LIM College

by Victoria Stankus

During my senior co-op semester as an undergrad at LIM I took a course called Leadership & Negotiation. This class teaches about the proper tools you need to negotiate salary. This class empowers you, makes you gain confidence, and feel comfortable asking for what you believe you deserve which came in very handy for me.

As I had written in my previous blog, a company that I interviewed with had offered me a salary that I was not comfortable with taking right away. I was very nervous negotiating, but I knew that there was no other way to possibly get something that would make me feel that my education and all my internship experience had paid off. Keep in mind, I had people tell me that I shouldn’t negotiate, even people that are in my close support loop, but I decided to go with my gut and ask for more anyway.

It's quite a feeling that is hard to explain when you are writing the email asking for a higher wage, then waiting for a reply and worrying that it might not work out and maybe you just lost your shot of having a job where your skills are wanted and needed.

It turned out that they came back with a counter offer, and although it was not what I had originally asked for, they met me halfway and I got a more money than I would have if I decided not to try. In fact, if I didn’t negotiate, I probably wouldn’t have even taken the job. If a company wants you, they will pay for you, and that is the truth.

You get a feeling of pride when you negotiate a salary since about more than half the people who get offers accept the first one and almost all the women who get offers NEVER negotiate. It's time that our generation takes a stand and shows our future employers that we know what we are worth and we’re not afraid to ask for it, because at the end of the day we are going to prove to them we are worth it, and more.