How can I negotiate a higher starting salary right out of school?
– Class of 2021 undergraduate
Kudos to this new graduate for not assuming that you can’t ask for more even when you’re just starting out. A prerequisite to successful negotiation is believing that you can and should negotiate! If you don’t ask, the answer will always be No. (If fear is stopping you, read this primer on becoming a fearless negotiator.)
The actual process for negotiating a job offer is similar, whether you’re early in your career or more experienced. I take my clients through a seven-step process:
- Confirm what you want (a job offer is more than salary)
- Collect market data (i.e., details of other offers)
- Collect personal data (why do YOU specifically deserve the exceptions you’re asking for?)
- Understand who you’re up against (i.e., the recruiter, hiring manager or whoever is negotiating on behalf of the employer)
- Brainstorm other alternatives (because you may hear No to any one specific request)
- Increase your leverage (e.g., get another offer)
- Run a dress rehearsal (you don’t want your first negotiation to be the real thing)
When I hear from people just starting out, the third step – figuring out what makes them so special – is often a stumbling block. Sure, when you’re early in your career, you might think employers just lump you together with every other recent graduate. Why would an employer make an exception for you? Here are five reasons why employers may say Yes to more money for you:
1 – You have more experience than you think
Internships, part-time jobs, work study at school, even volunteer work all counts towards your experience. If you have been busy for your four years of college, the sum total of these short-term experiences can turn out to be significant. Hands-on projects for classes or extra-curricular clubs also matter if they give you skills and expertise that an employer desires. One recent graduate negotiated more money and a higher starting title (associate instead of assistant) in her first public relations job. She had spent several summers at various NYC-based media firms, which meant a lot to her Midwest employer.
2 – You wowed them in your interview
That PR associate didn’t just list her experience on her resume and hope that the employer appreciated all that she could contribute. She provided specific work samples, stories of client engagements and insights that she picked up from her time at other agencies. In other words, she sold her prospective employer on the value that she would contribute from day one. Even if you don’t have a lot of experience or brand name companies on your resume, if you can detail your skills and tell compelling stories that show how helpful you can be to a prospective employer, this increases your perceived value and may increase your compensation. (At the very least, review this monster post on how to ace your interview.)
3 – The company doesn’t want to redo the search
You might be scared to negotiate and hear No, but your prospective employer also doesn’t want you to say No to their offer. It takes time, effort and money to hire. If you say No, there might not be anyone else that they like, and they don’t want to invest even more time, effort and money to redo the search. This is especially true for smaller companies who don’t have large HR departments with lots of resources. This is also true in busy, competitive markets where companies can’t rely on having an endless supply of candidates for hire.
4 – The company needs to hire quickly
Even if the company wants to redo a search, there might not be enough time. There might be a project starting next week that really needs an extra person (you!). Maybe the company has a seasonal business, and it’s prime time for them. Or maybe they postponed hiring until they were just so busy they couldn’t stand it anymore (this is a common occurrence) and now they can’t wait any longer for the extra help.
5 – The company wants to be competitive, even if that means paying more
One of my earliest jobs was at a fast growing, but young company that had only recently started hiring people at my level. Their starting salaries were not competitive with their bigger competitors, and as they grew, they needed to stay competitive. When I and some of my colleagues shared some market data showing how they were falling behind their competitors and therefore wouldn’t be able to attract or retain the same caliber of hire, they adjusted their compensation across the board – raises for everybody!
You can negotiate for more, even if you’re just starting out
It’s not about your tenure in the workforce, as much as it is about the value you can bring. Sure, when you have years of experience, there are more years to point to (and hopefully more accomplishments during those years). However, even a new graduate can make a significant contribution to an employer and should be compensated accordingly.
