Salary Negotiations(especially engineers)

<p>If you offer to work for a below market wage, are employers more likely to hire you because you cost the company less money to keep around? Or do employers have relatively rigid salary bands and figure if you appear desperate, then you must not be worth hiring?</p>

<p>With my engineer friends and in general, salary doesn’t come up until they’ve offered you a job or at least a second round interview.</p>

<p>I have had HR types ask me that question prior to interviews with a hiring manager. With many online applications, I have seen them ask for your desired salary or at least an expected salary range.</p>

<p>Always respond that you will work for a competitive wage. If you offer to work for less you are reducing the value of your services. the company has a budgeted amount for each position that they have open. Even if you offer 10% less it isn’t going to be a big deal to them.<br>
Saying you will work for less tells a company that you don’t feel you are bringing them value as an employee.</p>

<p>I’ve always been told one of the parts of salary negotiations is to never be the first to give a price. And, if you have to, aim high since they can always offer you less, but will be extremely unlikely to offer more than you ask for.</p>

<p>One of my friends was offered a job by a company hoping to start a small research branch. They were offered substantially lower than they felt they were worth, and they replied back saying they had earned more during their internship the previous summer. As a result they got hired at roughly twice the initial offer. Their co-workers didn’t do any negotiating and, as such, were hired at half the wage.</p>

<p>I am more concerned about getting a technical engineering position from a reputable company than the pay. Bottom line, if a good company offered me a job doing the same engineering work as everyone else, but offered me the same salary as their 1rst year co-ops, I would take that in a heartbeat. I have a MS in engineering.</p>

<p>This is about how you negotiate for getting a job. I do hiring and offering to work for less is not going to be a winning strategy very often. That is esp. true for a company of any size at all. Every company budgets a certain amount for each position and they plan that it will be used up filling that position.
You have to understand that companies want to know that you value your own worth. Putting a low price on yourself doesn’t make a company feel good about you. As an employer I want people who know that they are bringing skills that are worth something to my company.
If you want to work at a very small firm, then the lowball offer may be a good idea because they are likely scrambling for every $.
I found that when I raised my consulting fees that I actually got more business than at a lower price.</p>