DD received full employment offer (upon graduation) from her internship, salary + relocation money.
Has anyone witnessed or experienced a situation where the offer was rescinded because a student made a counteroffer. Both parties appear to be thrilled with one another, just a matter of a few thousand dollars more. She has an idea already how she will respond but she asked my opinion before contacting HR.
Thoughts?
This spring, my son was interviewing for a new fintech role after he’d had several years experience at another firm. He received an offer from one company, asked for a few $k more, and the company pulled the offer – said they interpreted his request for more money as a sign he wasn’t committed and wouldn’t stay long at the firm. That stunk.
edited to add: the offer was a few $k less than he was making but he really liked the team and thought there was a lot of growth opportunity. He was respectful and appreciative. The original offer was communicated through the outside recruiter who gave no indication to my son that a counter-offer could be problematic. Lesson learned . . .
Perhaps it depends on the industry or company. My son’s college work shopped this situation. He countered at one job - I think the one he took. They simply said it’s what all make and it’s location dependent.
I countered my current job. They gave me 40% of what I asked for. Of course I wasn’t a new grad.
In some ways, I think countering shows gusto and belief in yourself but you need to show why you are worth more, not just that you want more. In this case, as a former intern, the learning curve is likely smaller and integration is likely accelerated.
As long as you are respectful and asking, and not demanding, I don’t think it’s an issue.
I do think that perhaps he dodged a bullet with the company who pulled the offer - probably not great people to work for. Hopefully he landed elsewhere.
It is a tight market now and a student might ask themselves, if they were offered $60k, will $65k make that big a difference in life - and would they take $60k regardless? Perhaps in this market, playing it safe is better.
But in some ways, as a boss, I’d sort of think something was missing if there wasn’t a counter.
Good luck with whatever your student does.
Counter based on what? It’s her first real job!
I know a handful of recent grads from great schools out there looking for work who would be THRILLED to trade places. It’s a tough time for new grads finding employment.
If both parties are happy, then I’d suggest she say yes, thank her lucky stars, and move on.
Congrats to her!
Our S countered his first job offer and they accepted. SW engineering. Of course, current job environment tighter and getting tighter still.
I think it is fine for your daughter to ask - she can reiterate how excited she is to join the company and is there any flexibility with the compensation ? That is not greedy or disrespectful imo. If they say no, that is fine - she tried and can still happily accept. If she asks and they ask for an amount - she should be able to answer that question and provide a number.
Some ways companies could increase offer comp include: a signing bonus or a bigger signing bonus, as this may not hit their books the same way, offer to review the base salary in a shorter time frame (ie: 3 months vs 6 months) especially since she is coming in with experience at the company already and they know she fits within the culture, or up the bonus percentage.
No matter what, she should understand the review process and when her comp is reviewed - ie: annually, fiscal year etc.
Congrats to your daughter - big life step 
Mine was able to negotiate a bigger sign on bonus because she did an extra rotation with the company.
S18 received an offer after internship. He was a bit upset on joining nine months later that the company had raised the starting salaries in the meantime but didn’t think to update his offer. He did get an adjustment at the first review after 6 months.
Of course that’s less likely to be a problem now compared to 2021-22 when starting salaries were going up 10% or so each year. But you might at least ask “if salaries are adjusted next spring will that be reflected in my offer?”
I doubt there’s much room to adjust salaries for new grads. But you might ask for things that reflect your unique situation? More expensive than average relocation? Temporary accommodation while you find somewhere to live?
Is the offer competitive for recent grads in the industry?
I don’t think I would risk it over a few thousand dollars unless I had back up offers that were offering more $.
Is cost of living the issue? Maybe she could frame it that way?
My daughter was instructed by a mentor in the company not to, she received her offer of salary and signing bonus last week for next July. It will go up automatically after 2 more actuary exams she plans in taking, I think up $10,000. She had inquired after receiving her internship offer unofficially, just curios, and was told she was the highest compensated intern and the only one with a signing bonus.
As someone else mentioned, this summer was her first official job in the field, and I think in her field compensation is pretty well spelled out.
Speaking from my seat in corporate recruiting/talent management-
The risk of the offer being rescinded is small- but not zero. I have seen it happen two handfuls of times in a 35+ year career. Sometimes it’s because the hiring leader has already pushed past the limits of the typical offer- stuck his/her neck out, gone up three levels to get approval-- and then the response of “I need more money” is a dash of cold water on the hiring fever. Sometimes it’s because the candidate’s request is delivered with a clear falsehood and a big dose of arrogance on top (“I’ve benchmarked the offer against your competitors and it’s low”). Fact check- companies hire actual professionals to benchmark compensation, and if it’s below market that’s a strategic decision. And if it’s above market, they know it too. And sometimes it’s because the candidate has clearly misread the culture of the organization in the way the ask was framed.
So the risk of being rescinded is low.
