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  1. Career Advice
  2. Salaries and Wages

Why You Should Negotiate Your First Salary

Published: Dec 29, 2015 1 min read

Stefanie O'Connell explains why you shouldn't be afraid to negotiate the salary of your first job. Many employers are willing increase your starting salary by 5% to 10%, O'Connell explains, but most millennials tend to settle for the original salary offered.

She suggests three ways to kick off the negotiation process:

Do your homework. Find out how much others in your position are making.

Be your own advocate. It's OK to boast about your abilities. A new employer has no way of knowing what you're capable of unless you fill them in.

Offer a range. Go in prepared to ask for a salary range—but make the bottom of your range slightly above the employer's initial offer. That way, O'Connell says, you set yourself up for a pay increase from the get-go.