Job Hunter Newsletter

Successful Job Offer Negotiation

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IN THIS ISSUE:

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- Job Alerts

Do you have a job alert set up yet? If not, you are missing out on a large number of job opportunities.

CollegeGrad.com is posting as many as 1000 new entry level jobs per day. If you haven't searched our site for jobs lately, please do so today:

And if you have not set up a job alert, now is the time to do so:

...by setting up a job alert, you will be informed via e-mail whenever a new job is posted at CollegeGrad.com that meets your criteria. Be the first to know about new opportunities!

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Contents

- Job Search Tip of the Week, by Brian Krueger, author of "College Grad Job Hunter," the #1 book for entry level job search:

"Successful Job Offer Negotiation"

In the excitement of the actual job offer, the tendency for many grads is to make the costly error of accepting the first offer that comes their way. However, the time frame from when the initial offer is made to when you accept is a golden opportunity for negotiation. If these two events are simultaneous, you will lose a chance to negotiate that you may never have again.

Remember that you are not in a position to negotiate money (and/or any of the other attachments) until after the "sale" is made. So the information in this Section should only be utilized if you are truly ready for salary negotiations.

How do you know when you are ready to negotiate? You are ready to negotiate when you have a "ready buyer." You are ready to negotiate when you hear anything from "We are ready to make the offer," to the formal letter offering you the job. Until that point in time, you are not ready to negotiate the "whats" of the offer. Until then, you are only negotiating the "ifs" of the offer. It is always the best negotiating posture to wait until you have the actual job offer in hand. In writing, if possible. Get the offer first, then begin your negotiation.

Assuming that you have steadfastly put forth your "I am ready to consider your very best offer" response when the employer showed true interest at the end of the interviewing process, this should lead to the best possible initial offer from the company. I say "initial" because it is exactly that. Very few companies have offers that are "cut in stone"--even those that say they do often give in to many of the "perks" that are requested.

Outstanding Questions
No, I am not referring to questions that are considered to be wonderful. I am referring to questions that are still outstanding, questions not yet fully answered. If these questions still exist when the offer is made, you have two choices: ask them at the same time the offer is made (best choice) or add them to your list of potential concessions you request when you accept (see below under Acceptable Offer Negotiation). You should always be ready for the offer to come through--at any time, under any circumstances. If you are not ready in advance, you will miss the opportunity to ask some "free" negotiating questions that can give you additional career commitments above and beyond what has already been given. These questions are invaluable since they cost you virtually nothing from a negotiating standpoint.

So if you are on your toes when the offer is made, you can ask these key questions (if yet unasked in the interview process) at little or no risk:

    "What are the promotional opportunities of the position?"

    "To what position/level?"

    "How and when will my performance be reviewed?"

    "Will this include a salary review?"

    "What kind of salary progression would be expected in the first three to five years?"

Be sure to take careful notes of the answers and who gave them. These may be the most "liberal" responses you ever hear with regard to your position. Don't be afraid to refer to these promises and guarantees later when they become important in your work. But realize that they are not true job offer negotiations. They are "gifts" given to you at the time of your job offer, possibly never to be uttered again. Take careful notes.

Next newsletter: "Evaluating Your Job Offer"

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- Help Spread The Word!

Do you know of someone who can benefit from the information in this newsletter? Simply forward this e-mail to them and tell them to subscribe at http://www.CollegeGrad.com/newsletter. Thanks for spreading the good word!

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Job Search Links:

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- Job Search Book Online

There are at least two other entry level Web sites that offer books on job searching, proclaming that they will tell you everything you need to know about entry level job search.

However, there is a very important point about these books they don't mention up front: they cost money.

At CollegeGrad.com, we give you two things they don't:

    1. The #1 entry level job search book ("College Grad Job Hunter").
    2. It's free.

It's that simple. So don't buy the hype. Read the real information you need for FREE:

Don't ever pay for books or reports or resources of lower quality when you can access the very best quality information for free.

P.S. Yes, you can buy "College Grad Job Hunter" in hardcopy format as well at Amazon.com for $15 (actually, 30% off that price), but the online version is better. Why? Because the version at Amazon.com (the 2003 edition) is being continually updated at CollegeGrad.com. So the most current version of the book is actually the online, free version.

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