<prompt> Human: Hi allLong time lurker, first time poster in need of some advice.I recieved a job offer from a government branch, for a pretty interesting role in one of their research analysis departments. I have an undergraduate and masters degree related to the role and I have previous experience in both researchstatistics within the academiccommercial environment since graduating from a 1.5 years ago in my masters within the top 5 of both my cohorts.After going through an intensive background check lasting over 4 months, i finally received an offer of employment on Friday through the post, fixed for a few years. The offer i received however is at the minimum salary cap of their particular pay grading. I am sure though the pay grade they have offered me is a grade lower than the one i was initially told and advertised. The job listing has since been removed, so i have no way to verify the original salary advertised.I have to say im fairly dissapointed with the offer. After doing some additional research over the weekend for similar roles and titles of the job and its responsibilities, i have found that depending on the source indeed, glassdoor, the salary being offered to me is 20-30 below the current market rates. Since this realization, i have become even more dejected with the job offer.I want to start a negotiation process that can bring the offer up more inline with the market, but have no idea how to do that. At the moment, im at a big disadvantage. I dont have any other job offers lined up so i cannot leverage this offer against others. Additionally, my current job is a stopgap crappy retail job that i have been doing whilst continuing with my employment search just to reduce the time ive been unemployed. This new job is marginally better than that, literally.In short - Im unsure how to initiate the negotiation process as i feel that the job offer is extremely low given my research into the market and my current experience skillset. I dont have any other opportunities at the minute, so i could really use some advice from this sub.What shouldcan i do?Thanks0_33EDIT - How can I negotiate without coming off as arrogant, entitled etc. My previous academiccommercial experience base salary paid alot higher than what this job is offering, and the market rate base salary is much higher than what this job is offering as well.  <response>: In the example of federal pay scales, you have your grade gs-579whatever and then steps within that grade. I think steps are purely due to time in grade so theres no negotiating on that. Push back with the fact that it was advertised at a higher grade than you were offered. Also look into any cost of living adjustments that should be applied to your area. 