How I Turned My Shitty Job Offer Into The Role And Salary Of My Dreams

Alright friends, gather around… it’s Story Time!

Way back when I was still in the corporate world, I found myself in a tricky position. After having spent my first couple of years in the world of work a lawyer in the financial district in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, suddenly I had to look for a new role in Hong Kong after my family moved there.

Let me just say that finding a position in a different continent, a different industry (Dutch law didn’t translate well to my new jurisdiction…) and a new type of position wasn’t that easy.

But after a couple of months, I was fortunately made an offer for a seemingly exciting position in an international company. The interviews had gone well, and I received great feedback on my ideas for the role, which included building the HR function for a billion-dollar company throughout Asia. 

And then the official job offer came in… It was, to put it mildly, disappointing. 

Very disappointing. 

My excitement for the opportunity quickly turned into annoyance – was THIS all they wanted? My ambitions for the company, the role and also for myself were much bigger. 

In the same week, I had received an offer from a start-up in the same city. A very different proposition, it was nonetheless an attractive one. Especially compared to the shitty one I just received…

Knowing I had an alternative, I was emboldened to create a compelling proposal for the education company who came through with the disappointing offer. With the help of a friend (and a bottle of good Burgundy, NGL), I wrote down my dream job description with a big vision for both myself and the company. I added a bold salary proposal and then sent it off, knowing I would be fine whether they would accept it or not. 

They did though😊 I mean, there was some back and forth about the salary piece but by and large agreed to the role content, the level and they paid in the end what I asked for. 

So not only had I created the most exciting role imaginable for myself, I had also ensured that they appreciated that as evidenced by the rather large package I negotiated for it. This, in turn, meant that I started there with a ton of enthusiasm and motivation – something that would have been sorely lacking if I had made the mistake of saying yes to their original offer. 

And this, my friends, is in short what I now teach my WINners to do to create their insane career and salary successeses: 

To take control of the process.

To co-create their dream roles with the companies they are most excited about.

To build alternatives so they can negotiate confidently and powerfully.

And then to use the best-in-class negotiation strategies, taking into account their gender and the dynamics at play.

… so that they end up with (1) their dream role and (2) their dram salary.

If you want to learn how it’s done, reach out. I am happy to teach you and, more importantly, get you these results!