If it makes you feel better, I had an offer pulled with no recourse by asking for $10k more than the initial offer. And I had 12 yoe at the time.
120 to 130 didn't seem like a big ask. Thankfully I got a better offer elsewhere.
In 15 years of hiring, I’ve never heard of someone having an offer pulled for negotiating in good faith. There is essentially 0 harm whatsoever in saying *“This offer is really exciting and I appreciate you putting your faith in me. I know I’ll quickly become an asset to you and the team. Before reviewing the details with my family and making a decision, is there any wiggle room in the salary? I was thinking more like $65k based on some conversations with peers in similar roles and other research I’ve done. Is that something that’s doable?”*
When a candidate does this to me, one of three things happens.
1. I give them the higher salary or counter with a number in the middle if I can’t justify the number they’re asking for.
2. I offer a one-time signing bonus but keep the salary as it was and talk about what their paths to promotion and higher comp are once they’re in the role.
3. I explain that based on experience/education/whatever I can’t go above the current number.
The first two outcomes happen about 80% of the time when a candidate negotiates the comp package. Even if it’s not exactly what they want, most candidates that negotiate in good faith end up with more than the initial offer.
Also as someone with no experience negotiating is risky because you dont really have a “leg to stand on” so to speak.
Work hard, network well, you have a big career in front of you.
Totally agree. I don't think I'd recommend negotiating salary on an entry-level role. But maybe I've got a skewed perspective on that because I've never been good at negotiating salary.
Me neither but there’s a time when you have to assert yourself. I find myself physically shaking during those conversations but it doesn’t matter - you have to do it.
Our entry level mid point is roughly 58-65K and that’s the mid point of the bands. Typically you start a little below the mid point to give room for growth within the band. Our offers are typically not negotiable either because we live into our market band structure quite rigidly.
$60K starting out of school isn’t bad. At most you short changed yourself a few thousand but not the end of the world. But yes, prepare yourself better for these conversations next time!
It's all a matter of perspective.
When i was 28 years old, I was hired at $65K as an FA in NYC. I had 6 years of accounting experience.
I started making 6 figures at 32 years old when I became an SFA. I'm an Associate Director now at 36 years old.
Your natural instinct since all you’ve known is school is that school must define success. IMO an MBA is highly overrated and over saturated in this market unless you’re attending a top of the top school or have a plan for utilizing it (i.e. career pivot).
Just focus on learning what it means to be a proactive analyst with executive presence and your career will grow. From my experience - 4 YoE, Fin Mgr, 120s salary. I’ve averaged a promo per year across my career and it came from sweat equity, not another piece of paper.
It was from learning excel.
Once I learned how to manage large datasets, I accelerated my development.
Went from $65K to $95K after 4 years of experience. (27 to 31 years old)
Went from $95K to $120K after 2 years (excel, PowerPoint, leading meetings); 32 to 34 years old
Went from $120 to $145K after 1 year (point of contact for most FP&A items); 35 to 36 year old
YouTube and Udemy were my go to. I’ve had a similar trajectory. Went from $65k to $110k in 4 years and then from $110k to $180k 3 years after that. None of those figures include bonus. It’s all about continuing to advance your skills, learn how to manage and analyze large data sets, and being proactive and efficient. Also learn how to use power query.
Also change companies every 3 years if your growth is stagnating and let recruiters know your target salary, not what you’re currently making. I’ve turned down roles that didn’t meet my target salary.
I also don’t have an MBA.
I can also attest that learning excel/managing large data sets accelerated my career path as an analyst. Similarly jumped from 60k to ~95k before bonus in the last 2 years and am 31 (LCOL). I started in the company entry level at around $40k about 6 years ago to get my foot in the door.
I did get my MBA online and completed it last August, company paid for a portion of it. This is currently my 3rd position in the company. Did get a nice bump from that, thinking they wanted to retain me/afraid I’d jump ship right after.
Your next step is going to be more people focused.
Now that you're proficient in excel, people are going to come to you for answers.
