{"id":2758,"date":"2025-02-15T19:56:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T19:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/?p=2758"},"modified":"2025-02-15T19:56:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T19:56:07","slug":"how-i-lost-a-great-designer-over-2000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/how-i-lost-a-great-designer-over-2000\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Lost a Great Designer Over $2,000"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I still remember the email. Short. To the point.
“Hey, I really wanted to work with you, but I\u2019ve decided to take another offer. They matched my expectation.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like that, a designer I\u2019d been wooing for weeks slipped away. Over $2,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Setup<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It was a perfect match. The designer was exactly what my client needed\u2014sharp thinker, strong portfolio, great cultural fit. The company was equally great\u2014a fantastic team, a product that excited the designer, and solid long-term career growth. The offer was fair. Good, even.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the designer wanted $2,000 more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company said no.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Stakes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I knew how this would play out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The designer wasn\u2019t bluffing. Another company had already met their ask. But I also knew the hiring manager\u2019s reasoning: \u201cWe don\u2019t want to start a precedent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I pushed back. \u201c$2,000 isn\u2019t a precedent. It\u2019s a rounding error. You love this candidate. They love you. Let\u2019s not lose them over a number you won\u2019t even remember in three months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hiring manager held firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The designer walked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Aftermath<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A month later, the company still hadn\u2019t found another designer. The hiring manager emailed me: \u201cCan we reach out to them again?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I already knew the answer. The designer was thriving in their new role. They weren\u2019t coming back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the company? They ended up hiring someone three months later\u2014at a salary $5,000 higher than what the original designer had asked for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lesson<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Salary negotiations aren\u2019t about winning. They\u2019re about alignment. If you find someone great, don\u2019t nickel-and-dime them. The cost of losing them is almost always greater than the cost of paying a little more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned that lesson the hard way. Hopefully, you won\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I still remember the email. Short. To the point. “Hey, I really wanted to work with you, but I\u2019ve decided to take another offer. They matched my expectation.” Just like that, a designer I\u2019d been wooing for weeks slipped away. Over $2,000. The Setup It was a perfect match. The designer was exactly what my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[61,53,52],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2758","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-design","7":"category-hiring","8":"category-learnings","9":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"vasudha","author_link":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/author\/vasudha\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2759,"href":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2758\/revisions\/2759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ideaweb.me\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}