Salary Negotiation

Question 1

[Starting the Conversation…]

Answer 1

Me:
- Hi [name], thank you for taking the time to meet with me.
- I really appreciate the opportunity to discuss the offer letter for the internship position.
- I’m very excited about joining [company name] and contributing to the team.
- Beforehand though, I wanted to talk about the hourly pay outlined in the offer, as I have a few questions about it.

Question 2

HR manager: “Hi Holly, of course, I’d be happy to discuss the offer. What specifically would you like to ask or address about the hourly pay?”

Answer 2

Me:
- I noticed that the hourly pay is set at minimum wage.
- While I understand that internships can vary in compensation, I was surprised, given the emphasis at the Virtual Career Fair on ‘competitive hourly pay’ for interns and our shared goal to ‘get pay right’.
- This position requires a lot of skills and qualifications, which I bring to the table.
- I’d love to hear more about how the pay for interns is determined.

Question 3

HR Manager:
- Thank you for bringing this up.
- We base intern pay on several factors, including market standards and the experience level required for the position.
- While this is our standard offer for internships, we also consider feedback from candidates.

Answer 3

Me:
- I completely understand that.
- I’d like to share some context from my perspective.
- Based on my research on Salary.com and conversations with peers in similar roles in the industry, many companies are offering between $22-27 for student interns and $33-43 for data analyst interns.
- Additionally, given my hard-earned foundational skills across 3.5 yrs of part-time experience plus technical skills earned across over 2.5 yrs of full-time experience, I believe my contribution would align in the $20s-30s range.
- Would it be possible to revisit the pay structure for this role?

Question 4

HR Manager:
- I appreciate you sharing your perspective and research you’ve done.
- Our goal is to offer fair compensation, but as I mentioned, this is the standard for our internships.
- Let me ask, were there other aspects of the offer you wanted to address?

Answer 4

Me:
- Thank you for clarifying.
- To be completely transparent, pay is an important factor for me, especially as I balance the costs of Boston’s living expenses and paying for a higher education.
- While I’m extremely eager to contribute to the team, an adjustment to the hourly pay would ensure I can fully commit to excelling in this role, especially as I have long-term aspirations for my position here.
- Is there flexibility to offer a rate closer to the $20-30 range?

Question 5

HR Manager:
- Let me take this back to the team to see what we can do.
- I can’t make any guarantees, but I’ll revisit this with my colleagues and follow up with you soon.

Answer 5

Me:
- Thank you so much for your time and for being open to this discussion.
- I truly value the opportunity to work with Salary.com and look forward to hearing back.
- Please let me know if there’s anything else I can provide to help with the decision.