Negotiating a Salary...

[Anghang]

How do you go about negotiating the salary once the company puts their offer on the table and you don't have any other offers to bargain with?

All that comes to my mind is a bidding match if the company is even willing to play the bidding game with you. I can no doubt negotiate if I had another offer or if my current job is obviously offering a better overall package.

But what if your a fresh out of college person with only part time experience? How do you start negotiations? Or do you not even negotiate at all and accept the offer? I never ask "is this negotiable" because obviously the company can squash it by simply saying no.

 

[HansHurt]

<<Negotiating a Salary... >>


I start w/ a bat, then move to a cattle prod....finally a peacemaker.









Works everytime.

 

[frizzlefry]

WEll, if the deal is good for you then I say take it. Being too greedy can cause tension later on when it comes time for your annual/semi review. I usually take the offer. Work my ass off and when it comes time for raise, I let them know that they paid me less than other starters in teh beginning and if I've proven myself to be more than expected, then I can expect a larger raise.

Its just a matter of thinking about if this is gonna be good for you. I mean I don't know what the offer is but it doesn't really hurt to ask for a little more. If its a large company and they want you, then asking for 5-10% increase or possibly more benefits would be good.

 

[StormRider]

Actually, I've never negotiated a salary. I've always just accepted the offer and hope that I can do well and get rewarded in the end. And the last job I accepted I was just grateful for getting a chance so I took a salary that was well below what most people with masters in EE get (around 38K).

 

[kranky]

I agree with frizzlefry. You don't have a lot of negotiating leverage for a first job, and you'd hate to blow the deal over a little bit of money anyway. Here's the most powerful way to get good raises once you get your foot in the door: document everything you do, make sure you pay close attention to the things your boss tells you to do, then a month before review time write it all up and send the boss a copy.

Documenting your achievements and giving the boss a summary of your year's (or 6 month's) activities will make it nearly impossible for the boss to screw you on your raise. You'll have a record of all the assignments you were given and concrete information about how you did. And assuming you did well, he/she will be so glad you provided all the information to do the review with, you'll do fine. And since the odds are overwhelming that not one of your co-workers will take the time or be disciplined enough to do this over that length of time, you'll stand out from the crowd.

Do not underestimate the power of this technique. It works.

 

[Helpless]

>But what if your a fresh out of college person with only part time experience? How do you start negotiations? <

I have always looked for a position that pays 1/2 my total student loans For example, after my undergrad. degree, I was about 60K - 70K in the hole, so was fully willing to work for ~30K - 35K...after my Master's, I was quite a bit more in the hole, so was looking for a job that paid quite a bit more In any event, I have always used the 1/2 SL formula.

However, for those who got the bargain education for < 20K, not sure how this would apply...maybe the SL*2 forumla?

 

[cryptokid]

what ever you do, dont say your from here.

 

[StormRider]

what ever you do, dont say your from here.

LOL

 

[1cito]

I agree with frizzlefry, unless the offer is totally unreasonable. If its a fair offer (and your only offer) take it and bust your ass for them! If you ask for more they might expect more of you because you asked for more. You really don?t wanna start off this way on your 1st job after college.

Also right now companies are laying off peolpe left and right so you should feel fortunate to have gotten an offer. Congradats on the job offer and good luck.

 

[1cito]

kranky


thats some damn good advice!

 

[StormRider]

Do not underestimate the power of this technique. It works.

Kranky gave some really good advice. This is basically the technique that I used. I started off at 38K and now I'm making around 60K after a little over a year on the job. Basically I kept a journal and I documented all my work (software design docs, dataflow diagrams, etc) and I think it impressed them.

 

[Helpless]

I agree with the above posts...I was thinking you are looking for a job, and the formula I use gives me an idea of where to start looking...As for negotiating a salary when you are fresh out of school, I've never had an experience, as I took anything they threw my way that would give me great experience for future positions....I took jobs that look good on the resume and didn't worry much about pay...at first

 

[Anghang]

<< Congradats on the job offer and good luck. >>


Congrats not to me, but my bro, he was asking me for advice being that I've been out for several years now, for me I was lucky being that I'm in IT, he's an accounting major, totally different field...

hey this is great information thus far ppl, been doing some of what was posted for sometime now, keep the info coming...

 

[Helpless]

I was an accounting major, until I saw the light I had dreams that I would be forced to open up a &quot;$19.95 1040-EZ&quot; joint, so switched my major to Economics/Public Policy for my undergrad degree


For an accounting major, I would try to get into the Big-5 accounting firms, PriceWaterhouse, etc, etc...Anderson Consulting is a great gig, too, from what I hear.

 

[ZoneAphobia]

&quot;what ever you do, dont say your from here. &quot;

Try sayin Ars Technia,its a step up.

