Undergraduates and others applying for entry-level analyst positions have almost no room for negotiation, with the following exceptions:
- Unstructured recruiting programs, or job offers from smaller firms or regional offices, may have more room for negotiation.
- If you are absolutely opposed to the department assignment you have received, it may be possible to change it.
This has happened in a few cases. If you receive an offer in a specific department, ask to talk to as many people in that department as possible. If you have serious concerns about the group assignment, ask how flexible the assignment is and express an alternative preference as a condition of taking the job. If your offer is a general one, ask how department assignments are decided, and express a preference up front, before you accept the job. If possible, try to get an indication or commitment as to whether you'll get your preferred assignment.
Firms are not flexible when it comes to salary and title. They may be more flexible regarding less important components of the offer, such as relocation expenses and starting date. It is reasonable for you to request reimbursement of relocation expenses, particularly if you are planning a long-distance move. It may be possible to delay your start date if you have very important reasons for doing so. Some firms even will allow you to defer your start date for a year in order to make use of a prestigious scholarship such as the Rhodes or Marshall.
MBAs from second-tier business schools, advanced degree candidates in other fields, and those who have been working for several years often find themselves in a predicament. If you're in this group, presumably you set expectations up front with the firm as to whether you'd consider working as an associate or an analyst. If the firm has interviewed you as one or the other throughout the entire recruiting process, it will be hard to change their image of you now that you've gotten your offer. There is almost no way to raise yourself up from an analyst to an associate offer, except perhaps if you have a competing offer at another, higher-ranking firm. However, it may be possible to bring you on at a slightly higher salary since you have more experience or education. Also, since you are interviewing outside the normal group of targeted candidates, it's possible to negotiate other aspects of your offer, such as signing bonus, start date, and department assignment.
Sometimes a firm will give this in-between group a special formal title: senior analyst, for example, or junior associate. In this case, it is practically impossible to get your offer raised up to the full associate level, and frankly you should be thankful that you don't have to settle for the analyst title.
MBA students have the most leverage in negotiation, because the firm sees you more as a long-term investment and because the experience and skills of MBA candidates vary more widely than those of undergraduates. While you cannot increase the offered base salary or bonus, you can negotiate one of the biggest perks of all: reimbursement of part or all of your business school tuition by returning to a firm where you've worked as a permanent or summer employee. In addition, MBAs frequently have been able to alter start dates simply in order to travel, relax, or do some other work for a year. By talking to members of the firm, they have been able to evaluate and influence their placement in particular departments.
Culture and People
You will hear this many times, but it bears repeating: among similar job offers, you should choose the firm whose culture and people you like best. Why? Because success very much depends on how well you mesh with the company culture.
At school, your individual performance can be quantified fairly objectively through tests and projects that you prepare alone. At work, this changes. Especially at a junior level, you work as part of a team and have few assignments that you alone are responsible for (aside from photocopying and proofreading). In addition, the work your team has accomplished is difficult to grade because there are a few immediate quantitative measures of a client's satisfaction. (They will pay you the same fee, no matter how much they liked your work.) There are no exams, no papers, and no class rankings. As you can imagine, performance measurement tends to be much more subjective at work than at school. In addition, you'll be judged by one or two managers at work versus four or five professors at school, so your evaluation becomes less balanced. Most important, you no longer can control your performance based solely on your individual effort; in order to get your job done well, you will rely on other people's help.
Because the work performance review is so subjective, and because you need cooperation from others, it is critical to build strong work relationships with your colleagues, managers, and mentors. It is especially possible to do so if you have an underlying friendship. Those who are able to joke around, go out for beers, try a great restaurant, or play golf with their colleagues—in other words, relate to them on a personal level—are at a great advantage. As unfair as it seems, friendships carry over into the work environment and will affect colleagues' perceptions of you and your work. People who like you will champion your cause, look after you, and cooperate with you.
In conclusion, you should look for people with whom you can bond and build strong relationships. Seek firms whose culture and people you're comfortable with, whose style you would want to emulate. Seek an environment in which you won't feel that you're hiding your true self every minute of the day. If your gut is telling you that the culture doesn't fit you right now, the culture probably won't ever fit you. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can succeed at a firm based on your performance, and regardless of the other people there, remember that performance is a subjective thing.
After you've accepted a firm's offer, do one more thing to bring an end to the recruiting process: call each firm from which you've received an offer. At least give them the courtesy of turning down their offer directly, rather than leaving a voicemail message. Firms will appreciate it, especially after putting a lot of time, thought, and money into recruiting you. Believe it or not, some recruiters become attached to candidates they'd really like to see join the firm.
Besides being courteous, these calls make business sense. You don't want to burn any bridges, since you might end up knocking on these people's doors again—perhaps after business school or if your initial job choice is disappointing. You might even want to send a personalized thank-you note to recruiters with whom you had significant contact.
Now you can go out and do some real relaxing. Enjoy! You've reached the fruition of a lot of hard work.
