Salary Negotiation For Recent College Grads

The Company Made It Clear

If the company made it clear through the interview process that this was an entry-level position with a set salary, then no, you cannot ask for more money. They were very clear about what they were looking to pay and you have to be ready to accept that.

Do Your Homework!

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However, in many cases, they don't talk about that. So, when you get that job offer, what I suggest you do is do your homework! Go over to a website like Glassdoor.com and look the company up. It'll show you estimated salary ranges for the position. You want to see where your salary offer is compared to those.

You can also use Glassdoor to look at competitors and other companies that hire for similar types of jobs and see what they are paying so that you can see if this is in alignment with market rate.

Now, hopefully it will be. But if it isn't for some reason, if it's much lower, then what you can do is go back to the organization and ask for more money—but not without a game plan.

No One Is Going To Pay You More "Just Because"

If you think about it, no company is going to pay you more money just because. You have to give them some valid reasons why. What you're going to want to do is say, "I did my homework and I see that the salary range for this type of position is here. Is there any chance I can earn more money?"

You also want to talk about the additional value you will bring. You want to be able to say, "If you can meet me here and if you can provide me with a bit more of an income, I really will be able to deliver with you with my experience in X and Y and Z." You've got to be able to market your skill sets.

The Backup Strategy

If you're not comfortable with proving you're worth the extra income, I have a backup strategy for you.

What I would say to them is, "I'm very interested in working for you. I was hoping to make more money. I was wondering if I could propose a six-month review instead of an annual review. We could work together over the six months and make sure that you feel like you're getting enough value. Could we look at a salary increase then? Because I really would like to make more money and I was hoping not to have to wait a full year for it."

This is a wonderful compromise because it gets you to explain to them why you want more money, that you're intentional in terms of wanting to advance your career, but also gives them a way to work with you and get you up to speed so you really can deliver on the value.

Keep This In Mind

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Keep in mind that you cost the company about 140% of your salary. It's not just your salary, it's the benefits, it's the additional taxes. It's the training time that costs them.

So, giving them that six months to work with you so that you really are valuable to them and a good return on the investment is going to make it a lot easier for them to give you that additional money.