 

[Ameesh]

<< Actually, I've never negotiated a salary. I've always just accepted the offer and hope that I can do well and get rewarded in the end. And the last job I accepted I was just grateful for getting a chance so I took a salary that was well below what most people with masters in EE get (around 38K). >>



you are their bitch, you have a masters in EE and you took 38k what kind of man are you? maybe your a convict and no one will hire you... hmmm....

 

[bozo1]

If it's your first real job, I doubt they would negotiate much or at all. Later on you can play the game. I just switched jobs after 9 years. They offered about 5K above what I was planning on asking for which was about 10K above what I had at my previous job. They only negotiating I did was to ask for 4 weeks vacation/year as opposed to the standard 2. I was getting 4 at my previous job because of my longevity there and told them I didn't want to go backwards by making the move. They bit because they wanted me and thought I was happy at my current job. I also make it quite clear that I expected comp time occasionally for night/weekend work, etc.

 

[Helpless]

>maybe your a convict and no one will hire you<

I wouldn't hire you for more than 38K, sir...with your grammar and all

 

[vi edit]

Or, you can do what I did. I was sort of a last ditch effort by the company that I work for. I put in a resume over 2 months before I got an interview. They had a guy hired, and he ended up calling in the day before his first day and decided he didn't want the position.

At the time, I already had a full time position and was in a city 2 hours away. My company called me up and wanted to know if I was still looking for a job. I had an open mind about it, and decided to go down for the interview. I ended up getting hired 3 days later.

They came at me with an offer. I wasn't overly happy with it since I would have to move, and the area was more expensive to live in than where I currently was. As a counter offer, I had them agree to a $500 sign on bonus for moving expenses, as well as an additional $1500 in bonus spread throughout the year after successfully completing agreed upon milestones.

I ended up getting an additional $2000 out of the deal because I asked.

Also, six months into the position I wound up getting a $5000 bonus

 

[StormRider]

you are their bitch, you have a masters in EE and you took 38k what kind of man are you? maybe your a convict and no one will hire you... hmmm....

LOL. Hehe.

Actually, it's kind of a complicated and embarrassing story. I'm basically a loser. I was in a bad point in my life. When I went back to grad school (after working), my parents wanted me to continue helping out at their restaurant -- I interpreted that to mean they did not want me to work at school. Well, working in a restaurant while ny peers are being TAs and doing research dropped my self esteem. In addition, it was a major crimp in my social life which dropped my self esteem further down.

Anyways, after I got my masters, I could not get a job. This dropped my self esteem to a really low point! I gave really bad interviews (no self confidence). But the real kicker was that I could not put down any references because I had no friends. I remember getting applications and not being able to fill them out because of this. Working in the restaurant kind of isolated me socially. The embarrassment of having no friends made me withdraw from the world.

I kept asking my parents to hire someone so that I could concentrate on school and my social life but they never did. It really hurt me to see kids come up to the restaurant and ask for an application and see my mom tell them we didn't need anyone. Because of my depression, I lingered too long in school so that I couldn't really used my references from my old job (and I certainly couldn't put down my parents as a reference). I felt trapped and wanted to kill myself.

During a long period of unsuccessfully trying for a pHD and looking for a job, I finally got a break. Someone offered me a student position at a lab. Then I managed to get a TA position. All of a sudden my self confidence started to go up. The next interview I gave, I got the job. And I was able to use references from my student job and TA positions. I felt so grateful that someone took a chance on me that I would have worked for free just to be able to prove myself.

I still have no social life but my professional career seems to be okay (I heard I might be getting another raise ). I worry about being able to continue my professional success because of my lack of ability in the &quot;small talk&quot; area. I just prefer to keep to myself because I'm basically embarrassed about my life and I'm worried that people will think I'm anti-social. I've already heard comments that I'm the quietest person they've ever met and stuff like that. The cleaning lady even asked me if I had any friends and that I should go out and meet people. Haha, I'm such a loser...

 

[monto]

<< WEll >>

OT but are you named after the Primus song

 

[juiio]

Coming out of college, I had an offer from a company. I said &quot;I was hoping for <the amount plus $5,000>.&quot; They split the difference and I agreed.

 

[damocles]

I say ask for 1-2K more. If you do it politely you won't offend anyone. Just say that is what you think your skills are work. I have done that for my last 3 job interviews and have gotten it every time. If they wont give you the additional money, the worst that will happen is that they will stick with their current offer

 

[Michael]

Is the position at a CPA firm (I hope it is if he's an accounting major who just graduated). If so, the larger ones tend to give uniform offers and he won't have much room at all to negotiate.

Michael

 

[Anghang]

dang...they offered my bro 27k and expected him to do A/R, when the job application description was for 37k-42k for book keeper...A/R wouldn't of been a challenge and would basically be doing what he's been doing part time, woulda learned nothing, so he told them to shove it...hahaha...i would have too...oh well...