how much room for salary negotiation as ASSO1?

how much room for salary negotiation is there as a 1st year associate (i.e. no previous PE experience)? I guess there's a standard band for all associates so there's limited room for negotiation, but I think I can at least try, right? Worst-case scenario they say no, but it's not like they're gonna rescind the offer or be like, "sorry we can't meet your salary expectations/match the other offer you got, bye bye".

For context, relatively small and new firm, a couple other associates at the firm, and only 1-2 asso hires/year. 

Questions:

1) where/how can I negotiate: base pay, bonus, base/bonus split, sign-on bonus, relocation package, etc. What are other flexible components of comp?

2) What are good benchmarks for negotiation: I can try for 10% more, or $xxx more, etc.? 

3) Any suggestions/template on how to phrase the negotiation message?

5 Comments
 

Would say it's a good idea to negotiate given size/age of firm, they're probably less process-oriented than established ones. Best strategy would be to benchmark with whatever other offers you have or using rationale like "look you're a smaller up and coming firm, I should be paid a size premium for the risk I'm taking versus going to UMM/MF"

 

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