Understanding Your Job Offer

As exciting as it may be to receive an internship or job offer, it can also be stressful.

Students often wonder whether it’s the right offer to take, and may be pressured (from themselves, family, peers, or employers) to make a quick decision.

There are many factors to consider, such as the organization’s culture and values, the details of the offer and whether to negotiate salary or other aspects. In this guide, we coach you through the decision-making process to help you make informed decisions as you determine whether or not to accept the offer.

If you would like help thinking through your offer, please schedule an appointment with a career adviser. If no appointments are available within the timeframe you need, contact [email protected] or call our office at 609-258-3325 during business hours.

Decision-Making

How do you feel about the offer you received?

Conflicted? Optimistic? Excited?

What is prompting your gut-level response?

As you take some time to think more about the offer, you may realize the offer letter doesn’t necessarily tell you everything you might want to know before making a decision. Below are a number of factors to consider.

Quality-of-Life

Beyond your paycheck, consider what is important to you about your work environment and longer term career growth. For example, you might be interested in:

The people around you: A feeling you’ll be supported and encouraged; affinity groups and/or colleagues with whom you share identities.
Location: The community in which you live and work, proximity to your support systems.
Work/life balance: Time off, cyclical nature of work, an organizational culture that promotes health and well-being.
Setting: Options (or expectations) for being on-site, on-call, remote and/or hybrid.

Professional development: How and when you receive feedback, the ways high performance is rewarded, typical career trajectory/growth from your starting role.
Educational advancement: Opportunities to earn certifications, encouragement to attend conferences and support to adjust work hours to take classes.
Special work authorization: Additional considerations an international student, DACA recipient, or undocumented student may need to confirm or keep employment eligibility.

Some of this information you will have discovered through the interview process, and you can also ask the recruiter or HR representative for additional details. You can also ask alumni for their perspectives. See our Networking Guide for resources on making those connections.

Cost-of-Living

There are costs in addition to housing that vary by location to consider as you weigh your offer.

Transportation: Will you be driving or taking public transportation? What are the operating costs of using a car (maintenance, fuel, insurance, parking)? Are there options for self-navigating (e.g., bicycle, walking, electric scooter, wheelchair)?
Access to resources: Consider where you like to shop (small businesses or big box stores), dine (local/varied cuisine or national chains), enjoy entertainment (national stages or local venues).
Utilities: Look carefully at costs beyond rent in an apartment. Who is responsible (landlord or tenant?) for paying heat, hot water, and electricity? Ask the utility company for average monthly costs.

Internet/streaming: Assess and compare the costs of items like streaming or TV, internet providers and data plans.
Insurance: Renters or homeowners coverage; car insurance, medical care.
Taxes: Sales tax, property tax, state and local income tax, vehicle registration, plastic bag fees.

Use resources like Salary.com, NerdWallet and PayScale to determine average salaries and cost-of-living expenses in different parts of the United States. Create an account on iGrad for resources on budgeting, banking and other financial topics.

Described in detail in the Job Offer Vocabulary section are other monies you may receive from an organization that you should consider as part of your compensation package.

Making Your Choice

It’s common to not have all the information you’d want about an offer before you need to make a decision. Remember, you can take multiple roles and paths in the next few years to gain the skills and experience you need to reach your longer-term goals.

Allow yourself as much time as you can to evaluate and reflect. You may not like everything about an offer (e.g., you’re inspired by the work but not the location) and you may have to decide if a sacrifice in one aspect is worth it to have another. The time of year, unpredictable economic situations and other factors beyond your control may also influence your decision-making.

It’s OK to change course if you don’t think you are headed in the right direction, although it’s much easier to do this before you accept an offer. Reneging on an acceptance can have longer-term consequences, as you may encounter former recruiters or hiring managers in a new work setting.

If you opt to decline an offer, do so in a timely, gracious and professional manner as you may reconnect with this contact or employer in some capacity in the future. Finally, ensure that your decision-making aligns with our Community Standards for Recruiting if you initially found this role through our Center (e.g., Handshake posting, career fair, info session).

Job Offer Vocabulary

Offer letters can be filled with terms you may not understand in the context of employment. We have captured some of the more common terms in the sections below, but please do not hesitate to schedule an appointment with a career adviser to review an offer you have received.

Types of Employment

Organizations may have several different types of employees, and each type comes with its own set of benefits and obligations. The type of employment will be noted in your job description.

