I can do this.

[oh_no_the_snake]

I'm going to be presented my job offer sometime tomorrow, and will start next Tuesday, May 1, if all goes to plan. This is my last chance, I understand, to negotiate, which I also understand I am expected to do, or else risk losing a huge amount of money over the course of my life due to the compounded effect of having my first salary (effectively

Comments

[runnerchild]

Remind yourself, too, that it's not so you can eat imported truffles daily or drive a Ferarri - it's so you can stick it in a ROTH and not have to work when you're 70, or save it in bonds and send your kids to college.

Then again, this is financial advice from someone in a notoriously low-paying profession, who isn't particularly practicing what she preaches. I'm sure I could be making more money if I were not teaching.

[flammifera]

Then again, this is financial advice from someone in a notoriously low-paying profession, who isn't particularly practicing what she preaches. I'm sure I could be making more money if I were not teaching.

Oh, how I'm coming to agree with that! I love ancient literature and I love local food -- and I abhor the thought of going to med school or law school -- but I really wish I could find a more lucrative job than the ones I'm considering now. Not so I can drive a Ferrari (or even buy a car!), but so I can afford to take summers off and folk dance! (Or something similar...)

Sigh.

[llamaontheloose]

"or else risk losing a huge amount of money over the course of my life due to the compounded effect of having my first salary (effectively - Amazon doesn't count) be lower than it could have been"

Horseshit on both counts, dude. First, Amazon sure as hell does count. Secondly, whatever. It's not as though you're bound to some sort of rigid salary caste system. You're going to be working as an engineer. Even if this place pays you like you're a cashier at 7-11, which they won't, you don't tell that to future employers--you tell them that you're an experienced engineer who expects to be paid like one. That's how it works.

Speaking as someone who went through this process not too long ago and who, quite frankly, fucked it up "by the books," don't sweat it. Unless you're both approaching this job as a one-night stand, you'll get raises, and honestly, it matters a hell of a lot less whether or not you make +/-$1000/yr than whether or not you're in a job that's right for you.

[oh_no_the_snake]

Thank you for labeling that which is horseshit as horseshit. The anxiety of two days ago is something I'm REALLY glad to be rid of.