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After applying to about 1,000 jobs, Robinson had only three interviews, including one at a health research publication.

“I gave the hiring manager a lot of ideas, I was really excited, and they said the interview went really well,” she said. luck. “Then, they turned me down and said they thought I was interested in doing all these extra things beyond just what was in the job description.”

At the time, Robinson said she was “really broke and struggling,” and thought any paycheck would be better than being unemployed. I wrote the company back and She said she would take the job for $40,000instead of the aforementioned salary of $60,000.

“It was just an instinct I had,” she explained. When the hiring manager got back to her and said they would reconsider, she said she was grateful.

Underestimating or compromising yourself negatively may go against conventional wisdom, but negotiation is an expert Hannah Riley Bowles He says it’s not a bad idea if you’re looking for an entry-level job in the current market.

“In the very tough job market for young professionals right now, it may be better to put yourself in the door and be fully employed, with a chance for advancement, than to wait in the market for an uncertain outcome,” said Bowles, a senior lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School.

Bowles explained that the longer a candidate remains unemployed or employed outside their desired industry, “it’s not a positive sign” and can reduce the candidate’s value to potential employers.

Lowballing can signal to employers that a candidate is very interested in the role and that “working for you is more important right now than how much I’m getting paid, which isn’t necessarily a bad sign in an early career.”

On the other hand, it could indicate desperation, says Andrea Schneider, a conflict resolution expert and law professor at Yeshiva University. Hiring managers may ask, “What’s wrong with you being so desperate that you’re willing to get paid so much less in order to do this job?”

She said Robinson was desperate. She continued with the next round of interviews and took multiple writing tests in which she had to write a 5,000-word essay. She said the company put her on probation for a month and told her she should expect to eventually be hired full-time.

“Halfway through, he said I was still competing with other candidates. I ended up working overtime to try to prove myself more,” she said.

At the end of the month, Robinson was informed that she would not be hired because she was not meeting production expectations, and the company did not have the budget to train her — even though it had offered a significant pay cut.

Lowballing has long-term consequences

Robinson spoke to other women in their 20s who have also lowered their salary expectations, a troubling trend considering Gen Z women already have salary expectations $6,200 less Of men their age, according to research conducted by the expert network Handshake.

Modern He studies ZipRecruiter Economic Research also found that only 30.4% of new hires negotiated their offers. Those who negotiated get a better offer, and often a higher base wage, which may indicate that some job seekers are leaving money on the table.

“It’s terrible on the company’s part, because, are you really creating a second-class system where other people are going to get paid much less because they’re desperate in one way or another?” Cheddar asked.

Robinson realizes that underemployment is “the worst strategy you can use” when it comes to hiring, especially in the long term.

This can signal to companies that market prices for new employees have fallen, which could lead to lower lifetime wages and earnings. At the individual level, starting salary is the basis for the raises an employee makes at the company and perhaps throughout their career. Retirement benefits can also be tied to a percentage of salary, meaning starting low can limit options later in life.

“The minute you realize you’re underpaid, you start spending the rest of your time trying to figure out your next job and how to leave it,” Schneider said. “The company is also wasting their money, because instead of paying you a fair salary, they are now paying you to look for another job.”

Schneider points out that if a job seeker is willing to take a lower salary, he can offer to take a lower salary for a specific period, for example three months, to prove his worth, before receiving the announced salary.

If job seekers are willing to take a lower salary, they can still negotiate their role, the projects they work on, mentorship opportunities, and geographic location, which “may ultimately be more valuable to you in the long run than getting more money upon organizational entry,” Bowles said.

After not getting the role, Robinson decided to sublet her apartment in New York and is now staying with a friend in Texas and working as a freelancer.

“Looking back, I wish I had accepted being disqualified from running,” she said. “I think if a company is willing to consider hiring you at a low price, it’s probably not the company you want to work for.”