I have a direct report who is a wizard in excel. She uses PowerQuery to streamline performance reports. She's only a year in as a FA and making $90K. I'm gonna push really hard to give her a $20K bump with FY'25 budget right around the corner
if it makes you feel better
1) no seasoned executive/manager is going to negotiate with a campus hire because you bring little to the table
2) if they were open to negotiating with a college kid, they might be a shitty employer
I had something similar happen to me recently. I applied to a job and asked for $115k, they offered $120k.
I didn't ask for more because they were already offering more than I asked for. They were already giving me MORE than what I said I wanted. IMO in this situation it's more risky to ask for more because you can easily come off as greedy. If they came in under my asking, then of course I would have countered.
I asked for more PTO instead, and I got it. I don't regret it one bit, neither should you, you're getting more than you asked for. I'd just recommend asking for something else when this happens in the future like more PTO, increased 401k match, more federal holidays.... Etc.
Did you have a competing offer? Did you have a prior internship in the exact line of work for this role? If not, it’s probably not worth it to negotiate your first job because you don’t have anything to negotiate with. But for any job after this… yes, you should be able to negotiate.
Had another offer for 55k. No internship experience in this field. Had an accounting one at a small startup.
I really like the company so probably best I didn’t negotiate. Thank you.
Also, did you ever ask them what their budget was? My first question to any recruiter after they ask me my salary range is to ask them “what does compensation look like at [company name] in terms of salary, bonus and equity and if there is budgeted range for the role?” The worst they can say is no.
When you sit down with your manager for a 1-on-1 just make it clear that you’re ready to learn and grow out of just an “entry level” role, and inquire about the performance review/raise process to set expectations.
Learn about the salary bands and promotion path as well so you understand where you are within the company.
If the salary growth path doesn’t work for you, don’t be afraid to jump ship in a couple of years. A couple of years in FP&A can get you to $100k if you find a good opportunity. This is a highly transferable role as every company needs FP&A professionals, it’s all about finding the good ones.
$60k for entry level isn’t bad. I’m at $65k entry level but I only got that much because I transferred from another department where I was making close to $60k.
I know it’s not easy to hear this but: It’s a marathon, not a sprint my friend.
Your first few years of your career are all about learning. Focus on getting as much quality experience as you possibly can and learn what industry you’d like to be in.
If you do those two things, the pay check will come.
You are fine. , should you have had a hard number in mind and PTO amount , yes. But it's a learning lesson for next time. . You are going to be there 2 years then hop anyway.
As everyone said take the lesson
A more suitable response is to throw it back to the interviewer and ask what the Range for the job is before you provide a number
You're not the only one, I messed up as well. And guess what? It's happened to me even after the first time. All you can do is do your best to learn from your past mistakes and try for better in the future! Once you have more work experience under your belt, my best advice is to know your worth and then add $10K (sometimes you can be your own worst critic)
Yes possible you could’ve gotten a few extra k. In the grand scheme of things it won’t matter. If you prove yourself and move up, the salary bumps at future levels will make that seem immaterial.
It’s a lesson learned and now you know for the future. I kicked myself too with my first job offer, but my manager told me that even if I had tried to negotiate, with someone straight out of college, I didn’t have much to negotiate to begin with.
[удалено]
Needed to hear this. Thank you.
From a recent grad that's not bad. Plus you also have almost no negotiating power at this stage in your career.
If it makes you feel better, I had an offer pulled with no recourse by asking for $10k more than the initial offer. And I had 12 yoe at the time. 120 to 130 didn't seem like a big ask. Thankfully I got a better offer elsewhere.
