Salary Negotiation for Teens and First-Time Workers: It's Not as Awkward as You Think

When my nephew got his first real job offer last spring — a software testing internship paying $18/hour — he texted me asking if he should just say yes. He was 20, had no full-time experience, and was terrified of seeming greedy. I asked him two questions: “Did they offer this to you on the first call?” (yes) and “Is this a company you found through their website or through a recruiter?” (website). I told him to ask for $20. He did. They said yes.

The conversation took 90 seconds. He nearly didn’t have it because nobody taught him it was allowed.

Salary negotiation is treated as an advanced skill for experienced professionals. The research suggests it should be taught to teenagers.

Key Takeaways

• Carnegie Mellon research shows negotiating a first salary earns an average of $5,000+ more — a gap that compounds to $500,000+ in lifetime earnings through percentage-based raises
• Most people don’t negotiate: Salary.com surveys consistently show only 37% of workers negotiate every time they receive an offer
• Gender gaps in negotiation are real but narrowing: women negotiate at lower rates than men, a pattern that begins in early career experiences
• What’s negotiable in teen/first jobs differs from professional roles — start date, schedule, role responsibilities, and learning opportunities often have more flex than pay
• The single most useful tool for salary research is BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics data, which is free and searchable by job title and geography

Why People Don’t Negotiate (And What It Costs)

The research on salary negotiation avoidance is consistent across studies: fear of seeming greedy, fear of offer withdrawal, and uncertainty about whether negotiation is “allowed.” These fears are disproportionate to the actual risk.

Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever’s research, documented in their book Women Don’t Ask (2003, updated 2021), found that fewer than 10% of people negotiate their first salary. That same research showed that the employers of those who do negotiate rarely withdraw offers — in fact, a significant number of hiring managers report that they expect negotiation and build buffer into initial offers specifically to accommodate it.

A 2022 survey by Salary.com found that only 37% of workers always negotiate salary, while 18% never do. Among those who did negotiate their last offer, 85% received either the full amount they asked for or a partial increase. The success rate is high. The participation rate is low. That gap is the cost.

Babcock’s calculation of the lifetime cost of not negotiating has been widely replicated: starting at $5,000 lower, with annual raises of 3%, over a 40-year career, the compounding difference in earnings approaches and often exceeds $500,000 to $1,000,000 depending on the sector.

This is not an argument that every teen should negotiate every minimum-wage job. It’s an argument that the habit and skill of negotiation should be built early, when the stakes are relatively low, so it’s available when the stakes are high.

What’s Negotiable by Job Type

Job Type	Base Pay Negotiable?	Schedule Negotiable?	Start Date Negotiable?	Benefits Negotiable?	Other Negotiable
Teen hourly (retail/food service)	Rarely — usually set by policy	Sometimes (shift preferences)	Usually	None typically	Training placement, role focus
Internship (paid)	Sometimes (esp. tech/finance)	Sometimes	Often	Sometimes (housing stipend)	Project assignment, mentor access
Entry-level salaried (first job)	Yes — almost always	Sometimes	Often	Yes (signing bonus, start date)	PTO, remote days, review timeline
Part-time professional	Yes	Yes	Often	Rare	Role scope, equipment provided
Freelance/contract	Yes — always	Yes	Yes	N/A	Payment terms, milestone structure

How to Research What You Should Be Paid

Before any negotiation, you need a number — and that number should come from data, not guessing.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS): The most reliable free source for U.S. salary data by job title and geography. Searchable at bls.gov. Shows 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile wages for hundreds of occupations. Entry-level positions typically land between the 10th and 25th percentile — that’s your baseline.

Glassdoor and Levels.fyi: For tech roles specifically, Levels.fyi provides crowdsourced compensation data broken down by company, level, and geography. Glassdoor is broader and less accurate at the extremes, but useful for general ranges.

LinkedIn Salary Insights: Requires LinkedIn Premium or sharing your own salary data. Shows ranges by job title, experience level, and location. More useful for professional-level roles than entry-level.

The research method: pull the BLS OEWS data for your specific job title in your city or metro area. Find the median. Find the 25th percentile. Your ask should typically be at or slightly above the median, with a floor at the 25th percentile. If the offer is already above the median, your leverage is lower.

Scripts That Work for Teens and First-Time Workers

The most common failure mode in negotiation isn’t asking for the wrong number — it’s either not asking at all or asking in a way that sounds apologetic and undermines the request.

For an internship or first professional offer:

“I’m really excited about this opportunity. Based on what I’ve found for similar roles in [city], the range tends to be [X to Y]. Is there flexibility to bring the offer to [specific number]?”

Note: end with a question, give them the data source, and name a specific number (not a range). Research on negotiation framing consistently shows that a specific number anchors the conversation better than a range.

