Got my first job offer out of college, looking for some advice negotiating

[slayer202]

OP, don't listen to these cranky ass old people who think you should be happy to accept a $16/hr job after completing four years with a major that I would assume is in demand(compared to most of the others).

Life is too short to feel the NEED(omg take the job you selfish fool ramble rabble rabble!!@~) to take a shitty opportunity and pretend it's not shitty. All these clowns who are harassing you to do so are probably in some dead end mid level job which they will work till death. You'll get by with whatever you choose to do

 

[sourceninja]

OP, don't listen to these cranky ass old people who think you should be happy to accept a $16/hr job after completing four years with a major that I would assume is in demand(compared to most of the others).

Life is too short to feel the NEED(omg take the job you selfish fool ramble rabble rabble!!@~) to take a shitty opportunity and pretend it's not shitty. All these clowns who are harassing you to do so are probably in some dead end mid level job which they will work till death. You'll get by with whatever you choose to do

You don't have to pretend it's not shitty. You do what you have to do to establish yourself.

OP has three choices

1) Try to negotiate and hope he is the only person in the running for the job.
2) Take the job
3) Occupy Wall Street.

 

[ViviTheMage]

You can ask for more, see what happens.

GL

 

[Macamus Prime]

OP, don't listen to these cranky ass old people who think you should be happy to accept a $16/hr job after completing four years with a major that I would assume is in demand(compared to most of the others).

Life is too short to feel the NEED(omg take the job you selfish fool ramble rabble rabble!!@~) to take a shitty opportunity and pretend it's not shitty. All these clowns who are harassing you to do so are probably in some dead end mid level job which they will work till death. You'll get by with whatever you choose to do

Yes OP - listen to this man.

Get back to us on how his advice worked out for you.

I wish the OP gets what he deserves.

 

[Reckoner]

I don't blame the OP.. Living on 33k a year is rough. What is your monthly budget OP?

 

[nanette1985]

This is part of grown-up life. Make a decision and run with it. Who knows if they'll give you more $, or if you might find another job with a higher starting salary, or what? This is what the game is about.

Best.

 

[Zeze]

More importantly, does the OP want to follow the advice of someone who was having trouble find a job?

Or you can actually read what my actual advice was.

 

[Saint Nick]

I'd take it and make yourself more valuable.

 

[pervisanathema]

..

 

[pervisanathema]

OP, don't listen to these cranky ass old people who think you should be happy to accept a $16/hr job after completing four years with a major that I would assume is in demand(compared to most of the others).

Life is too short to feel the NEED(omg take the job you selfish fool ramble rabble rabble!!@~) to take a shitty opportunity and pretend it's not shitty. All these clowns who are harassing you to do so are probably in some dead end mid level job which they will work till death. You'll get by with whatever you choose to do

..

 

[cerebusPu]

i think there's alot of factors that we dont know about. For example, what is the cost of living (rent, food)? How much is rent and housing in the city?

What is the actual range of salaries for that position at that company? If they only budget a $30 to $40K range for that position than you wont get much higher than their range.

I thought i did my research and had a 10K range in mind when I applied for jobs. I've been employed at the same place for many years and had acquired experience and skills beyond my current position. After interviewing with 4 companies I realized I needed to amend my range but it was too late. I had already told two companies my desired range and it was too low. Luckily my top choice gave me an offer at the max of my range and was the highest offer that i got.

i would investigate using glassdoor.com and other salary comparison sites and take in mind location, company, and seniority. Those salaries are for people currently working at the company and may have been there for years. They will undoubtedly make more than someone starting out at the company at the same position.

 

[dud]

What are the benefits?

These are things that should also be considered within the total pay/benefit package.

 

[ShawnD1]

"The best time to look for a job is when you have a job". No reason you can't keep looking. It's kind of like (some) single girls having a thing for married men

Probably for the same reasons. Married men are more chilled out. They don't need to find a partner, and rejection is not a big deal. This makes them more confident, care free, etc.
Same deal with having a job. When you have a job, you're more chilled out. It's nice to get a better paying job, but you don't need that better paying job. That carefree attitude looks confident and professional.

 

[Spikesoldier]

Consider yourself lucky that you even have a job offer right out of school.

