Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 528, Negotiating Salary.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 528.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is called Negotiating Salary.
It's a dialogue between Ronaldo and Simone.
They're going to be talking about someone who may be interested in taking a job, but they first want to get a good salary.
Salary being the money that you're paid for your job.
Let's get started.
Hello, may I speak to Simone Otto?
This is Simone.
May I ask who's calling?
This is Ronaldo Garcia at Cinetech.
You interviewed for a position with me last week.
Oh, yes, of course.
How are you?
I'm doing well.
The reason I'm calling is that I was very impressed with you last week and I'd like to offer you the job.
Thank you very much.
I'm delighted to hear it.
I really appreciate the job offer.
I think we now need to talk about salary.
What are your salary requirements?
Well, for this type of position, I would be looking for a salary range between 60,000 and $65,000.
Hmm, that's a bit higher than I was thinking, given our budget constraints.
Perhaps we can give you an attractive compensation package if the salary isn't quite what you're looking for.
I'm certainly open to negotiations, though I think that the salary range I named is comparable to that of similar positions in the field.
Alright, why don't you consider this?
I can give you a salary of 50000 and I'll increase your annual vacation time from two weeks to three weeks.
In this economy, it's a salary that many people would jump at.
I understand that, but I also know that I have a lot to offer your company.
That's certainly true, and I don't want you to walk away from this job if there's any way we can close the gap in salary.
If you're willing to up the offer to $60,000 then I think it may be doable.
Well, 60000 is really the ceiling for that position.
I'll have to give it some thought and call you back.
Please do.
And again, thank you very much for the offer.
It would be an honor to work with you and to work at Cinetech.
Our phone conversation begins with Rinaldo saying, Hello, may I speak to Simone Otto?
Simone says, this is Simone.
May I ask who's calling?
That's a somewhat formal way when someone calls you but doesn't identify themselves first.
You're asking them to tell you who they are.
Ronaldo says this is Ronaldo Garcia at Cinetech, the name of his company or the company where he works.
He says, you interviewed for a position with me last week.
So Simone wants to get a job at Cinetech and Ronaldo is calling her after the interview.
To interview means to have a meeting with that person where they ask questions and you give answers about your qualifications for the job.
Simone says, oh yes, of course.
How are you?
Ronaldo says, I'm doing well.
The reason I'm calling is that I was very impressed with you last week and And I'd like to offer you the job.
I would like to say this job is yours if you want it.
Simone says, thank you very much.
I'm delighted to hear it.
This is a somewhat formal way of saying I'm very happy to hear that news.
I'm very happy to find out that you are offering me, in this case, a job.
Simone says, I really appreciate the job offer.
The job offer is when they say, either by telling you or by writing you that we are offering you a job.
We are saying you can have this job if you want it.
Ronaldo says, I think we now need to talk about salary.
The amount of money that you're paid now.
Salary is the amount of money that you're paid in a year regardless of how many hours you work.
There are two ways of being paid.
One is with a salary where you get paid a certain amount of money even if you work 10 hours a day.
The other way of getting paid is a wage, W-A-G-E.
A wage is when you are paid usually by the hour.
So the more hours you work, the more you're paid.
In the United States, most professional positions administrative positions are by salary, not by the hour.
Hourly wages are usually for jobs that perhaps don't require the same level of education as a professional job does, though that's not always the case.
Rinaldo asks Simone, Simone says, $60,000 and $65,000.
I would be looking is just a slightly more formal way of saying.
I am looking for a salary range.
A range is the highest and lowest amount of something.
In this case, the salary range is the lowest amount that she would accept to the highest amount that you could expect.
She of, But the salary range would be the average salary, the salary that would be typical for a job like this.
Ronaldo says hmm, that's a bit higher than I was thinking, meaning it's more money than he thought the new employee Simone, should be paid.
He says, given our budget constraints...
Given means taking into consideration our budget or financial constraints.
A constraint is something that limits what you can do.
Ronaldo is saying here basically, we don't have enough money in our budget, in the plan that we have, for the money we're going to spend to pay the salary that you want.
He says perhaps we can give you an attractive compensation package if the salary isn't quite what you're looking for.
A compensation package would be a combination of all the things that you get in exchange for working at your job.
So this would include health insurance, vacation days, retirement money, money for when you stop working.
Those would all be part of a compensation package.
The word compensation is just another word for what you receive by doing something.
By working there, you receive money plus all these other things.
Simone says, To be open to something means that you are willing to do something.
