McCallum,
Assuming you won’t send the HR person a link to this board with your witty repartee, I suggest the following.
First, figure out if this is the job you want compensation aside. If yes, proceed.
Next, thoroughly review everything and afterwards determine what you believe is fair compensation (doesn’t matter yet what anyone else thinks)
Finally, call (email if you must) the HR person and tell them that you thought about your conversation over the weekend and that you are very excited about the organization and the opportunity. You’ve reviewed all of the benefits information and wanted to discuss compensation more specifically. Tell them that (again) that you are at X. Then state that if they make an official offer at X’, you will accept, tender your resignation and start in 2 weeks.
This isn’t hardball, but just a matter of getting to the the point They now know that if they offer at X’, you will accept Anything below that opens the door to being turned down. Super simple and no game playing. I do this all the time and I hate “negotiating”.
Fwiw, I am scheduled to do this tomorrow morning with a CIO and it is for a $120k offer. They want to come in at 115k + 5k up front, but that opens up the possibility of a turn down. You can’t make decisions for others, just give them all the data to make an informed decision
p.s. it wasn’t an offer from HR, it was in essence a promise ring. All but meaningless.