But there are other risks… nobody wants to start a new job where there is already a question mark around “business judgement” or the ability to read a room. So if she’s successful in her ask, she shouldn’t assume that the entire team involved in approving the increased offer is cheering for her (“hey, what a go-getter”). That is NOT likely the universal reaction. There will be at least one person who thinks that the initial offer was attractive; that there are no shortages (at least this recruiting cycle) of new grads who would be thrilled to work for this organization, and that asking for more is a bit tone deaf.
But the risk of rescinding is low if she is humble and is prepared to be gracious if the answer is “we have salary bands, and our offer sits at exactly the right spot in the band for a new employee with just internship experience. We so hope you will accept”.
This! 100%!
I would recommend to my own kid a bit of a nuanced approach to try and generate a win-win outcome.
Suggested response would be along the lines of;
“I am thrilled with the opportunity, I accept the offer and I look forward to contributing as part of the team. My only concern relates to (insert something cost related) and was wondering if there is any flexibility such that the terms could be modestly improved to make my move (or living conditions) more comfortable. Thanks for your consideration.”
Cons: It does hurt your bargaining position but let’s be honest you don’t have much leverage in this situation.
Pros: You may get paid more and you start on a positive note defined as an enthusiastic team player. This positive perception likely improves the employers desire to treat you well. You don’t risk loosing an opportunity you are “thrilled” with.
If you get paid more or they say no but you reinforce a positive impression, you will have generated a win-win outcome and then can access other options down the road from a position of strength. You will also gain some insight into the hiring organization.
Yes, I have seen several offers rescinded and more often the perception of the future employee damaged in advance of their arrival based on making demands unprofessionally.
Hope this helps.
Is it common for an offer to be pulled because of a counter? No
Does it ever happen? Absolutely
For 3K, break it out, after taxes, on a per paycheck basis, and ask yourself, “Is it worth the risk?” It isn’t much money.
Particularly with large corporations, they have to be sensitive to their internal salary bands for new hires. Will we pay someone of this race more than that race? This gender more than that gender? Many companies keep things relatively fixed for new hires as not to cause any HR problems.
If your daughter is still going to do this counter, here is my advice. Make it very clear that, if they change the base salary from X to Y, that you will 100% accept the offer.
That is really awful. Shame on the company. They could have just said no.
I think the lesson that you learned should actually have been about the company…
I agree with what others have said about tactful negotiations. You have to appear grateful and make your financial request reasonable.
It is important to note that in some industries, margins are low and there isn’t much money to go around. If it is the Government, well…there is little flexibility on starting salaries.
I would add that your child should continue to try to get OTHER offers. In business, we would call these offers BATNAs…Best Alternatives To a Negotiated Agreement. With one offer, you have little leverage. With two offers, you have some. But you still have to be careful.
I have hired many folks in my career. Maybe half of people negotiated and I was usually OK with it. I almost pulled an offer just once. A candidate became really obnoxious during the negotiations process with all kinds of weird asks. Don’t be that guy.
This is critical.
You are asking. You are not demanding!!
And my favorite tactic (not)- “Everyone negotiates” says the obnoxious candidate. No they don’t. Offers aren’t random numbers pulled out of a punchbowl at a church bingo hall. If a company offers a salary differential for their office in SF vs. Cleveland, it is extremely irritating to have a candidate’s rationale for why they want more “It’s the same money. I’m just living in Ohio, not California”. Or 'I’m just asking for my performance bump NOW and not next year". Really? Well, let’s take a look at your performance… oh gee, the page is blank because YOU HAVEN"T STARTED YET.
There are all sorts of ways to be mildly irritating, arrogant, obnoxious or downright suicidal in these discussions. Err on the side of mildly irritating before it escalates! Or- just take the offer and do a bang up job, and negotiate a bigger raise NEXT YEAR when you have something to bring to the table…
Yes–don’t do it unless she has another job offer and is prepared to accept the other offer. Even with another job offer, she needs to think about whether she is ready to deal with having the offer rescinded. This is a tough job market. Trying to negotiate without any prior experience suggests that she may be unaware of the current job market.
I think this is very important and I noted it above.
Countering - just because you want more or someone else pays more (why aren’t you working there then) - these are not valid reasons. Cost of living - they won’t care.
You need to have something to sell.
Obviously I don’t know this student’s experience but they invited her back so if I was going to counter, I’d say:
Not saying it would get more money - but those are, if true as a returnee, legitimate reasons (I believe) to request money vs. - my friend makes more or Rent in NYC is really high.
But again, it’s an ask, not a demand.
It’s interesting - I had a long time employer so when I switched organizations, I googled how to ask for more - and there’s a lot of good info out there for OP too. They might also schedule a quick phone call with their favorite advisor in the career office at school too to bounce their thoughts off of them. I know at my son’s school, they had an entire session on how to counter so I’m sure the career center will be of great counsel one way or another.
Good luck to OP.