jacorreia

At my school, many students are about to receive offers for summer co-op terms within the next two weeks. However, none of them have ever even considered negotiating their offers, and when I try to show them how easy it could be for them to make a couple thousand dollars extra they immediately start protesting:

"If I try to play hardball they'll just offer it to the next highest ranked student" "In the contract it says the company can just fire you provided 2 weeks notification, especially if you start trying to change the offer" "Most companies have large HR departments that scope out other companies' intern salaries, so it's no use negotiating anyways" etc, etc.

So my question is: Is the fear of having a job offer retracted at all reasonable?

I'd love to hear any experiences from either side of the negotiating table!

I know for myself it was a huge decision, what to contribute to at first. I'm sure there are tons of beginners out there who would appreciate a step in the right direction!

So I'm a student, and this summer at my internship I'm being given some form of "20% time". Ideally, I'd like to use this time to make myself more work-ready for when I go on a 16-month internship next year. What technologies would you recommend learning for a still-learning student interested in embedded systems and back-end development?

Thanks!