Should I negotiate?

A lot depends on what they'll offer. If it's reasonable, then your gfs suggestion is valid and safe. It's easier to negotiate when you both know each other and they see what you can do. That's how I did it. I accepted the offer and later on when we negotiated an extension to my contract I also negotiated a little raise.

I've never had a job where salary was negotiable so I don't have a lot of firsthand experience, but here are my thoughts:

Your girlfriend is dead wrong. The number one rule of job hunting is value yourself, your skills, and your time. Don't go in thinking you're not worth what you think you're worth (unless you have a vastly out of touch idea of how much you're worth). Most places won't rescind the offer just because you try to negotiate, they'll see it as you being competent and doing research on the job (and BTW, do some research on the job, what other people with similar skills make, etc.) They might rescind it if you try to play hardball, so just don't play hardball.

That being said, my read was that the time to negotiate was in the interview and the person who hired you might think from your response that you're either not that interested in negotiating, that you'll be easier to negotiate with, or that they'll be able to set the discussion by throwing out a lowball number right off the bat. I would always want to throw out the first number, make it on the high end of what someone with my skills is earning in a similar job (don't even worry about the bachelor's, throw out a number that people with a BA make and if they find it unreasonable you can come down), and then see how my estimate lines up with theirs. But like I said, I don't have experience with this so maybe waiting until you get the job to negotiate is the better path.

@theone86: Yeah, all of my previous jobs, with exception to maybe my most recent, weren't the types of jobs where you would negotiate so I'm figuratively sitting outside the wolf den wondering if I should venture inside or take the safe route around. Obviously I want the highest offer they can give me but I also don't want them to rescind the offer and I lose out entirely. If I do happen to get the Sysadmin job that would be a huge step up towards where I want to be. Sysadmin is actually a goal post in my plans and if I get it so soon I want to hit the ground running, learning all that I can and reevaluate my goals from that point on. Whether that would be stay in that role and maybe move around to other employers that will offer a better learning opportunity and challenges or if there is a higher role I want to work towards. This is new ground to me and I'm not entirely sure how to tread it.

play it by ear. If you think the offer is fair, then take it.

If they want to negotiate, then start with a higher-than-average value (research what people in your position get paid). Just don't make it too high; if you don't value yourself, they won't take you seriously, but if you ask for a value that is beyond what you are worth, that is also laughable. Value yourself, but be modest.

You don't have a college degree which will hurt your future at any company, but your experience gives you some value right off the bat, so you should feel motivated to ask for more initially since your ability to advance will be limited without a degree or, more specifically, people with degrees will get advanced before you do.

Either way, good luck, I like your optimism and hope your hard work pays off.

Speaking with an HR person, I recall them saying that they have a fixed max value they can offer, and if you don't settle for anything at or below that, they will tell your to piss off, in so many words. But they will at the same time always try to get you hired at the lowest value. So don't think that sky is the limit and you can talk yourself into a great salary, but realize that they do have some wiggle room.

Keyword in that whole post: "entry level"

As George Costanza would say, "you don't have any hand" here. If you don't take their offer, they'll move onto the next candidate. Pure and simple.

In this situation, you work your ass off for the first year, prove yourself an asset to the company, then negotiate at your first annual review. Money is money but experience is invaluable. Don't blow it because you want an extra dollar an hour to start.

First job is the toughest to get in IT. The next job will be much easier. But you have to lock the first one up... so no. You are not in a position to negotiate since you don’t know shit (A+ and Net+ are a joke assuming that’s what you have). Get the job, take all the free training you can get (especially if AWS is on the table), then leave for greener pastures.

Good luck !

@Baconstrip78: The way you conveyed your comment actually has me swaying against negotiating now whereas I still had a plan to. I'm going to guess you're in the field to some degree. Do you have any suggestions on what I should learn/study more to be a more effective IT professional? Obviously the field is broad but some fundamentals or basics you or anyone has noticed are lacking with current a new people in the field that is desperately needed?

Thanks

@FLSTS: as a hiring manager in IT (i manage teams of developers) i'd recommend exercising caution here.

first off you're unemployed and have been for several months. you're also applying for entry level roles without a degree or experience. you have nothing to negotiate with. as long as what you're being offered is ballpark typical entry / junior level and you're satisfied that there will be ample opportunities to learn and progress with this company, then snatch their hands off if they make you an offer.

you're a risk for the company right now. they'll have to invest lots of time and effort into training you up and no guarantees whether that investment will pay off. obviously it's your mission to prove to them that it will.

as a junior, your manager will be looking for you to demonstrate a willingness to learn, that you can integrate well with the team, you'll work hard and quickly reach a point when you can start offering value to the company. as soon as you can demonstrate these things then you have something to negotiate with.

tl;dr - get your foot in the door first and only think about negotiating in your situation if they offer you something well below a typical entry level salary for someone with no experience and no degree

@FLSTS: AWS...period. Everyone wants to go into the cloud because there is so much cost savings but there simply isn’t enough expertise out there to manage it. This is definitely a “strike while the iron is hot” era for public cloud professionals. In 5-10 years supply will have caught up and the window will be closed for certified newbies with no real experience.

@FLSTS: You seem to be asking the question "should I negotiate on principle?" and to that the answer is a resounding "no". You don't even know what the offer is yet so you have no idea of whether or not it's fair (or even generous). Every situation is different and everyone is expected to use good judgement and not like some catch-all advice like "always reject the first offer" that sounds good in a movie like Wall Street. You have to look at your situation realistically. You're applying for an entry level position with less than the normally requisition level of education or experience. CompTIA certs are not negotiating power, they are the most basic entry level in the industry and your cert is likely the only reason you got the interview at all.

As for skills, get your foot in the door at a job to start building your resume. We work in an industry where job experience can easily trump education, but you need to get that experience first and self study only gets you so far. I'll echo what @Baconstrip78 said around cloud (although I'd include Azure in there as well as AWS) but self-study can only get you so far. Cloud is a disruptive technology and most of my day job is explaining to corporate IT leads and managers how they should start taking advantage of it, so without that experience and context it's going to be really difficult to make yourself marketable.

-Byshop

not for entry level positions.

I mean if you had to interview with 4 different people, it sounds like you might have a real bees nest there if you know what I mean.

I mean if you try to negotiate something politely, I'm sure you wouldn't offend them but just don't be surprised if they just flat out decline.

I doubt he'll get thrown out the door if he politely asks if there's any wiggle room on salary, but as mentioned it's an entry level position and he doesn't technically have the qualifications for it. If I were him I wouldn't chance it, but even if they just say no and the original offer stands, it may not give the best first impression.

-Byshop

I think you should take what's offered, and in the mean time still look for an open position. This way, in the mean time your still making bread. When you get the salary and position you want, and you get hired, you can give up this job. Therefore the only choice they will have to keep you is by paying you more.

Its a win, win to be with that third eye open always.

Remember the law this year changed, not sure if its only for California. All employers now can get your pay information from any of your last jobs. Basically if you were making 55K, and went into another company and said you were making 65k, and want 65k, they know your full of crap. Just fyi

Offer your price but don't push it too hard. If they don't like what you offer, just smile and go to "No, don't be stupid".

sage advice from bushdog. i'd like to change my answer to this^

The negotiations started here: "and said she put my name in for both positions and rolled it into one interview." You know they will offer the Help-Desk position...see what the salary and benefits are offered. Then decide what's in your best interest. I know that this sounds simple minded...simple minded that's me! Best of Luck, Anna