What do you do if you're a recent college graduate negotiating a salary or raise?

Do not target salary at the beginning of your career, accept the minimum. focus on winning the best job responsibilities in a well-reputable workplace.

"Rich Dad, Poor Dad" was a terrible book (he bragged about buying six houses in two days then went bankrupt) but I got something good from it. He said, "Rich people take jobs to learn (and build networks). Poor people take jobs to earn money". Rich people can afford to work great internships where they learn and meet people. For your first jobs, get the job where you will learn the most and accept the minimum you need to survive.

I believe that at the beginning of the professional journey there is no salary negotiation, but only a minimum, and that is because the beginning of the journey does not carry any experience with which one can negotiate or bargain over a salary, and at this time the greatest effort is how to become familiar with the experiences and acquire the skills quickly so that you have what Negotiate what salary you aspire to.

A recent graduate definitely will find it tough to negotiate with seasoned professionals with a lot of industry experience or benchmark. However a few strategies would help - 1. Know your skills which you have or need to upgrade as a benchmark performer in the target industry 2. Attending various conferences would help to find out industry requirement of expertise 3. LinkedIn or any other social media would help in knowing expected salary for a certain years of experience 4. Get connected to alumni group for better understanding or guidance 5. A last tip- never lost faith in asking for a raise or higher salary because ultimately it is such a market dynamics that always would appreciate your courage and worth.

It sounds cheesy, but rehearsing a salary negotiation out loud is extremely helpful - especially if you've never done it before. Be concise, be direct, be polite. Anticipate questions, possible push-back, or the phrase "This is our best and final offer." And remember, it's perfectly fine to say "This is a lot to consider, I'd like to spend a few days thinking about it. Can I get back to you in 2 days?"

Don’t negotiate each piece separately. Bring up everything that you want improved all at the same time. This allows the employer to see all the pieces of the puzzle at the same time and improves the likelihood of better final offer. A good order of the email or conversation is to: *Ask questions about other aspects of the offer before making the first comment about the monetary aspect of the offer being too low. These questions can be about the 401k, the vacation, any legal documents you may need to sign, WFH policy, really anything. These question indicate your genuine interest. *then indicate the benefits that you expected to be better *then state that you expected the pay to come in higher, that there would be a signing bonus, etc.