Negotiating contract terms - is it acceptable at the moment, how can I do it professionally?

Question

Background

Recently I was approached by an ex employer, asking me if I was available to work a 6-month contract with them whilst they undertook a large project. This is an IT support role which I had previously held for approximately a year and a half. I was happy to oblige as I was beginning to look for employment in anticipation for the completion of my CompSci BSc. I talked to them and got a contract sent through to me last week.

Issue

The problem is, whilst I appreciate times are difficult at the moment, especially financially, I feel that I am being lowballed on the salary and that I could look for a more fulfilling role in an area that I am not only interested in, but have performed well in throughout college, like software development. The offered salary is marginally better than what I would have expected to be paid after a 3 year tenure at the firm, which is how long I would have been there if not for college. Additionally, I already had another year of experience on top of the 1.5 years at this firm, doing IT support at another.

What I'm wondering is, am I right in questioning my salary, should I just take what I can get, and how can I go about negotiating this in a professional way?

Thanks

Answer 1

The offered salary is marginally better than what I would have expected to be paid after a 3 year tenure at the firm,

That's a good offer. You actually DON'T have the tenure.

Additionally, I already had another year of experience on top of the 1.5 years at this firm, doing IT support at another.

Then the offer seems to be very much aligned with your actual work experience. 3 years of experience total

have performed well in throughout college,

No one cares unless it's directly applicable to the role, which it probably isn't.

You expect to get paid more for a degree that's not needed for the job. In order to justify that you would have to can show how the degree improves your productivity and throughput in the support role. That may be tricky.

Your options are

1. Decline and keep looking.
2. Ask for more salary by showing that your degree will help the role considerably. Be prepared to be turned down.
3. Take the job and keep looking/networking and gaining experience. You can certainly look around internally as well.

Answer 2

Their offer seems fair, I'd only push back at your stage in a career if the offer was patently unfair.

Whether to take the job or not is a different matter. It will put you in even better standing with that company and gain you more experience, but, if you have other things lined up you need to work out what is best for you.

At the end of the day, it's 6 months of your life, you can spend it job searching for more $$ or earning and networking.