Before you say yes
Get the offer in writing, with the title, salary, start date, bonus terms and whether the job is exempt from overtime, as most salaried professional roles are. Then price the whole package. A job that charges $300 a month for health coverage and matches nothing in the retirement plan can sit several thousand dollars behind an offer with a lower salary. Ask for the benefits summary, the retirement match and the paid time off policy before you answer.
Negotiating is expected, and offers are almost never withdrawn over a polite request. Thank them, state a specific figure supported by market data, and then stop talking. If the salary is fixed, ask about a signing bonus, a six-month salary review or relocation money. Read anything titled non-compete, non-solicitation or invention assignment before you sign, because those follow you out the door, and their enforceability varies widely by state.
The first week's paperwork
- Bring original documents for Form I-9, which must be completed within three business days of your start: a passport alone, or a driver's license together with a Social Security card or birth certificate.
- Fill out Form W-4 carefully, because it sets how much tax comes out of each check.
- Set up direct deposit.
- Enroll in benefits inside the window, which is usually 30 days. If you miss it, you generally wait for the next open enrollment.
- Contribute at least enough to the retirement plan to collect the full employer match.
The first ninety days
Your work will be judged less on brilliance than on reliability. In the first week, ask your manager what good looks like at 30, 60 and 90 days, how they prefer to get updates, and whom you should meet. Write everything down, since nobody minds a question asked once and everyone notices it asked three times. Deliver small things on time, flag a slipping deadline before it slips, and watch how the respected people there write email and disagree.
What people get wrong
Nearly every state treats employment as at will, meaning either side can end it at any time, so no job is a guarantee. Live near your student budget for six months and let the difference build an emergency fund. Keep a running file of what you shipped, fixed and saved, with numbers, because you will need it at review time and you will not remember.
Tip Save a copy of your offer letter, benefits elections and every performance review somewhere outside the company's systems. Your access to those ends the minute the job does.
