negotiation questions
 

some basic questions about negotiation. i have two offers i'm considering.. one is ~$3,000 more than the other. the company i am leaning toward is the one that pays less.

how do i negotiate a higher salary? do i propose it to the HR contact or to someone else? do i mention the offer of the other company? do i propose another amount or do i just say if they can match it?

this is for an internship and i don't know if salary negotiations are common. i wasn't even going to do anything until i heard from a friend that he was going to negotiate as well.

Re: negotiation questions
 

I'm not sure if they are common*, but it's really simple, especially if you're a college student and this is close to being your first 'real' job: Call the person back who gave you the salary figure (even if they contacted you via email, for some reason - do this on the phone), and say "Well, I'm very interested in your offer, but I must admit that I have seen other offers in this field that are a little bit higher, and even received one myself..."

Pause here, having finished in an expectant tone, and let them either flat-out make a higher offer, ask you what kind of number you are looking for, or respond "I'm sorry but the offered salary is non-negotiable."

Proceed, carefully, from there. The course of action to take with each response will be obvious, just don't come off as rude and if they say it's non-negotiable, kindly! thank them for letting you know and then tell them you'll call them back as soon as you make a decision.

Remember, the offer will not be retracted because you ask for more pay, and if you get it, you'll have that many more reasons in your bank account to smile.

Edit
* salary negotiations in internships, that is

Re: negotiation questions
 

after the office visit, i was given a call by a partner and told i was going to be given an offer. then i was mailed the offer to my home. so i should call the partner who originally called me?

Re: negotiation questions
 

Yup

Re: negotiation questions
 

[ QUOTE ]
after the office visit, i was given a call by a partner and told i was going to be given an offer. then i was mailed the offer to my home. so i should call the partner who originally called me?

[/ QUOTE ]

Everything's negotiable. Never forget that. Remember when they say, 'Nobody else has asked for that,' that they didn't say no.

All they can do is say No. They probably don't want to go thru all the time and effort of trying to find a new person thru resumes, ads, interviews, drug test, meetings, etc so usually you can find a happy medium if they are coming in a little low.

I would just say, "here's what I've been offered for the same job, I will take your job if you match it," or something similar. If they say no, then you have a decision to make, just be CLEAR you are not using them to get another better offer from the OTHER firm.

Their job is to pay you as little as possible. Never forget that. One reason I think WallSt gets paid more is because the smart people there always keep that in mind come bonus time...the assets walk out the door every night.