For a teen part-time role where pay is fixed:

“I understand the starting rate is [X]. Is that set by company policy, or is there any flexibility based on schedule availability or prior experience?”

This opens the door without assuming flexibility exists. If the answer is “it’s policy,” you’ve lost nothing.

If they can’t move on salary:

“I understand. Are there other parts of the offer that might have more flexibility — start date, shift preference, or a review timeline if I’m performing well?”

Redirecting to what is flexible shows sophistication without being confrontational.

What not to say:

• “I need more because my rent is X.” (Irrelevant to employer — your needs aren’t their negotiation basis.)
• “I feel like I’m worth more.” (Feelings aren’t data. Market rates are.)
• “I have another offer.” (Only say this if it’s true — lying about competing offers is discoverable and burns bridges.)

When NOT to Negotiate

A few scenarios where negotiation is genuinely not advisable:

Government and union jobs with fixed pay scales: Federal GS grades, state civil service positions, and most union contracts have set pay at each step. Negotiation on base salary isn’t possible, though start-step placement sometimes is (based on prior experience).

When you’re genuinely at the high end of the range: If the offer is already at or above the BLS 75th percentile for your role and geography, pushing further risks signaling poor market awareness.

Hourly jobs in high-turnover retail/food service: The pay is typically set by HR policy, and the manager you’re talking to doesn’t have authority to change it. Pushing creates friction without benefit.

When you have very little leverage: If you need the job urgently and there are many equally qualified candidates, the calculus shifts. Understanding your BATNA (Best Alternative To Negotiated Agreement — the negotiation research term) is essential. If your BATNA is unemployment, negotiate gently.

What to Watch For Over 3 Months

Before the offer: Research the role and geography salary data before any final interview. Going in knowing the range means the number is ready when you need it.

At the offer: Give yourself at least 24 hours before responding, even if you want to accept. This is standard and expected. Use the time to verify the research and decide on an ask.

At 90 days: Many entry-level roles have a 90-day performance review. This is a legitimate time to revisit compensation, especially if you’ve taken on responsibilities not described in the job posting. The language: “I’ve been doing [X, Y, Z] that weren’t part of my original role description. Can we talk about adjusting my compensation to reflect that scope?”

Red flag: an employer who reacts badly to a respectful, data-informed negotiation request. That reaction tells you something important about how the company operates — and it’s worth knowing before you’re two years in.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay for a teenager to negotiate a part-time job?

Yes — with calibration. For minimum-wage retail or food service, pay is usually set by policy and the manager can’t change it. Ask once, accept the answer graciously if it’s no. For other part-time roles (administrative, tutoring, professional services), negotiation is more common and expected. The downside of asking politely is nearly zero.

What if the employer pulls the offer after I negotiate?

This almost never happens with a politely framed, data-grounded ask. Babcock’s research and multiple follow-up studies found that employers very rarely retract offers over negotiation. If an employer does pull an offer over a reasonable request, that is useful information about the employer. You likely avoided a difficult work environment.

How do I know what number to ask for?

Start with BLS OEWS data for your job title and metropolitan area — it’s free and specific. Find the median salary for your level. Ask for the median (or slightly above) if the offer is below it. Never ask without a number in mind, and never give a range as your opening ask — a range anchors the conversation at your lower number.

Do women need to negotiate differently than men?

The research suggests women face slightly more social friction when negotiating assertively (the “backlash effect” documented in gender negotiation research). Strategies that research supports for mitigating this: framing the request as collaborative (“I’d love to make this work — is there flexibility to…”) and citing external data rather than personal need. The substance of the ask doesn’t need to change. The framing can be adapted.

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About the author

Ricky Flores is the founder of HiWave Makers and an electrical engineer with 15+ years of experience building consumer technology at Apple, Samsung, and Texas Instruments. He writes about how kids learn to build, think, and create in a tech-saturated world. Read more at hiwavemakers.com.

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Sources

1. Babcock, L., & Laschever, S. (2021). Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide (Updated ed.). Princeton University Press.
2. Salary.com. (2022). Negotiation Survey: The State of Salary Negotiation. https://www.salary.com/articles/salary-negotiation-guide/
3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. (2024). Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
4. Bowles, H. R., Babcock, L., & Lai, L. (2007). Social Incentives for Gender Differences in the Propensity to Initiate Negotiations. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 103(1), 84–103.
5. Small, D. A., Gelfand, M., Babcock, L., & Gettman, H. (2007). Who Goes to the Bargaining Table? The Influence of Gender and Framing on the Initiation of Negotiation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93(4), 600–613.
6. Glassdoor Economic Research. (2023). The Salary Transparency Report. https://www.glassdoor.com/research/