You are even luckier that you don't have to relocate.

Take the job.

 

[Imp]

If you really want to, just ask. Don't be a prick about it, ask/suggest nicely, if they say no, take the job. If you approach with tact and they tell you to go to hell, then ???.

Or take the job, kiss some ass, then ask when you get a good feel of what everyone else is making, and you actually have some bargaining power (i.e. work experience and buttered up coworkers).

 

[96Firebird]

I'm not sure what advice to give you, but I will give you my experiences...

I graduated in May with my BS in Mechanical Engineering. I'm guessing it pays a little higher than Math, but that's beside the point. Average for my degree (entry level) is $55k nationwide, but only $50k where I live. I interviewed at a local company, said I wanted $50k, they gave me an offer of $42k. I then said the minimum I would take was $48k, and they accepted my counter-offer. 4 months later, they lay off all the new hires because they couldn't make sales for the year.

Fast forward to last week. I talk to a company I was working for part-time when I graduated, who couldn't match an offer when I took the other job. They now needed someone full-time, so I talked to them and said I wanted $50k. They came back with an offer of $46k, and I said I wanted $50k. They took that, but I don't get healthcare (but I am still under my parents and pay them so I didn't care). My first day is today, and I am posting this on my lunch break.

All I am saying is that you have room to negotiate, no matter what anyone tells you. They picked you because they liked what you had to offer and think you will work well with the company, and of course they are going to low-ball you.

So, what I am trying to tell you is, unless I got extremely lucky twice, there is room to negotiate. The good thing about fresh graduates is that they can mold you into the worker they want, use this to your advantage.

 

[Patranus]

I don't blame the OP.. Living on 33k a year is rough. What is your monthly budget OP?

LOL - The median household income in the United States is $31,111.
(And for our friends in America Jr. it is $25,363)

 

[Patranus]

Hate to say it but this is most likely a take it or leave it offer. Unemployment is high, they could easily find another warm body that will happily take $33k. You don't have anything with which to negotiate.

Yup. No skills/experience, no leverage.

 

[Agfadoc]

Take the job and once you have a good layout of the spectrum in which you can move and make more then make the call, right now it is great that you were offered the job. Take that as a win and shoot for the next win, be the best you can be, give everything you've got and soon you'll likely find that you are making much more. If nothing else, you'll have some experience to back up your degree all the while still looking for a better paying job..The market is tough right now, take every bit that you can.

Good luck!

Sent from my Supercharged Asus Transformer

 

[96Firebird]

LOL - The median household income in the United States is $31,111.
(And for our friends in America Jr. it is $25,363)

Your Wikipedia source was wrong...

http://www.davemanuel.com/median-household-income.php

 

[JS80]

My first job out of college was $32k for accounting. I got a new job for $43k 3 months later. Make 4x that now. You gotta start somewhere.

 

[MarkXIX]

Ask for $35k but expect $33k and be happy you have a job.

With a proper budget, assuming you are single, $33k is a decent salary and you can easily get by on it assuming you're not debt loaded from college, high car payment, etc.

 

[the DRIZZLE]

OP we can't really tell you if this is reasonable or not, you need to do your own research. Have you spoken with the career office at your school about this? Aside from that their willingness to negotiate is dependent on a lot of things but generally there is very little risk in asking for more.

 

[Hugo Drax]

The reason you were offered a lower salary is because your GPA implies a higher risk level of poor employee performance compared to another candidate who would have applied with a higher GPA.

GPA is taken into consideration into the calculation for fresh out of the diploma mill student looking for work.

 

[wheresmybacon]

If you had some leverage, any leverage at all, you’d have a way of negotiating a higher pay rate. The facts are you have average grades and no work experience. No leverage. I would ask for more, $40k or whatever you think is fair. Make sure that when you ask for more money you cite reasons why you think you deserve such an amount - industry average for such positions, industry average for people coming out of school with your major, etc etc. They may or may not give you more, but it won’t hurt to ask. You don’t have anything to bargain with, so you’re at their mercy. Accept whatever they offer. Get some experience, see what you like/dislike about the position, company, and industry, then evaluate your situation in 6 months. This isn’t the last job you’ll ever have.