Employment At Will: An employer can terminate employment at any time for any (legal) reason or for no reason without incurring legal liability. An employee is free to leave a job at any time for any reason or no reason with no adverse legal consequences.
Contract Employee: A person is hired to work for a specific period of time. Some examples are a teacher being offered a contract for the coming academic year or a pharmaceutical company offering a researcher a six-month contract to run a clinical trial. The "employee" designation is important, as there are both benefits (e.g., insurance, workplace protections, paid time off, tax withholding) and obligations (e.g., scheduled hours, reporting structure, pay scales) that don’t apply under the contractor role.
Contractor: Unlike a contract employee, a contractor and a client (an organization or another individual) agree to broad terms of a project, such as scope and deadline. The contractor is not an employee and has control over what work will be done and how. The flexibility that comes with contract (and independent or freelance) work is counterbalanced by having to navigate business needs such as paying fully for insurance, setting aside funds to pay self-employment and income taxes and tracking business expenses.
Commission: Compensation based on performance, usually upon agreed-to terms prior to start of employment. Is intended to be motivational and may be a small part, half, or nearly all income earned in role. May be a percentage of sales made or other revenue generated, or tied to a specific metric, like onboarding a given number of new clients. The payout time frame of commissions may be monthly, quarterly, or annually, and the definition of “earned” may vary by organization.

Salaried: Salaried employees are paid a set amount each pay period regardless of number of hours or days worked. In other words, some weeks you may work overtime and not receive extra compensation, other weeks you may work fewer hours but not be docked any pay. You may see this type of role classified as “exempt” [from overtime pay].
Hourly Pay: Hourly employees are paid for each hour worked, at or above a minimum rate set by the federal government. Hourly employees earn 1.5 times their hourly rate (colloquially called “time and a half” or “overtime”) for every hour worked past 40 in a given week.
W-2/1099: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) forms used to record income received and taxes paid. Employees (whose employer withhold payroll taxes from their earnings) receive W-2 forms; Independent contractors (who cover their own employment taxes) receive 1099s. More information is available from the Princeton Financial Literacy Initiative.

Non-Disclosure and Non-Compete Agreements

These two legal documents are primarily used by organizations seeking to protect novel designs, safeguard national security or prevent the loss of clientele. Read them carefully and don’t be afraid to ask questions. The practice is common, but you should understand what you are agreeing to by signing.

Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)

An agreement in contract law that certain information will remain confidential.
Bars signer from discussing any information included in the contract with any non-authorized party.
May include references to “intellectual property,” meaning the work you create using the organization's time and resources, and salary belongs to the organization.
Commonly used to protect trade secrets, patent-pending inventions, proprietary software, client information, and other sensitive or valuable information.
Used primarily by companies/organizations that provide a product or technical service.

Non-Compete Agreement (NCA)

Limits an employee's ability to use resources from their current employer to benefit a future employer. For example, not being allowed to entice your current clients to switch their business to your new organization.
May disallow having a side hustle in the same or similar job function, e.g., not permitted to simultaneously work in two research labs investigating the same subject.
May stipulate you not work for another organization in the same industry for a specified period of time (e.g., one to three years).
Are not enforceable across all U.S. businesses and some states do not allow them.

Paid Time Off

Time away from the office can come in various forms, though employers are not obligated to offer it. The details of paid time off (PTO) may not appear on your offer letter but in supplemental materials accompanying the offer letter or provided after you have accepted the offer.

Don’t hesitate to ask a human resources representative at the organization for these details if they are not initially included in the offer. As you consider your offer, be mindful of industry standards for similar roles. For example, per this Forbes article, the average worker in the United States has 11 days of paid vacation per year.

Vacation days: Compensation given when you take a break from work. The number of days offered varies by organization and restrictions (e.g., how much you can take at one time, how far in advance you need to request time off, blackout dates) may apply. Accrued vacation time is typically paid out to you when you leave the organization.
Sick days: Compensation given to encouraging unwell employees to stay home. Although mandated in only a handful of states, sick days can reduce the chances of illnesses spreading around the office.
Personal time: An optional benefit, usually a set number of days a year. Can be used for activities that fall outside of vacation or sick leave, like preventive medical care, car repair appointments and attending to other personal needs (e.g., moving, mental health day).
(Floating) Holidays: Holiday pay is compensation for when the office is closed, typically on federal (and perhaps state) holidays. Floating holidays may be offered for you to use at your discretion.
Parental/family leave: Time away from work employees can use to care for a new child, adoption, and in some places, other family (such as one’s parents/siblings). Not necessarily paid, but it guarantees an equal or equivalent role when you return.