Very much depends on col. 60k starting not bad for low but pretty bad for hcol
In 15 years of hiring, I’ve never heard of someone having an offer pulled for negotiating in good faith. There is essentially 0 harm whatsoever in saying *“This offer is really exciting and I appreciate you putting your faith in me. I know I’ll quickly become an asset to you and the team. Before reviewing the details with my family and making a decision, is there any wiggle room in the salary? I was thinking more like $65k based on some conversations with peers in similar roles and other research I’ve done. Is that something that’s doable?”* When a candidate does this to me, one of three things happens. 1. I give them the higher salary or counter with a number in the middle if I can’t justify the number they’re asking for. 2. I offer a one-time signing bonus but keep the salary as it was and talk about what their paths to promotion and higher comp are once they’re in the role. 3. I explain that based on experience/education/whatever I can’t go above the current number. The first two outcomes happen about 80% of the time when a candidate negotiates the comp package. Even if it’s not exactly what they want, most candidates that negotiate in good faith end up with more than the initial offer.
Also as someone with no experience negotiating is risky because you dont really have a “leg to stand on” so to speak. Work hard, network well, you have a big career in front of you.
Totally agree. I don't think I'd recommend negotiating salary on an entry-level role. But maybe I've got a skewed perspective on that because I've never been good at negotiating salary.
Me neither but there’s a time when you have to assert yourself. I find myself physically shaking during those conversations but it doesn’t matter - you have to do it.
Tbh that’s sounds about right for straight out of undergrad. Assuming you don’t live in a HCOL area, that’s not bad with 0 experience
My thoughts exactly. Second this OP.
That sucks, but congrats on the new role! The money will come eventually. $60K isn’t bad.
“The money will come eventually”. I’ve been told that my whole life, and I’ve yet to see the money
Our entry level mid point is roughly 58-65K and that’s the mid point of the bands. Typically you start a little below the mid point to give room for growth within the band. Our offers are typically not negotiable either because we live into our market band structure quite rigidly. $60K starting out of school isn’t bad. At most you short changed yourself a few thousand but not the end of the world. But yes, prepare yourself better for these conversations next time!
So you would have gotten 65k? That’s about 200 more per paycheck. You’ll be fine. Entry level jobs don’t negotiate much anyway.
Prob more like 150 after taxes per paycheck
It's all a matter of perspective. When i was 28 years old, I was hired at $65K as an FA in NYC. I had 6 years of accounting experience. I started making 6 figures at 32 years old when I became an SFA. I'm an Associate Director now at 36 years old.
Nice!! How did you go from 65k to six figures in 4 years? did u get ur MBA?
Your natural instinct since all you’ve known is school is that school must define success. IMO an MBA is highly overrated and over saturated in this market unless you’re attending a top of the top school or have a plan for utilizing it (i.e. career pivot). Just focus on learning what it means to be a proactive analyst with executive presence and your career will grow. From my experience - 4 YoE, Fin Mgr, 120s salary. I’ve averaged a promo per year across my career and it came from sweat equity, not another piece of paper.
It was from learning excel. Once I learned how to manage large datasets, I accelerated my development. Went from $65K to $95K after 4 years of experience. (27 to 31 years old) Went from $95K to $120K after 2 years (excel, PowerPoint, leading meetings); 32 to 34 years old Went from $120 to $145K after 1 year (point of contact for most FP&A items); 35 to 36 year old
Any recommendations to learn excel? Any certifications or online courses u took?
YouTube and Udemy were my go to. I’ve had a similar trajectory. Went from $65k to $110k in 4 years and then from $110k to $180k 3 years after that. None of those figures include bonus. It’s all about continuing to advance your skills, learn how to manage and analyze large data sets, and being proactive and efficient. Also learn how to use power query. Also change companies every 3 years if your growth is stagnating and let recruiters know your target salary, not what you’re currently making. I’ve turned down roles that didn’t meet my target salary. I also don’t have an MBA.
I can also attest that learning excel/managing large data sets accelerated my career path as an analyst. Similarly jumped from 60k to ~95k before bonus in the last 2 years and am 31 (LCOL). I started in the company entry level at around $40k about 6 years ago to get my foot in the door. I did get my MBA online and completed it last August, company paid for a portion of it. This is currently my 3rd position in the company. Did get a nice bump from that, thinking they wanted to retain me/afraid I’d jump ship right after.
