence your asking for advance approval.
Travel, Wellness and Utility (such as mobile) allowances are typically not something you can negotiate. Either the IS has them and they are set or they dont, asking for one is perceived as asking for more coin.
Tuition Places have wide variation. If the IS is at capacity, of which many ISs are then each of those places is an average value of $10K/each, which can be a substantial increase in comp. If the IS isnt at capacity than its one of the easiest factors to negotiate. Some recruiters purposefully reduce the tuition exemptions to use as a negotiating tool. They will offer you one, and then you come back with a counter offer and they give you 2 (or 3 or 4) and you think youre doing well. What you casnt do is negotiate cash equivalent of a tuition place.
Relocation Allowances are the most negotiable. Travel and flights vary depending on family size. Its easier to negotiate a yearly flight allowance when its employees, start adding dependents and its just cost that becomes more unattractive. The average flight is $1500 - $2K per traveler.
A shipping allowance value can sometimes be negotiated into a shopping allowance (meaning you get coin for the shipping). Your landing allowance is typically set. The best option is being able to aggregate all of these into one cash equivalent allowance, book your own travel at savings, and pocket all of it.
The other issue you can negotiate is the delivery of those reimbursements, you want them on arrival.
Bonuses are something you an absolutely negotiable, but if they arent in policy they are worthless. Its too easy for the IS to get out of them if they want to. The contract is over and the IS will offer you what they think it takes to keep you. They will give you a new contract at resigning that removes the bonus. Those ISs that have a bonus policy will give you whats in the policy.
Given your scenario, your an expensive hire to fill one classroom, the IS is already employing your spouse in a created position supplementing your salary as it is. Id push for the following in order of increasing difficulty
1) Two full tuition placements
2) A cash equivalent relocation package.
3) Extra steps on the comp scale.
Re: Package Negotiations
So I am a single IT currently. Would there be any room t negotiate since I will not be needed the offspring allotment for tuition? Maybe try and get an extra trip back home in place of it? I am not sure if this is possibly, I am just thinking outside the box here.
Re: Package Negotiations
br12,
I do not know many schools that will provide extra compensation to single teachers in lieu of the free tuition. The reason is for many schools allowing a teacher's child to attend free does not cost the school much if anything where as an extra flight home would be a real expense.
I do not know many schools that will provide extra compensation to single teachers in lieu of the free tuition. The reason is for many schools allowing a teacher's child to attend free does not cost the school much if anything where as an extra flight home would be a real expense.
Re: Package Negotiations
Thanks! Was not aware if this could be a bargaining chip or not.
Re: Package Negotiations
i haven't heard of any real negotiating unless you're an admin. the only thing i can think of offhand are things like housing, where you might be able to negotiate a little. at a previous school we got them to pay for half utilities and inet and cable -but it was just covered by our housing allowance anyways. so in that case, we simply 'used up' our housing amount, which was fairly unusual we were told later by returning staff.
best of luck!
V.
best of luck!
V.
Reply
@b12r
I know of no IS that will cash out a tuition waiver at any value as a standard policy. Most recruiters wouldnt even entertain the idea, youd be better off making some other argument for an extra flight.
First the incremental cost of tuition placments is very, very low. They have an average value of $10K in the sense thats what you would save not having to pay it, but the actual costs of adding a desk to a room, a student lunch and some miscellaneous supplies is a few coins a day.
Second, even if an IS were to give you some value in coin that you could monetize, it would start a precedent. An IT couple with kids could then make the argument that theyed rather have the extra flights and enroll their children in the local DS rather then take tuition places. It can easily be $3K per year/per person on round trip flights during the summer for a family of 4 thats $12K, less than the average tuition place but education has a local option and there isnt such an option for flights. In addition those are real expenses, whereas most of the coin in the tuition places is only on the ledger.
You might be better off negotiating a flight allowance, and then possibly finding cheap enough flights that you can get an extra years flight if you get cheap enough tickets. Some ISs will give a $1500 or $2K flight stipend per contract, and if you can get that as an allowance you might be able to get an extra trip out of it, if you plan it right.
I know of no IS that will cash out a tuition waiver at any value as a standard policy. Most recruiters wouldnt even entertain the idea, youd be better off making some other argument for an extra flight.
First the incremental cost of tuition placments is very, very low. They have an average value of $10K in the sense thats what you would save not having to pay it, but the actual costs of adding a desk to a room, a student lunch and some miscellaneous supplies is a few coins a day.
Second, even if an IS were to give you some value in coin that you could monetize, it would start a precedent. An IT couple with kids could then make the argument that theyed rather have the extra flights and enroll their children in the local DS rather then take tuition places. It can easily be $3K per year/per person on round trip flights during the summer for a family of 4 thats $12K, less than the average tuition place but education has a local option and there isnt such an option for flights. In addition those are real expenses, whereas most of the coin in the tuition places is only on the ledger.
You might be better off negotiating a flight allowance, and then possibly finding cheap enough flights that you can get an extra years flight if you get cheap enough tickets. Some ISs will give a $1500 or $2K flight stipend per contract, and if you can get that as an allowance you might be able to get an extra trip out of it, if you plan it right.