Negotiations is when you sit down with someone and you talk about a difference that you have and you try to come to some common agreement.
Perhaps one person gives up something, you give up something, you compromise, you negotiate.
Negotiations is the noun from the verb to negotiate.
Simone says she's open to negotiations, though I think that the salary range I named is comparable to that of similar positions in the field.
To be comparable means to be similar, something that you can compare with the same characteristics.
She's saying that the salary range she gave Ronaldo 60000 to 65000 is similar to other jobs, similar jobs in that field, in that type of work, whatever it is.
Ronaldo says, all right, why don't you consider, why don't you think about this?
I can give you a salary of 50000 and I'll increase your annual vacation time from two weeks to three weeks.
To increase means to give more vacation days.
Annual is every year.
Typically in the U.S. in jobs, you get between maybe two to four weeks of vacation every year.
It depends on the job.
Typical is two weeks.
Not like in other countries where you may get four or five weeks.
Typically, it's less here in the U.S. than in some other countries.
So, Simone says, hmm, I'll need to think about that.
Ronaldo says, in this economy, it's a salary that many people would jump at.
To jump at here means to decide to do something immediately, without thinking before making your decision, because it's so good.
It's so attractive.
Rinaldo is saying that, with difficult economic times, this is a good salary and other people would take it immediately.
This, of course, is a kind of psychological problem pressure that he's trying to put on Simone, trying to force her, maybe make her feel even a little guilty that she's asking for a higher salary.
This is, of course, part of the negotiation process.
The word jump has a couple of different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some more explanations.
Simone says, I understand that, meaning I understand it is a good salary.
But I also know that I have a lot to offer your company.
Ronaldo says that's certainly true.
To walk away here means to say no to something.
It doesn't mean literally to walk in the opposite direction, although it could mean that.
But in this context, it means to say no, to say, no, thank you.
I don't want this position.
And that's the end of it.
Ronaldo is trying to close the gap.
To close the gap means to somehow compromise negotiate so that we can find something we both agree on.
Maybe not 50000, maybe not 60000, perhaps 55000, where one person goes up and the other goes down and they can agree on something.
A gap is a space in between two things.
In this case, it's the distance, if you will, the difference in the amount of money that Simone wants and Ronaldo is offering her.
Simone says, if you're willing to up the offer to $60,000, then I think it may be doable.
To up here means to increase.
Up is used as a verb to make something bigger or louder.
In this case, to increase the salary.
If you're willing to up the offer meaning what you are offering me to 60000, then I think she says it may be doable, meaning I can do it.
Rinaldo says, well, $60,000 is really the ceiling for that position.
The ceiling is the maximum or highest amount that you, in this case, will pay somebody.
Ceiling has other meanings in English.
The learning guide will give you some more explanations about those.
Ronaldo says I'll have to give it some thought and call you back, meaning I'll have to think about it.
To give something some thought means to think about it.
Simone says, please do.
And again, thank you very much for the offer.
It would be an honor to work with you and to work at Cinetech.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Hello, may I speak to Simone Otto?
This is Simone.
May I ask who's calling?
This is Ronaldo Garcia at Cinetech.
You interviewed for a position with me last week?
Oh yes, of course.
How are you?
I'm doing well.
The reason I'm calling is that I was very impressed with you last week and I'd like to offer you the job.
Thank you very much.
I'm delighted to hear it.
I really appreciate the job offer.
I think we now need to talk about salary.
What are your salary requirements?
Well, for this type of position, I would be looking for a salary range between $60,000 and $65,000.
Hmm, that's a bit higher than I was thinking given our budget constraints.
Perhaps we can give you an attractive compensation package if the salary isn't quite what you're looking for.
I'm certainly open to negotiations, though I think that the salary range I named is comparable to that of similar positions in the field.
All right.
Why don't you consider this?
I can give you a salary of 50000 and I'll increase your annual vacation time from two weeks to three weeks.
Hmm.
I'll need to think about that.
In this economy, it's a salary that many people would jump at.
I understand that, but I also know that I have a lot to offer your company.
That's certainly true, and I don't want you to walk away from this job if there's any way we can close the gap in salary.
If you're willing to up the offer to $60,000, then I think it may be doable.
Well, $60,000 is really the ceiling for that position.
I'll have to give it some thought and call you back.
Please do.
And again, thank you very much for the offer.
It would be an honor to work with you and to work at Cinetech.
There's no one comparable to the wonderful scriptwriter of this episode, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
