10 Rules to Negotiating After You’ve Gotten the Job Offer

Congratulations, you got a job offer! And you really want the job. Now, it’s time to get the best deal for you.

Rule #1: Never, never, never accept the offer the moment you get it. Tell them how excited you are by the opportunity. That’s fine, but you want to think about it for a few days. That’s a perfectly normal and accepted business practice.

Rule #2: Never negotiate until after you’ve received the offer. You’re in a much stronger position. After all, they must really want you, so let’s see how far they’re willing to go to get you.

Rule #3: Do your homework! Just because you’re about to graduate or have graduated doesn’t mean you don’t have homework anymore. You need to have a rough idea if their offer is realistic. You should research the competitive landscape. There are many sources for that, from salary.com to PRWeek Magazine’s annual salary survey. These will give you a general idea of what the median salaries are based on job title, part of the country, etc. The numbers vary, but at least you can see if your offer is low, middle or high for the range.

Rule #4: Ask! Don’t be afraid to ask if there’s flexibility on the salary. The worst they can say is no, right? Remember, you’re negotiating from a position of strength. Besides, they expect you to ask. Maybe they’ll say “yes, what are you looking for?” Here’s where Rule #3 comes in handy. Don’t leave a few thousand dollars on the table just because you’re shy. After all, whose pocket would you rather find the money in, yours or theirs?

Rule #5: You’re not done after the salary number is settled. Be sure to ask about the benefits in detail. Is vision or dental care included? If you’ve ever visited the dentist or needed new glasses or contacts, you know how expensive it can be.

Rule #6: If you’re under 26, you can stay on your parents’ health coverage. That can save the employer money (take your salary and add about a third. That’s the cost of the benefits. The total number is how much it’s costing the employer to hire you.) If you’re willing to save them a third of your salary, perhaps they’re willing to give a percentage back to you. Can’t hurt to ask, right?

Rule #7: Ask for other stuff, too. You’ll need a cell phone for work; ask if your employer provides it. If not, will they pick up your monthly cell phone bill? What about Internet service? In PR, expect to work extra hours, including being online from home. Will they pick up your monthly Internet bill? Both of these can put money back in your pocket.

Rule #8: Vacation time is valuable. The offer comes with two week’s vacation. Now’s the time to ask for a third. Employers are often willing to add this if you ask for it.

Rule #9: Comp time is extra time. Comp (compensation) time is when you work “overtime” outside what are considered normal business hours (say an event on a weekend). Ask the employer if they provide comp time. This means you can take a day off sometime later to make up for the time you had to work the event. And comp time doesn’t count against your officially allotted vacation time.

Rule #10: Stock. If the employer is a public company, e.g., the public can buy stock shares, ask if there are stock options in the offer package. It serves as a great motivator to do a good job (the better the company does, the more your stock is worth), and it’s a great way to start saving for the future early.

You may not get everything you ask for, but there’s only one way to find out. So good luck and go get the best deal for you you can!

By: Gregg Feistman

 

More Advice on the Follow-up

First off, congratulations for getting the interview! Landing an interview for a job or internship is a great accomplishment and you should be proud. The most nerve-wracking part is officially over. So, what’s the next step? The follow-up. The follow-up after the interview may be just as important as preparing for the interview itself. Let’s look further into following up after an interview and what to do if you haven’t heard back for awhile. 

Be sure to follow-up the same day you have your interview. My personal preference is an email. If you want to make it more personal and send a handwritten note, be sure to send it out the same day of your interview and be aware of the day you send it. Holidays and weekends are something to think about if you want to send a handwritten note. Also be aware of any green initiatives the company may have that may make sending an email more appropriate.

Following up immediately shows you are highly interested in getting the job and truly appreciate the time employees took out of their busy day to interview you. Aside from being polite in a follow-up thank you, try to add a personal touch. Was there something unique mentioned in your interview? Include anything that can make your follow-up thank you stand out from the rest they have already received. Personally, I like to keep my follow-ups short and sweet. Lastly, don’t forget to follow-up and thank the hiring or office manager. Although this position doesn’t always directly interview you, it is important to follow-up and thank them for coordinating everything.

(Photo: https://www.pexels.com/photo/iphone-desk-office-pen-38556/)

Not all employers will answer your follow-up and that’s OK. It is not necessarily something they need to respond to, so don’t get yourself stressed out if you don’t receive an answer. If an employee doesn’t respond within two weeks, be sure to reach out again. If you meet with a number of different employees, you don’t have to email each person. Think about who will know the most about you getting hired and email them. You can check in by saying something like, “I just wanted to check in and see where you were in the process.” Worrying about being too aggressive is something I’ve struggled with throughout college, but this shows initiative. A lot of employees are so caught up in their job and don’t realize how long it has been since they have got back to you. Following up a second time after the initial thank you is usually the safe option. Be patient while waiting to hear back, but don’t limit yourself during this process – it’s always a good option to not put all your eggs in one basket.

By: Gabriella Lacherza

Interviewing: What do I…?

Congratulations! At this point in the application process you may have landed an interview for your dream job or internship. Interviewing is a huge topic that we could cover for a month in itself. So in this pot, we’ll cover just a few of the most important elements of interviewing; what to wear, what to bring, and what to say.

What do I wear?

You may have all heard that you need to dress professionally for interviews at this point. However, in the world of public relations, there are some different professional styles to utilize depending on what the interview is for. Say you’re interviewing at a large corporate for a position on their marketing or public relations team. In this case you’ll probably want to stick to fairly traditional professional dress. For women: a pant suit with a high neck blouse or a pencil skirt (below the knee) with a blazer and high neck blouse. Close toed heels or flats in a neutral color! You can pull your hair back in a slick bun or pony tail and apply clean, natural looking makeup. For men: a suit and dress shoes (my apologies I don’t have as much experience with men’s clothing).

Now say you’re interviewing at a young public relations agency that serves all types of clients, possibly including media companies, startups, and other modern clientele. Sometimes applicants take this as an invitation to not look professional, that’s not the case. However, you can spice it up with a more hip professional look. For instance, maybe you wear a pleated skirt with a high neck blouse that has some beading. Maybe your close-toed heels lace up! Pull your hair back into a bun, but also pull a braid across the top of your head to resemble a headband. Wear clean makeup, but feel free to add a little bit more color. Have a little bit of fun with these professional looks! Again, I don’t have a ton of advice for the gentleman, my apologies!!

What do I bring?

There are a few schools of thought for this. Some people say to bring a full portfolio that you show to the interviewers. Others say bring a few pieces of your best work to leave with them. I say, why not do both? Put all your work in a nice portfolio you look at with them so they can see the detail, diversity, and progression of your press releases, pitches, articles and more. Then, bring a simple folder you don’t mind giving away with your 3-4 best pieces in the folder for them to keep. Also in the folder? At least two copies of your resume printed on nice paper, a copy of your cover letter, and a couple of your business cards. You want them to contact you because you landed the job, not because you forgot to give them enough copies of something.

What do I say?

It’s important to understand the difference between your written resume and talking about your experiences. In an interview, don’t just reiterate the words on your resume, explain what you got to accomplish in those experiences and what you learned from it. Be excited, never be rude about a previous job (even if you hated it), and be detailed without being longwinded. Show your gratitude for every experience you’ve had and show how it’s all led up to you being the perfect candidate for this current position. If asked about your weaknesses, you can always bring up something you were previously less skilled in, and then explain how you learned more about it and what you did to get great at it. Be yourself, don’t ever lie, and always say thank you!

 

Now go out there and get hired!!!

 

By: Michelle Davies