This past week, Duke held a career fair for employers and students, which of course meant a level of anxiety and distraction amongst the student body. I remember the feelings, because it’s exactly how I felt nearly 10 years ago!
While many of my students are in this early stage of meeting recruiters, one of my students, who is pretty well connected, already has a few job offers from growing startups and companies in California. When I asked her which she was thinking of accepting, she mentioned that she was a little bit reluctant to accept either. While they were great companies she could see herself working at, she felt like none of the offers were meeting her needs. She wanted to negotiate with them, but felt like she didn’t have any leverage.
So I offered her a little perspective having been in her shoes, but also having recruited a number of young employees.
Think about why the company wants YOU.
My student felt like she would be the youngest and most inexperienced person on the team. What she didn’t realize is that the company hiring knows she is inexperienced. However, they are still interested, because they have identified her to be a capable candidate; a quick learner that can be trained.
Being the youngest member on a team has it’s advantages. At my first job I was also the youngest, by nearly 10 years compared to everyone else on my time. I did projects that no one else wanted to do or would do, but they were pretty critical to the business. I ended up getting promoted pretty early on in my career because of it!
Companies hire young employees so that experienced employees can pass on projects they’ve been working on for years. The more experienced employees don’t want to just keep working on the same damn thing, they also want to be challenged! Hence giving a young employee an opportunity, and freeing up experienced employees is a way to retain and grow a talented set of employees.
As a young employee you have leverage: the ability to learn and perform because you have the energy and attitude to get things done!
It’s actually hard for companies to find an employee who is willing to get things done for a lesser pay.
Understand you are bringing to any organization despite your experience level.
Just because you’re inexperienced doesn’t mean you’re incapable of doing things or that you haven’t done anything. Young employees who have internship experience or have worked on projects similar to what they’ll be doing on the job, can showcase these efforts to demonstrate their talents and experience.
Companies don’t expect you to add value immediately, but if you can then you should mention it!
They know there is some risk involved with hiring a young candidate, and try to mitigate that risk by extending offers to the brightest and pairing them up with more experienced employees. If you can demonstrate you are this person by showcasing your experience then it gives you leverage.
Ask for what you need.
People don’t know what you need, and young employees too often we think that because we don’t have oodles of experience that we are at the mercy of whatever offer someone gives us. Companies that hire a lot of employees at once will offer a standard package. However, there are times that these standards can actually do a disservice to the growth of an employee.
For example, being offered a 3-month contract position means that the employee will spend those 3-months focused on finding the next position rather than learning and contributing to their new team.
Or if they are given such a low offer in an city where the standard of living is quite high, the pressure of having to make ends meet will once again serve as a distraction. Ultimately, the young employee will seek a higher paying opportunity elsewhere to meet the standard of living in that area or try to get gigs on the side.
If you anticipate this happening to you, or have been given an offer, provide a counter based on what you need in order to take the position. Explain your reasoning behind it, and see how people react. Just because a company sets up a structure, doesn’t mean that it is the right one for you.
Finally, realize you have leverage, despite being young and inexperienced. The leverage comes from making a case for the following:
- Demonstrating past experience if you have it.
- Clear reasons why the current offer may be a disservice to you and the company.
- Your long term interest in the company and it’s projects.
