Negotiating Your First Job Offer
The fear at this stage is that asking makes you look ungrateful and they will pick someone else. In practice a single, polite, specific ask almost never costs a graduate an offer, and the number you start on compounds for years. If the salary is genuinely fixed — structured graduate schemes often are — there is still a real conversation to be had about start date, location, team allocation and the first review.
What is actually happening
Graduate schemes frequently do run on a fixed band, and the recruiter is telling the truth when they say so. Smaller employers hiring one junior almost never do. Working out which one you are talking to is the first move, and you can simply ask.
Say this
Adapt the bracketed parts. The shape is what matters.
- Finding out if it is fixed: "Thank you, I am delighted. Can I ask — is the salary a fixed graduate band, or is there any flexibility in it?"
- If there is flexibility: "Based on what I have seen for similar graduate roles, I was hoping for closer to [number]. Is that something you could look at?"
- If it is genuinely fixed: "That makes sense. In that case, could we talk about the review timing, or the start date?"
- Accepting well: "That works for me. I am really looking forward to starting — could you send the contract through?"
Rehearse this one part
The opening question about flexibility. Said lightly it is completely normal; said nervously it sounds like a complaint. Same words, entirely different reception.
Mistakes that cost money
The errors that quietly cost candidates money.
- Not asking at all, because the offer feels like a favour. It is not a favour; they have a vacancy.
- Comparing yourself to friends on other schemes out loud. Different employers, different bands, and it reads as shopping around.
- Asking for a large jump with no reason attached.
- Treating a fixed band as the end of the conversation rather than the start of a different one.
Frequently asked questions
Can graduates negotiate at all?
Yes, though how much depends on the employer. Large structured schemes often run genuinely fixed bands; smaller employers hiring one junior usually do not. Ask which it is — the question itself is not rude.
Will asking make me look ungrateful?
Asking once, politely, with a reason attached, reads as professional. What reads badly is asking repeatedly, or asking after you have already accepted.
What if the salary really is fixed?
Then negotiate the things that are not: start date, which team you join, whether training or certification is funded, and when your first review happens.