Salary Negotiation

Salary negotiation can seem complicated, but with some practice, it can be better facilitated if appropriate for your industry. Salary negotiation should not be done until an employer has made an offer.

Negotiating: Things to Consider

  • Research the industry; each industry has different standards for negotiation. For example, government salaries are often set and are not negotiable. Research the salary averages for your job target(s). Try to find out the industry’s salary norms; look for job postings with salaries, find competitors’ salaries, conduct informational interviews, and visit company websites.
  • Understand your worth in terms of what you have to offer in comparison to the other candidates. You will also need to understand what you need to thrive within a location. Evaluate the cost of living within the area, the minimum salary needed for personal expenses or to pay all of your bills, the job location, etc. A good idea is to look at your expenses to determine how much you need to pay your necessary bills.

During the Process

  • When you first receive a compensation package, make sure to review it all, not just the salary. It is also important to understand if sections of the package are negotiable.
  • Things that may be negotiable may include, but are not limited to; start date, vacation leave, stock options, relocation expenses, tuition reimbursement, professional development, retirement plans, signing bonuses, parking costs, and technology costs.

Ending the Process

  • The recruiter or manager will often give some verbal clues that the offer is final or nearly so: “This is the best that we can do,” or “This is our final offer.” This is the time to finalize the agreement when you feel the offer is fair and is within the range that you can accept. Finally, accept or decline the offer both verbally and in writing. You can practice salary negotiation on winthrop.biginterview.com.

 

Salary Videos

We encourage our Students and Alumni to do extensive research on this topic - and YouTube is an amazing resource! Here are 3 videos to get you started:

 

Negotiation Policies

The CDI counsels students and alumni to conduct an ethical job search. Students and Alumni are urged to cease their job search upon accepting an offer. They are highly encouraged, when provided with an offer, to ask the offering employer for time to consider the offer. If the offering employer is not the student’s “first choice” employer, the student is encouraged to contact any "first choice" employer(s) they have engaged and inform the “first choice” employer(s) that they have another offer.

When contacting a “first choice” employer about an offer from another employer, students are encouraged to indicate that they have another offer and inquire about their candidacy and the “first choice” employer’s timeframe. This inquiry might result in an offer for a student or advice for a student to take another offer. Students are also counseled that they can try to negotiate more time with employers to consider outstanding offers. Students and Alumni should not accept an offer until they have made such contact and are satisfied working for the employer whose offer they choose to accept.

Winthrop expects any Student or Alumni accepting a job offer to honor their commitment to the accepted position and company. Our office will not tolerate reneging on offers, as this not only affects the individual student's relationship with the affected company, but also that of their classmates and the institution.