Pushing in house start date 3 months to get year-end bonus? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi all,

I'm currently a mid-level associate at a firm that is paying fall and year end bonuses, and I'm in the final stages of the interview process for an in house job that I really like, but am concerned about broaching the topic of a start date if I do receive an official offer.

The in house gig sounds pretty great (salary in the mid $200's, 20% annual bonus target, RSUs in the company's global 500 parent company, 401k match, etc.), so I'm really inclined to take it if offered. From what I've heard throughout the interview process, they're likely going to want whoever gets the position prior to January 2021. That said, I'd really like to stay at my firm through the end of the year to get my year-end bonus since I've already grinded 9 months of the year. Is it unreasonable to request pushing a start date 3 months? FWIW, the GC and AGC are former big law people, so they know how big law comp works. I don't want to be put in a position where my options are (a) take the job and forfeit my bonus, or (b) turn the job down and collect the bonus. I'm not in a particular rush to leave my firm, but I worry in house jobs like this are hard to find.

In the alternative, would it be reasonable to say I can start right away if they're willing to provide a signing bonus that matches (or is at least close) to what I'd expect for my year-end bonus?

Thanks in advance!

[Yardbird]

Hi all,

I'm currently a mid-level associate at a firm that is paying fall and year end bonuses, and I'm in the final stages of the interview process for an in house job that I really like, but am concerned about broaching the topic of a start date if I do receive an official offer.

The in house gig sounds pretty great (salary in the mid $200's, 20% annual bonus target, RSUs in the company's global 500 parent company, 401k match, etc.), so I'm really inclined to take it if offered. From what I've heard throughout the interview process, they're likely going to want whoever gets the position prior to January 2021. That said, I'd really like to stay at my firm through the end of the year to get my year-end bonus since I've already grinded 9 months of the year. Is it unreasonable to request pushing a start date 3 months? FWIW, the GC and AGC are former big law people, so they know how big law comp works. I don't want to be put in a position where my options are (a) take the job and forfeit my bonus, or (b) turn the job down and collect the bonus. I'm not in a particular rush to leave my firm, but I worry in house jobs like this are hard to find.

In the alternative, would it be reasonable to say I can start right away if they're willing to provide a signing bonus that matches (or is at least close) to what I'd expect for my year-end bonus?

Thanks in advance!

That sounds like a great opportunity. You should be able to get at least the fall bonus - they probably wouldn’t be upset if you push on that. Year end is trickier since that is further out but no harm in asking. At the end of the day, I personally would forsake the year end and fall bonus if needed for what seems like a pretty cushy in house gig.

[TUwave]

No advice but god damn congrats, that's the offer I dream of as a fellow midlevel.

[Anonymous User]

Congrats on the role! Impressive package. Would it be possible for them to give you a sign-on bonus that matches the forgone fall+year end bonus? Not sure what year you are but since you said you were a mid-level the bonus could be substantial. So may be worthwhile to pass if they don't give you a sign-on.

[justanotherlurker]

Given that you don't have the offer and haven't given 2 weeks notice, I think your ask is going to be fairly small. The earliest you could start is mid/late October, and you're asking to start in early January, right? In that case, don't sweat it.

Get the offer, then ask how flexible they are about start date. Feel free to explain why. Most likely this won't be an issue. Lots of people need time off before starting a new job - for vacation, for relocation, etc.

If they say they desperately need you to start ASAP, raise the issue of the compensation you're giving up. Maybe they can give you a year end bonus that makes up for some of it, or additional RSUs or something.

[run26.2]

Good in-house gigs are pretty hard to come by and the comp package you outline is pretty good (for most geographical locations). So I would just keep in mind that you don't want to let this slip away because you asked for too much. I think it's worth the ask, but temper your expectation and your asks as appropriate. If the role involves negotiation, your bosses may even be impressed by attempts to negotiate on your part. That said, you don't want to be someone who is known as constantly pushing back or making asks that are too great.

If they were to give you an offer tomorrow, I think asking to come on in January is a big ask. If it comes through in November, you'll have more leeway. Personally, I wouldn't ask for more than 2 months; that's just my gut feel, though. The wheels inside corporations can move slowly, so it is entirely possible that you won't get a final offer for awhile, putting you in a better position for the ask.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thanks all, your feedback has been helpful.

I'm trying to drag the process out as much as I reasonably can, so hopefully the time I'd be requesting won't be too long, but assuming I get the offer I guess it can't hurt to ask to start post-bonus or ask for a signing bonus to offset a lost year-end bonus.

[Anonymous User]

From personal experience I can tell you that it is promising that they haven’t already asked you when the earliest you can start is—that is something that tends to come up if they really need someone to onboard quickly.

[ksm6969]

I just wanted to say that its extremely unlikely that an in-house position would be pulled because you asked for an extension on start date. The chances that you will say, "can you extend start date to january" and then they say "nevermind, the offer isn't available anymore" is near zero. Once you get an offer, it means it has gone up through the high ranks of the company, been approved, and they told the HR person to get it done. It's not like OCI hiring or something where they have a huge list of basically interchangeable people. Also, it's not out of the ordinary for in-house hires to have start dates like 6 months (or even further) after hiring. So nothing you ask for will be considered ridiculous (I've done in house hiring). They may push back, but there is basically no chance they revoke the offer because of it (and if they do, its because something else happened-- the person who was leaving decided to stay, etc.).

This is all doubly true because nobody wants to be onboarded right before holiday season. Its a natural fit to onboard in january rather than Nov / Dec.

(Also, theres a chance that even if you leave before the end of the year, you are still entitled to your bonus if you have met bonus threshold for hours. might want to check firm's language / policy)