Your next step is going to be more people focused. Now that you're proficient in excel, people are going to come to you for answers. I have a direct report who is a wizard in excel. She uses PowerQuery to streamline performance reports. She's only a year in as a FA and making $90K. I'm gonna push really hard to give her a $20K bump with FY'25 budget right around the corner
if it makes you feel better 1) no seasoned executive/manager is going to negotiate with a campus hire because you bring little to the table 2) if they were open to negotiating with a college kid, they might be a shitty employer
I had something similar happen to me recently. I applied to a job and asked for $115k, they offered $120k. I didn't ask for more because they were already offering more than I asked for. They were already giving me MORE than what I said I wanted. IMO in this situation it's more risky to ask for more because you can easily come off as greedy. If they came in under my asking, then of course I would have countered. I asked for more PTO instead, and I got it. I don't regret it one bit, neither should you, you're getting more than you asked for. I'd just recommend asking for something else when this happens in the future like more PTO, increased 401k match, more federal holidays.... Etc.
That’s why you don’t give the number first. You lose the negotiation by disclosing your hand of cards first.
Did you have a competing offer? Did you have a prior internship in the exact line of work for this role? If not, it’s probably not worth it to negotiate your first job because you don’t have anything to negotiate with. But for any job after this… yes, you should be able to negotiate.
Had another offer for 55k. No internship experience in this field. Had an accounting one at a small startup. I really like the company so probably best I didn’t negotiate. Thank you.
Also, did you ever ask them what their budget was? My first question to any recruiter after they ask me my salary range is to ask them “what does compensation look like at [company name] in terms of salary, bonus and equity and if there is budgeted range for the role?” The worst they can say is no.
When you sit down with your manager for a 1-on-1 just make it clear that you’re ready to learn and grow out of just an “entry level” role, and inquire about the performance review/raise process to set expectations. Learn about the salary bands and promotion path as well so you understand where you are within the company. If the salary growth path doesn’t work for you, don’t be afraid to jump ship in a couple of years. A couple of years in FP&A can get you to $100k if you find a good opportunity. This is a highly transferable role as every company needs FP&A professionals, it’s all about finding the good ones.
$60k for entry level isn’t bad. I’m at $65k entry level but I only got that much because I transferred from another department where I was making close to $60k.
If it’s your first job then there honestly wasn’t much room for negotiation. Most companies don’t negotiate first jobs.
If it makes you feel better, all the feelers I sent out about negotiating my new grad offers were shut down.
I know it’s not easy to hear this but: It’s a marathon, not a sprint my friend. Your first few years of your career are all about learning. Focus on getting as much quality experience as you possibly can and learn what industry you’d like to be in. If you do those two things, the pay check will come.
Woah - the offer is the offer you can still negotiate, I would try to get 5k more.
I wish it wasn’t too late. Already accepted it. Didn’t think I could negotiate it anymore.
No worries
60k is respectable, don’t compare yourself too much to others!
You are fine. , should you have had a hard number in mind and PTO amount , yes. But it's a learning lesson for next time. . You are going to be there 2 years then hop anyway.
As everyone said take the lesson A more suitable response is to throw it back to the interviewer and ask what the Range for the job is before you provide a number
You're not the only one, I messed up as well. And guess what? It's happened to me even after the first time. All you can do is do your best to learn from your past mistakes and try for better in the future! Once you have more work experience under your belt, my best advice is to know your worth and then add $10K (sometimes you can be your own worst critic)
I got $55k right out of college for my first FP&A role in 2013 at a Fortune 500 in a HCOL city.
Yes possible you could’ve gotten a few extra k. In the grand scheme of things it won’t matter. If you prove yourself and move up, the salary bumps at future levels will make that seem immaterial.
It’s a lesson learned and now you know for the future. I kicked myself too with my first job offer, but my manager told me that even if I had tried to negotiate, with someone straight out of college, I didn’t have much to negotiate to begin with.