Compensatory (“Comp”) time: Paid time off equal to hours worked beyond regular schedule for employees who are not paid hourly (and therefore entitled to monetary income for those extra hours). An organization may have a formal comp time program or leave the decision to offer it in the hands of supervisors.
Jury duty: Most states prohibit employers from penalizing an employee for jury service, but employers are not obligated to pay you for the time off.
Bereavement: Employers may offer a few days off specifically to mourn or manage the affairs of a deceased close family member (e.g., parent, sibling, spouse, or child).
Military service: Employees who are also members of the military may be scheduled - or suddenly called up - for service. It is the employee’s responsibility to give as much advance notice as possible, but an employer cannot punish you for fulfilling your service obligations.

Retirement Plans, Health Insurance, and other Benefits

Retirement

It may seem soon, but the earlier you start saving the more financially secure you will be in the future. Your employer may offer one of these common programs to incentivize you into starting those savings:

401(k): A retirement account set up by a for-profit employer to which employees can contribute pre-tax earnings (and “roll over” to a new account when you move on to a new employer).
403(b): A program similar to a 401(k), but set up by tax-exempt employers, such as nonprofit organizations, religious institutions, research bodies, or colleges and universities.
457(b): A program similar to a 403(b), offered to state and local government employees.

Pension: An employer-funded plan with a guaranteed payout by the employer. Commonly offered as a benefit in government roles and is rare in the private sector.
Matching: Funds your employer contributes directly to your retirement plan, typically up to six percent of your salary. The match is free money - yours to invest (with a caveat - see “vesting” below) throughout your career and not subject to tax until you withdraw it when you retire.
Vesting: A time period, generally three to five years, in which your employer can retract all or some of their matching contributions to your retirement fund if you depart the company within that time. It is typically done in a graduated manner, such as in 25% annual increments. Your own investments are not subject to a vesting period.

Health Insurance

Health insurance is complicated business in the United States, and whether or not you need to secure your own coverage is based on a number of factors, including your age, the state in which you are living and the type of employment you have.

The organization’s human resources staff - and prospective insurance company’s representatives - are your best points-of-contact for specific information, but you may want to review this glossary of health insurance terms.

Medical: Covers doctor or hospital visits for preventative care and as a result of illness or injury and helps offset highly expensive costs of diagnostics, surgery and long-term recovery.
Dental: Covers preventative care such as semi-annual checkups and cleanings, and basic needs like fillings and crowns.
Vision: Covers an annual eye exam and some funding toward the purchase of corrective lenses.

HMO/PPO: Health Maintenance Organizations and Preferred Provider Organizations are different health care plans you can select. Generally speaking, HMOs have restrictions on which physicians you see (those “in network”) and PPOs allow you more flexibility in selecting physicians of your choice.
HDHP: With a High Deductible Health Plan, your monthly premium is usually lower, but you pay more health care costs yourself before the insurance company starts to pay its share. You can combine this plan with a health savings account (HSA), allowing you to pay for certain medical expenses with pre-tax income.

Other Benefits

Relocation: Funds to cover moving expenses such as transportation and storage fees, travel to new location, short-term housing, and home or rental down payments. May be issued up front or reimbursed after your start. May need to be repaid if you leave the role in less than a given period (typically one year).
Signing bonus: Some employers offer one-time payments to help you get started in your career. These bonuses may only apply if you decide to accept the offer by a certain date. You might use these funds towards things like your relocation, work wardrobe, commute or housing. Signing bonuses are taxable income, so keep in mind your spendable funds are less than the total issued.
End-of-year bonus: If offered, these discretionary funds are typically awarded based on company, team and individual performance. It's best not to count on this money to determine how much rent you can afford or how expensive a car you can purchase because bonuses are not guaranteed.
Commuting benefits: An opportunity for you to use pre-tax dollars towards parking and public transit fees, or credit for participating in sustainable commuter practices like walking, riding your bike or car/vanpooling.

Stock options/Restricted shares: At startups, you may be given an opportunity to buy stock at a specific price if/when the company goes public. In already-publicly traded organizations, you may be issued restricted shares, with vesting tied to your years of service at the company or particular company milestones (e.g., earnings goals).
Tuition assistance: An upfront payment to an institution or reimbursement to you for educational costs. This may be subject to restrictions such as degree and discipline pursued, grades earned, length of time you have worked for the organization and length of time you stay with the organization after completing your studies.
Deferrals: Many organizations will consider holding your offer open for a year for reasonable requests, like an opportunity for a travel abroad fellowship experience through Princeton or acceptance into a master's degree program.

