So I got a job offer...

[Zeze]

It's too bad you didn't get any perspective with your degree.

"Hey dudes, I work part time at $20 an hour. You hiring?"
"Yeah, sure. We see that you want $50,000 a year, but, how about we give you $42,000 a year to start. Which is probably double what you're making right now at your current part time job. After six months, we'll take a look at how things are going and discuss your pay."
"Jeeez, I dunno. I have too much pride and self-entitlement to take anything less than $48,000 a year. But if you can't do that, I'll gladly continue working for vastly less money and zero real world, resume building experience. A guy like me comes along once in a lifetime. You better hire me while you still can. Lord knows I'm the only one in the world looking for a job right now."
"Ok, see ya later."

Jesus fucking Christ the bandwagon mentality of internet. Give the kid a break. He's trying to see what he can squeeze out, which is what every good businessman worth their salt should do.

He has NOTHING to lose by counter offering. Fucking jealous internet kiddies or underpaid old cunts all sour because you made shit when you were his age.

For fuck's sake. STFU. It's called negotiating, even if he has no apparent ground. That's for the company to figure out, until then you hold your ground and image.



Best of luck to you OP.

 

[zerocool84]

Geez guys there's nothing wrong with a counter offer but expecting to make 50k right our of college with zero experience is retarded now-a-days. You always do a counter offer with any decent job.

 

[CountZero]

It's too bad you didn't get any perspective with your degree.

"Hey dudes, I work part time at $20 an hour. You hiring?"
"Yeah, sure. We see that you want $50,000 a year, but, how about we give you $42,000 a year to start. Which is probably double what you're making right now at your current part time job. After six months, we'll take a look at how things are going and discuss your pay."
"Jeeez, I dunno. I have too much pride and self-entitlement to take anything less than $48,000 a year. But if you can't do that, I'll gladly continue working for vastly less money and zero real world, resume building experience. A guy like me comes along once in a lifetime. You better hire me while you still can. Lord knows I'm the only one in the world looking for a job right now."
"Ok, see ya later."

Is it story time? My turn!

"Hey let's lowball this kid, in this economy he's probably too scared to even ask for more than we offer. If he does question it we'll just say we will review it in six months, you know annual review time when we review everyone's salary. And when we don't bump it we'll just attribute it to the still poor economy. We can probably string him along for a few years and then if he quits who cares, we'll just give him the menial drudge work."

Sounds about as ridiculous as yours.

Entitlement is expecting something for doing nothing. Reviewing what people with your qualifications typically get paid is not entitlement. While you may disagree, his degree does hold some value.

If a company rescinds an offer because a candidate asked for a reasonably larger salary I'd feel confident in saying that place is probably a terrible place to work and you might just be better off. The company can always just say no, 42k take it or leave it.

 

[Krynj]

Is it story time? My turn!

"Hey let's lowball this kid, in this economy he's probably too scared to even ask for more than we offer. If he does question it we'll just say we will review it in six months, you know annual review time when we review everyone's salary. And when we don't bump it we'll just attribute it to the still poor economy. We can probably string him along for a few years and then if he quits who cares, we'll just give him the menial drudge work."

Sounds about as ridiculous as yours.

Entitlement is expecting something for doing nothing. Reviewing what people with your qualifications typically get paid is not entitlement. While you may disagree, his degree does hold some value.

If a company rescinds an offer because a candidate asked for a reasonably larger salary I'd feel confident in saying that place is probably a terrible place to work and you might just be better off. The company can always just say no, 42k take it or leave it.

Look at it from a business owner perspective. Fresh out of college kid saying he'll start at 50k a year, but has zero real world experience. He could have all the potential in the world, and a great skill set, but that's really all they know about him. They don't know anything about his work ethic, how often he calls out sick, if he's able to work under pressure, how well he takes criticism, how does he get along with others? None of that. So of course a "probationary" period of six months a great way to see if the OP is really worth the amount he's asking.

Who knows if they'll accept or reject his counter offer. But to turn down anything less than 48k, and then stay at part time job hoping something else comes along? Why not just accept their counter offer (if they give one), or start at 42k/year, and be on the look out for something better while building up a resume? He'd be making more money than he is now, even at their initial offer.

Don't get me wrong though. I wish the OP the best of luck, and hope they accept his counter offer.

 

[Gibson486]

Look at it from a business owner perspective. Fresh out of college kid saying he'll start at 50k a year, but has zero real world experience. He could have all the potential in the world, and a great skill set, but that's really all they know about him. They don't know anything about his work ethic, how often he calls out sick, if he's able to work under pressure, how well he takes criticism, how does he get along with others? None of that. So of course a "probationary" period of six months a great way to see if the OP is really worth the amount he's asking.

Who knows if they'll accept or reject his counter offer. But to turn down anything less than 48k, and then stay at part time job hoping something else comes along? Why not just accept their counter offer (if they give one), or start at 42k/year, and be on the look out for something better while building up a resume? He'd be making more money than he is now, even at their initial offer.

Don't get me wrong though. I wish the OP the best of luck, and hope they accept his counter offer.

Yup...read my post. I was like the OP. Now I am unemployed looking for a "career change" after getting laid off at a job that I hated. Do not fall into the "Oh, I worked for my engineering degree, I deserve this because my school and the internet said I should make that" and do not chase money. The longer you wait for employment after school, the worse it looks.

 

[96Firebird]

Look at it from a business owner perspective. Fresh out of college kid saying he'll start at 50k a year, but has zero real world experience. He could have all the potential in the world, and a great skill set, but that's really all they know about him. They don't know anything about his work ethic, how often he calls out sick, if he's able to work under pressure, how well he takes criticism, how does he get along with others? None of that. So of course a "probationary" period of six months a great way to see if the OP is really worth the amount he's asking.

