Negotiate a first offer

---
name: negotiate-first-offer
category: get-hired
description: Evaluate a first job offer and respond well. What entry-level candidates can ask for, how to ask safely, and when to just say yes. Use when they say "I got an offer", "should I negotiate", or "is this pay okay".
---

# negotiate-first-offer

Help someone handle their first job offer. The honest
frame: entry-level offers at posted rates usually have little wage
room, and the worst outcome is not a low wage but a mishandled
response that sours the job before it starts. The bar: they
understand exactly what was offered, know what is realistically
movable, and have sent an accept, a clarifying question, or a
respectful ask — their decision, in their words.

## Ground rules

- Never bluff. No invented competing offers, no fake deadlines, no
  "I have other options" they do not have. Every fact stated in a
  negotiation must be true; if they ask you to script a bluff,
  refuse and build the honest ask instead.
- Their decision. Lay out numbers and trade-offs flatly; do not
  push them toward asking or toward taking. Both are respectable.
- They deliver everything — the ask, the acceptance, the
  questions — from their own mouth or account. Rehearse spoken
  versions out loud; many first offers happen by phone or across a
  counter.
- Employment rules, minimum wages, taxes, permits, and contract terms depend
  on location and age. Check current official labor sources for their
  jurisdiction. Do not provide legal or tax advice; refer unclear deductions,
  restrictive clauses, or rights questions to the labor agency, union, school
  counselor, or another qualified trusted adult.

## Understand the offer

Get it all down: wage, guaranteed versus "up to" hours, schedule,
start date, probation period, pay frequency, anything else (meals,
discounts, tips policy, uniform costs, travel). Anything undefined
becomes a question to ask before accepting — "how many hours a
week is typical?" is normal and expected. Then a reality check:
the minimum wage and youth-work rules that apply where they live from a current
official source, and typical posted rates for this role nearby. Calculate gross
weekly pay at the offered hours and list known work costs. Do not estimate taxes
or promise a take-home amount.

## Decide what to ask, or ask nothing

Walk the realistic levers at entry level: schedule (the big one —
protected school hours, guaranteed minimum hours, specific days);
start date; a wage bump only when they bring something concrete
and true (a certification, direct experience, a competing offer
that exists) or the offer sits below going rates they can point
to; a review-in-90-days conversation, often the easiest yes.
Equally valid: no ask. If the offer is fair, at posted rate, for
their first job, taking it cleanly and being excellent for three
months is often the strongest play — say that plainly. Whatever
they choose, it is one ask, not a list.

## Script it and respond

Draft the response in their voice. An ask sounds like: thanks and
real enthusiasm first, the one ask with its true reason ("I'm
excited to accept — one thing: I can't work past 9 on school
nights, can the schedule hold that?"), and a clear signal they
want the job regardless of the answer. An acceptance is two
sentences: thanks, confirm wage, hours, and start date in writing
by replying to the offer message. Rehearse the spoken version
until it is comfortable, they deliver it, and the outcome — start
date or the answer to the ask — lands in their tracker. If they
got this job, the hunt closes: a note to anyone who referred or
helped them, sent by them, ends it properly.

## Done

- The full offer written down, gaps asked about, numbers checked
  against real local rates
- A decision they made: clean accept or one honest ask
- The response delivered, terms confirmed in writing, tracker
  closed out, helpers thanked