Negotiating Salary and More

A crucial step in deciding on a job offer is determining if you are comfortable with the offer terms. If you are, then you should not feel compelled to ask for something to change. However, if there are elements of the offer you wish were different, you may want to try and negotiate.

Determine What to Negotiate

Salary is often the first aspect that comes to mind. At the entry level, you may find most organizations — especially those hiring a larger class of interns or recent graduates — are less likely to negotiate on salary in an effort to promote equity among similarly qualified hires. In smaller organizations and later in your career, salary may be a key point of negotiation.

Many other elements of your offer are frequently negotiable, even at the entry level, including:

Decision date
Start date
Office location and assigned team/project
Hybrid and remote work arrangements
Bonuses (sign-on, performance)
Relocation package
Benefits (e.g., tuition assistance; vacation days)
Time to performance review
Immigration support

Prepare for the conversation

There should be a clear and compelling reason why you wish one or more terms of the offer to be changed. Don’t just ask for the sake of asking.

You are likely to have more success when you present data (e.g., comparable salary averages) to support your request. Some resources you may find helpful are Salary.com and My Next Move.

If you are applying for federal government employment, salary information is available on sites like FederalPay. State and local governmental or educational agencies are generally required to post the salary range on a job posting.

For more information, feel free to schedule an appointment with a career adviser.

Make Your Request

First, stop to consider if you are comparing apples to apples. For example, big corporations are likely to offer higher salaries than startups; a role at an agency based out of the Midwest may pay less than the identical role in the Northeast; an independent contributor role may allow for more work-from-home days than a client-facing one.

Start by contacting the person who made you the offer — often a recruiter or other human resources staff person — and ask to set up a call to discuss the offer and ask questions. An HR representative may be a decision maker, intermediary or message relayer, so they will determine with whom you should have the conversation.

Start the conversation by expressing thanks for opportunity and genuine consideration of the offer. Be specific but flexible about what you want, incorporating data points that support your request:

“Based on average salaries for organizations of this size and my specific internship experience in this field, I was ideally looking for a salary in the mid- to upper-$X0s”

“I am happy with most elements of the offer, but noticed it included only five vacation days. I read recently in Forbes that the average is 11 days of paid vacation per year. Would you consider granting me an additional five or six days of PTO?”

“I understand the company offers to reimburse relocation expenses, but I have had limited opportunities in college to build up savings. To feel confident in accepting the offer and moving across the country, could you instead grant me a sign-on bonus with enough funds to cover the average first month’s rent plus a security deposit?”

When comparing one offer to another, avoid a generic statement like “Company A is offering me X.”

Consider the response

Generally speaking, you will receive one of three responses to your request:

You will be given what you asked for in entirety
The offer will stand as-is with no changes
The counteroffer will be a compromise

When an offer stands, the employer may point out that it’s for equity reasons or may demonstrate what they offered you was already above average for their organization.

Compromises are the most common result. The employer may give you a numerical increase but not as high as you had asked for or may offer to review your performance in six months instead of the standard end of one year.

Regardless of the answer:

Ask for a revised copy of offer letter if any of the terms of the offer have changed
Express thanks and let the organization know you’ll decide soon
Clarify the deadline by which to accept or decline the offer

Remember, you can schedule an appointment with a career adviser to review your offer and evaluate your options.

Managing Multiple Offers

It is common to receive an offer for one role while you are still in the interview process for others. Unlike college admissions, where students generally receive all their offers before having to commit to one school, employers may not accommodate holding your internship or job offer indefinitely while you hope to secure other options.

When you receive an offer, schedule an appointment with a career adviser to talk through the opportunity so you can make an informed decision about that role. The Center for Career Development staff is aware that some University programs and some external employers have short decision-making timeframes, so if time is of the essence, contact [email protected] or call our office at 609-258-3325 during business hours.

Communication is key

As you balance different recruiting processes, avoid ghosting recruiters who invite you in for an interview. If you are not interested, politely decline. If you anticipate wanting to extend the decision deadline, notify the employer as soon as you can to make the request, ideally at least five business days in advance of the deadline.

Be up front with employers about your search. They know you're likely looking at other roles, but they are not obligated to honor your request for more time to decide. Once you have accepted an offer, contact the recruiters for other roles in which you are a finalist to respectfully withdraw from consideration.