I have references that will gladly tell it how it is. They aren't just some random people who like me, they are people who have seen me work and know how I am. If they tell the truth, they will say I am shy at first but break out of my shell with time, and I get my work done quickly and am always looking for more work to do. These people work for some large companies, and I'm glad I have them as references. How do people who have experience get a higher salary, because their resume has jobs that lasted longer than my co-ops? Could be they were part of a union and couldn't get fired, or they were actually good at their job and the company needed them. You don't know for sure until you talk to some references.

 

[CountZero]

Look at it from a business owner perspective. Fresh out of college kid saying he'll start at 50k a year, but has zero real world experience. He could have all the potential in the world, and a great skill set, but that's really all they know about him. They don't know anything about his work ethic, how often he calls out sick, if he's able to work under pressure, how well he takes criticism, how does he get along with others? None of that. So of course a "probationary" period of six months a great way to see if the OP is really worth the amount he's asking.

Who knows if they'll accept or reject his counter offer. But to turn down anything less than 48k, and then stay at part time job hoping something else comes along? Why not just accept their counter offer (if they give one), or start at 42k/year, and be on the look out for something better while building up a resume? He'd be making more money than he is now, even at their initial offer.

Don't get me wrong though. I wish the OP the best of luck, and hope they accept his counter offer.

Maybe we read it differently but I read it as he'd take the 42k if they held firm at that number the only way he's not taking it is if they rescind.

You don't know most of that stuff you listed even for an experienced hire. If you ask them they'll lie, you can't ask their current employer due to fear of being sued and if they give references these are almost certainly people that will paint a positive picture. All you have is years of experience and technical aptitude for the stuff you asked directly, not significantly different from a new hire in terms of info you have. You'd like to think if someone has 10 years experience they are good in those other ways but you have no guarantee.

To me the whole 6 month probation thing seems dumb but standard at that company and maybe in that industry (no idea on that but others mentioned probationary periods) so just have to roll with that. The only negative outcome could be if they rescind which is unlikely unless the company is run by vindictive morons.

OP would be a moron to not take the 42k should they offer it given his location constraints but asking for more is the smart move.

 

[Gibson486]

I have references that will gladly tell it how it is. They aren't just some random people who like me, they are people who have seen me work and know how I am. If they tell the truth, they will say I am shy at first but break out of my shell with time, and I get my work done quickly and am always looking for more work to do. These people work for some large companies, and I'm glad I have them as references. How do people who have experience get a higher salary, because their resume has jobs that lasted longer than my co-ops? Could be they were part of a union and couldn't get fired, or they were actually good at their job and the company needed them. You don't know for sure until you talk to some references.

But the problem is the references are the final part. You will not get the stage until they want you. Your references do not make you a fit, they are only assurance that you will be a good fit once they have already decided they want you.

I can only give advice and I feel sorry because I have been in your shoes (search for my threads from around summer to fall of 2007). It sucks not getting what is expected, but this is part of your growth. I have been given offers but said no because "I was worth more".

My advice is this: counter, take the job no matter what they say, keep looking. While i did like my past boss, he told me something very important on my first day, "In order to get what you want out of your career, you have give something so someone gives something back. That means you have to make sacrifices to get where you want".

You do not want to be like me. I am 27, laid off, and looking for ENTRY LEVEL jobs.

 

[iroast]

Counter with $45. Accept their counter...unless their counter is less than the original $42 offer

Good for experience. If you put 110% in the job, you should be able to ask for $50k no prob.

Good luck.

 

[Krazy4Real]

I agree with you wanting to counter offer. I would have probably been a little more conservative and gone with 45K instead of 48k. Doing it over email though is tacky. You should have done it over the phone.

Good luck though.

 

[96Firebird]

Got a call from them yesterday, after a couple hours of phone tag he finally got to tell me they will accept my counter-offer and start me at $48k. Feels good to know I'll have a job after I graduate, and I will be getting paid what I think I deserve. Can't wait to start paying off my student loans and maybe buy a couple of things I've always wanted but knew I shouldn't buy... I start the day after Memorial Day! :thumbsup:

 

[zzuupp]

Congrats!

 

[mitmot]

Congrats. Glad it worked out for you!

 

[Krynj]

Excellent news, OP. Glad to hear it!

 

[Imdmn04]

Congrats, now all the naysayers can crawl back into their hole hahaha.

 

[Sukhoi]

Congrats, now all the naysayers can crawl back into their hole hahaha.

lol no kidding. Good job on the counter offer!

 

[Bignate603]

The way I see it is... What do I have to lose? They either accept (win for me), decline and give me another lower, yet higher than $42k offer (less of a win), decline and keep $42k (where we started), or decline and take the offer off the table (I wouldn't want to work for a company like that anyways). I go on with life, working part-time while finding another full-time...

That's exactly what I was saying. It sounds like it worked for you.

Congrats, now all the naysayers can crawl back into their hole hahaha.

Ha, yes. The OP came in with valid question, the offer seemed low so what should he do? Everybody was accusing him of being some entitled young punk when he just wanted to find out if he was being lowballed. It turns out he was right and the naysayers were wrong.

 

[96Firebird]

Congrats, now all the naysayers can crawl back into their hole hahaha.

Eh, they are all entitled to their opinion, I'm just glad it worked out in my favor. And thanks for all the congrats everyone.

 

[dighn]

good job. be proud

 

[Bignate603]

Eh, they are all entitled to their wrong opinion

Fixed

 

[bas1c]

I can't wait until Trident has a similar thread of his own.

 

[nycxandy]

Congrats!