really need opinion
I have been in software development intern for current company for couple of month and time is nearing to the end of internship period (actually middele of next week) and I have been wondering how to negotiate the salary. I understand my employer has all the cards in hand. On the other hand, I have proved myself to be quite potential candidate during the internship. Should I negotiate about the salary or take/reject the offer they will make? Most ppl say the salary estimate websites are far off the real ones, so how do I base my salary on? Should I push him to state his offer or what he asks me what range I am expecting from them? Thanks! You are making way too many assumptions here. First they have to offer you a job at all. Not every intern gets a job offer. Secondly, whatever they offer you, you should probably take. You' re not going to be in a position to make demands and negotiate. You cannot push your boss to state his offer. One of the things you' re supposed to learn as an intern is how the company works. Pay attention and don' t blow a great opportunity if they do decide to hire you. In addition to what Tess wrote, my guess would be that you' ll be told what the salary offer is, not asked how much you' d like to be paid. Nevertheless, it wouldn' t' t hurt to have done a little homework to figure out what level of income you require in order to pay the bills, make ends meet, and at least maintain your present standard of living. To do that, figure out what it costs you each month, for the past several months, to pay all the bills. Figure out what that monthly expense average is, take that amount times 12 and you should have a fair idea of what level of income you require and below which you can' t go and still make it financially. Whatever that annualized amount is, call is $X. Add about $10K to $X to come up with the top of your basic salary range. Call it $Y. You may never have to tell anyone what that range is, but I think YOU need to know what it is, just as a reference point, if for no other reason. Then when an offer is made, if it' s within your range or above it - take the job! If it' s lower than $X, politely ask if the offer is negotiable and see what they say. In a nutshell, base you anticipated salary range on your income requirements, not on some external salary survey that may have nothing to do with you and your needs, this particular employer or the job that needs doing. Make sense?
man, this site is totally downbeat trend. No opinion is optimistic. Although it is useful to get real, I really believe too much of "real" has a negative impact and break someone's desire to succeed and results in highly self-underestimating soul. Think about someone visiting this site has all kinds of pounding: dont ask for salary, dont expect too much, salary stagnated, etc. I dont see so much losers together in other places. Unfortunately, many comments on this site reflect the kind of naive worker mentality that results in workers getting blindsided and screwed over by companies like Enron. It' s all about keeping your head down and doing as you' re told, accepting whatever is doled out, not asking too many questions, not rocking the boat -- in general, not acknowledging that every worker has basic rights. Wake up, folks...each of you you has the right to ask questions and get straight answers, the right to be paid fairly for your services, and the right to NOT be treated like crap. Gone are the days where worker loyalty meant job security and a gold watch/pension at the end. Modern employment requires keeping your skills up-to-date and looking out for #1, even if that means pulling the plug after 3 weeks on a job that just ain' t right. WAKE UP, FOLKS!! Most of the opinions that you get here come from people who have been hiring employees for a lot of years, or have a lot of experience looking for jobs. Certainly a lot longer than you have. If you don' t like the advice you get here, feel free to look elsewhere. Having said that, let me address your question. What you should do is look at advertised jobs in your area that are the same or similar to the one you will be offered and require the same or similar education and experience. This will tell you what the market value of the job is. With some luck, the number that you find by doing the calculation that Paul suggested (e.g. your living expenses) will match or be less than the market value of the job. Next, think about how easy it would be for you to walk out the front door and find another job if the company offered a salary BELOW the market value. If you are confident that you could, then the market value is the number you should shoot for and be prepared to start a job search just in case. If you can get those jobs easily BUT the commute is an hour each way, or you have to work second shift or there are no benefits, you need to adjust your expectations. All of these other quality of life/job issues have to be thought of along with salary. So the bottom line is to know what the market value of the job is, know what you need to survive and think about the other issues. And do this BEFORE you sit in front of someone offering you a job. Good luck. Sorry, man, real is real in the job search business. I don' t think any of us perceive what we' re supposed to be doing here as giving job seekers a false or overinflated notion of what to expect in the "real" world of finding a job of in salary/benefit negotiations. No one, incidentally, has suggested NOT to ask for a "realistic," livable salary, but you' re right about one point, most of us know from experience that expecting too much will lead to rather profound disappointment pretty quickly. Most annual salary increases, not all, but most tend to be around 3%. There' s nothing optimistic or pessimistic about that, it' s just the way it is. By the same token, that' s not to suggest that an employee can' t earn more than that by doing an exceptionally good job. In a nutshell, there' s no free lunch in the negotiation/job search business, and for any of us to suggest or imply there is would be doing a tremendous disservice to people who want serious, real-world advice. Let me also add that people are at different places in their careers. A new grad starting out is (like it or not) on the bottom rung. You' re just not in a position to negotiate. Negotiate implies that you have something that the employer wants. At this stage in the game, the employer has what YOU want, not the other way around. There are dozens (if not hundreds) of "you", totally interchangable. They may like you a lot from your resume and interview, but they can like Bob or Bill or Brenda just as much. When you' ve got at least 5-7 years of direct experience in your field, you MAY be in a position to negotiate, IF you are currently employed in a job where you are otherwise quite happy to remain so it doesn' t matter if they say no. Quite frankly the number of people in that position that post on these boards is small. I' d say (without counting and getting out the calculator) easily 5% or so. Most of the people who post here need the job, either they' re just starting out, they' re unemployed, they' re about to be unemployed, they need to relocate, they need or want to change fields, they need or want to change companies, they want the promotion... That doesn' t put them in the spot to be quibbling much. It would be irresponsible to tell someone in that situation "sure, ask for the moon, they' ll give it to you" when as Chet and Paul both mentioned, those of us who post here regularly have decades of experience that say otherwise. You' re always free to make up your own mind and do what you want. I totally appreciate for the poor and helpless "5%", and I could be one of them or may be not. But let me tell you that the tone of your advice sounds more dictating what to do rather than suggestion. And one thing is for sure, if I follow your ' advice' , then I' ll always be I am a little submissive doll. Instead of encouragement for persistence / confidence I really believe you' re giving those "5%" a quite a bit of a sledgehummer. I know I am not the brightest of all, but I have a certain realistic confidence with me alright? Now matter how long I look for desperately and I even forced to stay under the bridge, I certainly will not let me confidence die off because of someone tells me what to do. I came in this board for a comment, suggestion and discussion not anything else. I have seen many college graduates with brilliant mind that is far better than some rotten guy with 10-12 experience. Would you say the same thing to them? May be not. " I have seen many college graduates with brilliant mind that is far better than some rotten guy with 10-12 experience. Would you say the same thing to them? May be not." Wow, Brandon0iil, I was pretty sympathetic to you there till that last post. Sorry, but no matter how "brilliant" one's mind is and regardless of what school or degree a new graduate has, if that graduate does not have real-world work experience, then the "rotten" guy with 10 to 12 years of experience has more value to many employers. Now you are sounding condescending in your attitude. I've been in the workforce for 32 years, and have hired & supervised people. I'll tell you--I'd rather have someone with a high-school degree and good, solid experience along with a great work ethic. I don't want to have to train somebody on "how" to work, and unfortunately, many young people today do not know "how" to work. Not "how" to perform the function for which they are hired, but how to work. And, one other thing--I hold a "measly" Associate's degree, and have supervised people with Master's degrees who do not have as good a grasp on the skill set required in the field I am in. Not that I am by any means perfect, but my point is that degrees are not a measure of one's worth. | |
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