This document provides guidance on evaluating and negotiating a job offer, including how to research typical salary ranges, when to discuss salary, questions to consider about a job offer, how to look at the total compensation package, tips for negotiating, and resources for additional information. It also touches on internship compensation and how to professionally decline a job offer.

1. EVALUATING AND
NEGOTIATING A JOB OFFER

2. Table of Contents
 Research  A Word on Internships
 Before the First Interview  What is the Going Rate for
 When an Offer is Imminent Interns?
 Discussing Salary Too  If the Employer is Not
Soon Timely
 Strategy  What to Do
 An Example  Things to Keep in Mind
 You Got the Offer!  Tips (1)
 Questions to Ask Yourself  Tips (2)
 Looking at the Total Offer  For Additional Information
 Evaluating Your Offer  Web Resources
 How to Decline an Offer  Additional Resources
 Feld Career Center
 Do’s and Don’ts

3. RESEARCH

4. Before the First Interview
 Have an idea of what industry norms are for
the type of position you are seeking
 Resources:
 Trade periodicals that publish annual salary surveys
 The Bureau of Labor Statistics
 If you are relocating, take location into
account
 Cost of living may be higher or lower in your new city

5. When an Offer is Imminent
 Come up with three numbers to help you
evaluate the starting offer
 1. Minimum annual salary you will need to survive
 Rent/mortgage, car payments, college loan repayments, etc.
 2. Based on the industry research mentioned
previously
 What you think a fair salary is for your position
 3. Padded version of the industry norm
 Be realistic

6. DISCUSSING SALARY TOO
SOON

7. Strategy
 Some companies will try to screen out
candidates with expectations that don’t
match with theirs early during the interview
process
 Carefully evade the question
 If they insist on you offering the initial salary
range
 Make sure you give a large range
 Smallest number still within shooting distance of your
ideal salary

8. An Example
 Them: “What are you looking for in terms of salary?”
 You: “I’m willing to negotiate; what is most important to me is
whether or not the job is a good fit for me and the company. I would
really rather wait and discuss salary until we determine whether or
not I am the best person for this position.”
 Them: “Well, we’re trying to get an idea of what candidates are
expecting.”
 You: “May I ask what you have budgeted for the position?”
 Them: “We’re still working that out. In the meantime, it would help if
you would give us your salary expectations.”
 You: “Based on the research I have done on the going market rate
for this type of position within the industry, the salary could be
anywhere from $70,000 to $90,000, depending on the specifics of
the job, the location, and the total compensation package.”

9. YOU GOT THE OFFER!

10. Questions to Ask Yourself
 Will this job give me the opportunity to learn new skills?
 What is the potential for growth within the organization?
 What is the potential for growth outside it? If the
company went under tomorrow, what new skills and
experiences would you bring to your next employer?
 Will I have the opportunity to work with a diverse group
of people, and expand my list of professional contacts?
 Do I like my potential boss as a person? Do I respect
him or her?
 Do the people in the office seem like they are happy and
satisfied by the work they do?
 Does this job fit with my values and long-term career
goals?

11. LOOKING AT THE TOTAL OFFER

12. Evaluating the Offer
 Everyone has different needs and priorities when it
comes to benefits
 Think carefully about what really matters to you and your lifestyle
when evaluating a benefits package
 Benefits to evaluate:
 Additional compensation: signing bonuses, stock options, profit
sharing, relocation expenses
 Medical and dental insurance, subsidized or on-site childcare.
 Time off: vacation, sick/personal days, holidays
 Flexible work schedule, working at home
 Tuition reimbursement
 Retirement and pension plans, disability insurance, 401k
 Timing of performance reviews and what annual increases are
based on
 Cost of living

13. HOW TO DECLINE AN OFFER

14. Do’s and Don’ts
Do
 Make sure you can’t change something small that would make the job
attractive
 Use the phone or voice messages, not e-mail
 Calling conveys confidence, respect and professionalism
 Always follow up your phone call with a letter
 Be positive
 Thank the recruiter for the offer—indicate how a competing offer seems more appropriate
now for your career goals, location, etc
 Keep in touch
 Recruiters are always looking to identify good people
 Who knows where your career might take you, or where the recruiter may end up!
Don’t
 Burn any bridges
 Decline with grace—you may turn the recruiter into a professional ally
 Highlight negative reasons why you’re
declining the offer

15. A WORD ON INTERNSHIPS

16. What is the Going Rate for Interns?
 There isn’t one
 Some pay the same rate as a full-time employee doing the same job
 Others pay nothing at all, some in between
 Difficult to determine “market rate” for an intern
 Therefore, difficult to negotiate your base pay
 What if they ask you how much you want?
 “I would expect to be paid at the same rate that you would pay a full-time
employee working on the same project”
 If they have not budgeted for this position
 Prepare to negotiate down or work for the experience
 If you are willing to work for free
 Great way to get your foot in the door
 But difficult to swing financially
 Perhaps can negotiate fewer hours and work another part-time job to
help out financially

17. IF THE EMPLOYER IS NOT
TIMELY

18. What to Do
 Some organizations may
 Take a long time to get back to you regarding your requests
 Act annoyed
 Accuse you of being unprofessional for daring to question the
fairness of their offer
 Vital you maintain your professionalism
 Even if the company or representatives does not
 Though you may question whether you even wish to work for such
an organization
 Keep in mind some human resources offices are overworked and understaffed
 Accepting an offer or cancel interviews with other
companies
 Do not do it until you have seen your offer—including any negotiated
terms—in writing

19. THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

20. Tips (1)
 Unethical behavior
 NEVER appropriate to accept an offer and then continue
interviewing with others to see if there is a better offer
 It can hurt both you and your school’s professional
reputation
 Companies can—and have—rescinded offers after finding
out they had already accepted an offer elsewhere
 Some offers may not be negotiable
 True for certain types of training programs
 E.g. where large numbers of students are hired out of school
 But it never hurts to try
 As long as you are diplomatic and professional
in the attempt

21. Tips (2)
 Always be honest
 Dangerous to say you have received a higher offer from another
company when you really haven’t
 Hiring managers often know what other companies are offering
 If you don’t ask for it, you won’t get it
 Though the flexibility of a hiring professional has to negotiate a
compensation package varies
 You will not know what they are willing to compromise on if you don’t ask
 Be diplomatic and professional at all times!
 Keep in mind you have to work with these people
 Do not get on their bad side before you even start work!
 Know when to stop negotiating

22. FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION

23. Web Resources
 Salary.com
 JobStar
 Monster.com
 Glassdoor.com
 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
 ComputerWorld
 The Wall Street Journal
 Vault.com
 Through BU CareerLink (Undergrad or MBA)
 Use online chat for insider salaries from
MBA students

24. Additional Resources
Publications Other Resources
 Negotiating Your Salary:  Boston University
How to Make $1000 a School of Management’s
Minute by Jack Chapman Placement Reports
 Get Paid What You’re (updated annually)
Worth: The Expert  Trade magazines
Negotiators’ Guide to  See The Reader’s Guide to
Salary and Compensation Periodical Literature
by Robin L.  Human resources offices
Pinkley, Gregory B. and company websites
Northcraft
 101 Salary Secrets: How
to Negotiate Like a Pro by
Daniel Porot

25. Feld Career Center
 Visit the Feld Career Center
 Our office is located on the first floor, left of the stairs
in the far left corner.
 Email us at: careers@bu.edu
 Office Hours
 Monday - Friday: 9AM - 5PM
 Make an appointment to meet with a
counselor
 Each individual circumstances are different
 Helps to receive advise tailored to your own unique
situation