<p>That is awesome! While the pay may not be what she hoped for, at least she’s not in one of the more expensive areas of the country. I say that, knowing that the only way D1 has been able to survive is by having roommates. But she was lucky in that moving to Boston provided her with lots of options with college friends. She could not live alone in Boston!</p>
<p>“Bad news - pay is less than she would like.”</p>
<p>Has she tried salary negotiation? My understanding is that it is expected one will try to negotiate, and the first offer is less than they will pay. It is hard to do, but good experience.</p>
<p>A Fortune 200 company I worked for paid little to new hires in PR. I believe the starting salary was $35K/year. Less-than-average benefits. And very, very long hours.</p>
<p>She just doesn’t know what she “has” to negotiate with. She’s a newbie. Graduated in May. While she does have great past internships, much leadership/awards etc. backing her, not sure that that weighs much without the real life experience behind her.</p>
<p>How would you suggest negotiating?</p>
<p>Could she say something like … “I am very exciting about the possibilities of working for your firm. Is there any flexibility in the salary offer? I was expecting (or hoping) to start more towards the mid-30s” … and then shut up and wait for them to either say that the salary offer is not flexible, or that they can sweeten the pot a bit. And see if she can get the employee contribution to the insurance premium delineated – that could make a few thousand difference in the bottom line.</p>
<p>abasket:</p>
<p>She should research what is the “prevailing salary” for her position. If she is below that she can start with asking them to match it.</p>
<p>If she is in a high COL area, she can ask to have that be taken into consideration, and she can let them know the salary barely meets her expenses.</p>
<p>She can negotiate benefits, as well as salary. </p>
<p>Usually they will say something like they have to talk with their supervisor and get back to you. You can go back and forth multiple times until they finally say that is the best they can do.</p>
<p>I think if this is the job with the company she’s just finishing up her internship with (that’s what I’m assuming), that she does have some room for negotiation. Although it is an entry level position, because she’s been at the agency, she can hit the ground running, which is to the agency’s advantage and benefit. If they hire someone from outside of the agency, they will be spending some resources to train them.</p>
<p>Is this salary within range of her stated salary requirements earlier? For a first job, the income shouldn’t be a concern, the experience matters more. The increase in income will come later. I know a lot of parents who subsidize their children for a few years after graduation especially in this economic cycle. There are many newly grads who earn low 30’s in Washington DC which is much more expensive than Ohio.</p>
<p>The salary is lower than what she submitted as “salary requirements”. However if you add in the 5% payback , I’m guessing that it will be close to the low end of her requirement. </p>
<p>I will encourage her to do as mentioned above by CNP - why not give it a shot? But H and I talked briefly and think in this economy (and her field which we nor she expected to become rich), a job with livable pay in the city she wished to land in and which she likes the work and the people is a job to take. And yes, we already discussed helping her out a bit (cause we want to) by continuing to pay her car insurance, phone and a little cash for the next 6 months or so - and let her see how she does with what she has.</p>
<p>I was going to say $30-$35 K to start with benefits would be competitive. I do not think entry level folks should try to negotiate pay these days. Maybe start date but that’s about it. There are 20 behind you and they thought they were being fair. Why insult them?</p>
<p>barrons - but this agency would be hiring someone who basically does not need to be oriented or trained. Agencies love that… saves them money.</p>
<p>Many years ago, when I moved from an internship to a paying job with a health care agency, they were THRILLED that I was staying on. It literally saved them a lot of money - I was productive from day 1 and they didn’t need to use the resources from all of those involved in orientation.</p>
<p>This PR agency can make up their own mind, but even a 5% addition to what they have offered would be respectful of what the new employer is bringing to the table.</p>
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<p>That may well be what got her hired over other candidates. Not necessarily something that would equate to higher starting salary.</p>
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<p>They showed their respect when they offered her the job. </p>
<p>She can certainly say that she was hoping for something closer to the mid thirties, but if she gave them a higher salary range and this is what they offered, then I’d think this is what they are prepared to pay her. They may even have already come up from what they would have preferred to pay. As I said earlier, I really hate companies that pull this “name your own salary” stuff.</p>
<p>Even small companies often have set ranges for certain positions. “How much does this job pay”–worded more gracefully 
--is a perfectly reasonable question for someone to ask during an interview, and there ought to be some kind of answer, even if it is a range. She should also feel perfectly free to ask how much the deduction for health insurance will be: it can easily be thousands per year, and that makes a big difference at lower salary levels.</p>
<p>But especially for a first job, I don’t think it is wise to be too aggressive about the money. When people add junior staff they are looking for enthusiasm and energy. She doesn’t want to sour the relationship from the start. For your D, there is nothing as precious as actual job experience in an actual job when looking for the next, higher-paying, job. She’d be wise to grab it. If she does a great job and they have the money but don’t reward her appropriately, she can look elsewhere.</p>
<p>She has decided to go in this morning and give salary negotiation one shot based on three things: her better than average newbie skills (so while she is a recent college grad, she has LOADS of experience and success in the field as a student), the economic aspect - being able to support herself on her salary (student loans - though not too bad, old car, etc.) and the long hours the job requires - usually 10 hour days.</p>
<p>We crunched numbers last night together - it was funny - MY point was to show her she could manage on the salary - with maybe $500 left to work in a perfect month (providing there are no extra expenses). However, TO HER that seemed like nothing! She said, “that doesn’t leave me much room to put $$ in savings!” 
How cute I thought that she was worried about SAVING money. I told her that if she can SAVE a couple hundred a month starting out that would be considered good!</p>
<p>(to be honest, she is also suffering from salary envy - most of her friends are pharm students - 2 more years to go, but can pretty much walk into 70+K jobs. We talked about that too. Writing/Speaking/Communications is her passion. Health care, engineering, etc. was not)</p>
<p>When DD received her similar offer, it stated on the offer that it was firm with no negotiation allowed. Take it or leave it! It is hard for her to be living at home, paying off her loans, while some class mates are pulling in much more to start. But as with abasket, she has no desire to work in those fields. I’m just happy she has health insurance and the company pays 80% of the premium!!</p>
<p>Happy Dance! She accepted. Met with her boss this morning, presented the negotiation - her boss was not offended at all and said she actually handled/presented it very well. Boss said that her and her partner felt the salary was comparable with other starting salaries and that with higher salary would be even higher expectations which they did not want to start her in the position to struggle (believe me, the expectations at the agency are already quite high!) HOWEVER D did get them to agree to do a salary reconsideration after 90 days instead of at the end of the year - I think that is fair.</p>
<p>She said the whole office is excited she accepted and she has invites for coffee with various staff to celebrate. Now the big decision is which office space to take. Gotta love youth. </p>
<p>Thanks all for your advice and support if not to my D but to me!!!</p>
<p>Great news, abasket! Sounds like she did a great job negotiating, and achieved an excellent result. Clearly, she has good people/communication skills that will serve her well in her chosen career.</p>
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<p>Just the way most negotiations should work out…both sides give a little and gain a little. This should give her confidence for future negotiations.</p>
<p>abasket: congrats to your D!!!; and thank you for starting this thread; please update as to her progress…</p>
<p>Now that’s a learning experience that not everyone would have the courage to tackle!</p>
<p>Sounds like a good result. If the brass is impressed with the way your D handled her end of the discussion – that has to bode well for the future. I think a 90 day review is a good thing as well.</p>
<p>Congratulations!</p>