@skieurope Wow, Andrew Jackson wishes that he had the kitchen cabinet of advisors that reached out to me here. I am beyond touched by everyone’s participation.
Quick background, DD wasn’t the kid that played a sport or two, no NMS, no spectacular scores, decent grades. Her EC starting during summer of freshman year was work. Took a job at a place that suffered from a revolving door of employees. I told her, “Keep your head down, grind it out and watch what happens.” She rose quickly to supervisor, then manager, then she turns around, it’s 3 years later and the organization gave her money for college.
State school kid, she learned a sport because “I hear it’s good for business.” Everything’s about work. Summer of sophomore year, a larger, competitor company hired her away as an intern/summer manager, where she managed about 100 employees. Last fall, she met this company, they offered her an internship for this summer. She was earmarked for a sales internship, which included flying her out to the West Coast to meet with top salespeople and attend sales meetings. She’s been told that she was the first intern offered FT employment upon graduation.
@tsbna44 I think a lot like you. It’s a sales role, I thought she had to show some gusto and self-worth, while explaining why she was worth more. Yeah, I also agreed that not countering (respectfully) may show something was missing. 100% always an ask, never a demand!
@islandmama1, I thought that too, it’s not her “first” job, but she could conceivably work at corporate in her previous two spots, maintaining congenial relationships with everyone at every level. She’s been taught to always be helpful to everyone you work with, because it’s not only the right thing to do, but you never really know who is “heard” in an organization.
@rivet2000, it sure is a tight job market and she’s not coming from T-20 school. That gave her pause about how much to ask for. It also made me think, imagine if, on Freshman Orientation, one of the admissions people approached her and said, “We’re going to guarantee you $60k-$65k/year upon graduation if you sign up right now,” would DD have taken that deal? Probably.
@coffeeat3, I made sure that she began her counter with how excited she was to join the organization. With a focus away from the salary and more on the sign-on bonus.
@momofboiler1, same thing, focused on the sign-on bonus. “Salary bands” was a concept that she learned from his thread, and one that refreshed my memory, so thanks for that.
@Twoin18, salaries adjustments for new grads were a concern that she incorporated into the decision.
@CollegeNerd67, yes, she framed it as COL issue.
@Mjkacmom, yeah, it’s a similar circumstance in how her offer was communicated.
@blossom, yup, the risk is small but not zero. Definitely took that into consideration. Her response was basically, “I’m in, I’m excited, let’s go, let’s go, but can you please reconsider……” And yeah, she was ready to accept the offer if they declined the counter.
@Catcherinthetoast, yeah, your response was the basic framework of her counter. Appreciation, validation, with a polite ask.
@Zrt42, yeah, we broke it down to check-by-check basis, which made my suggestion to her much softer, again, realizing that there’s a definitive ceiling in how much they’ll pay for grads.
@NemesisLead, tactful negotiations, 100%.
@Publisher, it sure is a tough job market. The reply became more of a “polite request” than a “pure counter.”
@BKSquared all your points were valid re: entry level jobs. DD possesses a track record and all the tools but it’s starting to get a little tough out there right now. Definitely played a factor in her final decision, and more important, her approach.
@shawbridge, some insightful points here. Asking about “flexibility” is key, rather than demanding.
@DadOfJerseyGirl, yup, that’s the approach she took. The “College X vs College Y Comp” debate went through my head a little bit and may have calibrated my thinking somewhat as well.
@gardenstategal, same. “College X vs College Y” debate. DD is not worried about the first review. She feels that she’s going to “crush it.” We discussed post-negotiation “damage,” so she kept the counter to non-salary compensation.
@mikemac, the company is pretty flex with vacation. She’s ready to start there now but understands the need to not only finish her education but also get that final year of relative “freedom.”
@oldfort, yeah, in the end, she politely requested a little more non-salary.
Thanks everyone for your nuanced thoughts, suggestions and recommendations. Really couldn’t ask for a more insightful group!