Long story short... 2 offers from BB for 1st year analyst position. Company A is 10k more salary (different position). How do I leverage Company A salary to get Company B to match. Would rather work for Company B.
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You likely will not be able to, especially since these are not for the same position. Very difficult to negotiate salary when you have no full time experience. While you may be able to pick up another 5k, there's a chance it'll backfire. I'm not saying don't ask, but if B has as much or more bonus potential, the risk/reward does not seem high enough to push much.
It's true that negotiating salary with zero FT experience is difficult, but another offer in-hand is the one circumstance where you actually do have a little leverage.
Most important thing to do first is make up your mind: exactly how much of a discount are you willing to accept to work for Company B. This will inform how you negotiate.
Then it's simple. Don't get cute, just lay your cards on the table. "I have another opportunity offering x + $10k. I would prefer to work for your firm. Is there anything you can do to bridge the gap between these offers?"
Willing to take the full $10k discount? Accept however they respond. Expect nothing, and any increase that comes of it is found money. Otherwise, if their counter doesn't meet your minimum, you respond with your number and you're prepared to walk away if they don't agree.
Keep in mind, at this stage of your career, the right opportunity is probably worth more than an extra $10k. But that's ultimately up to you. Sounds like you're in good shape either way.
While HighlyClevered has fair advice on how to negotiate, I'll weigh in on whether you should negotiate.
You should not.
All the conventional wisdom on how to negotiate salary packages is written for the long tail, the overwhelming number of people who are considering jobs with the opposite of a structured comp model. Think about it: most jobs are at places with 100 employees. They pay whatever they can get away with; there is no rhyme or reason.
Bulge brackets are the opposite of that. Comp is very regimented and formulaic. The term "Street comp" exists, that's how rigid and predictable it is.
The upside of you negotiating is that you get a marginal bump in base salary. From $80 to $90, illustratively. The downside is that not only do you fail to boost your base pay, but you create a reputation that adversely impacts you both quantitatively and qualitatively in the future.
At minimum you're proving that you don't understand how this works at the junior level. Talent is very interchangeable, there is a surplus of supply relative to demand, and without any proven career track record, you are indistinguishable from the crowd.
That may mean you develop a name as the kid who actually thought he could negotiate comp, and your staffer and seniors dislike you from the start. This shows up for you as poorer staffings, worse hours as people dump menial work on you, less client exposure, less mentorship or professional development from experienced colleagues ...
At worst it shows up as bad bonuses at the end of the year. I have never understood how malicious and vengeful some people are about this, but I have watched VPs gladly heap insult on injury by low-rolling an analyst at year-end after piling dog shit on him for the whole year. As if the 80-90 hours weekly wasn't enough, they had to give him bottom bucket.
The picture I'm trying to paint is that your upside is pretty meaningless here: $10k post-tax is about $7k or roughly $275 a paycheck. The downside is non-trivial: you can earn a bad reputation, stunt your learning trajectory, and maybe get worse all-in comp at year-end.
I can't find an old comment I made elsewhere with a good analogy, so I'll try to restate it here. Every job has two forms of compensation: economic elements that pay you today, and intangible elements that pay you tomorrow. You should pick a job based on the total compensation between those two.
In this case, a bulge bracket job pays you whatever base and bonus it does now, and it also pays you with a credible brand name, a robust network, exposure to the inner workings of complex business transactions or organizations, and other intangibles that will yield dividends long down the road.
I would advise you to weigh the two prospective offers in this light rather than looking at the cash component. Your first couple jobs should never be about comp. You obviously want to keep the lights on personally, so to speak, but you need to be strategic with the first two or three positions based on where you want to go and what you want to be doing long-term.
A role that pays $10 less today but sets you up better for private equity recruiting (illustratively) is going to pay off in the future with much more than $10 in measurable gains.
Good luck.
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