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Yous got the task. Now yous've just got to settle the details, in particular how much you'll get paid. If yous're like many people this gives yous a pit in your breadbasket and sends you straight to the Internet (or a friend or a mentor) for advice. Are y'all supposed to negotiate no affair what they offering? Should you start with a really loftier number knowing you'll have to come down? Exercise they expect you to play hardball to demonstrate you've got negotiating chops? The trouble is that there is a lot of conflicting communication out there.

We asked readers (and our ain editors) what communication they hear most often on negotiating a salary and then talked with two experts to get their perspectives on whether the conventional wisdom holds upward in practice and against research.

1. "Don't always name a figure, even if they ask. Instead look for them to give the get-go number and negotiate from in that location."

Deepak Malhotra, a professor in the Negotiations, Organizations and Markets Unit of measurement at Harvard Business Schoolhouse, says that it's a reasonable question for a potential employer to ask and it's in your best interests to answer it. "If there is too great a discrepancy between what you lot call back you lot deserve (or can get elsewhere) and their expectations regarding what yous should exist paid, information technology is better to uncover this and effort to reconcile the differences in expectations," he says.

Both Malhotra and Jeff Weiss, a partner at Vantage Partners, a consultancy specializing in corporate negotiations, and writer of the HBR Guide to Negotiating, indicate to research that suggests that there is great benefit to making the opening offer in a negotiation. "Information technology can be a skillful matter to set the tone," says Weiss. And y'all may too be able to nudge them upward if you lot can justify a "college number than the one they would accept started with," says Malhotra.

Further Reading

  • 15 Rules for Negotiating a Chore Offer

    Negotiations Feature

    • Deepak Malhotra

    The author, a professor of negotiation at Harvard Business organization School, offers 15 specific pieces of communication for task candidates.

    • Save

Yet, what matters is less well-nigh who goes first in a negotiation and more about how you lot approach the conversation. "Too many salary discussions are simply 'offer-counteroffer' games. But that'due south only a sure-fire manner to end upwards with a number you won't be happy with," Weiss says. This does not mean that you want to talk about salary as well early, warns Malhotra. Information technology can be awkward if it's i of the offset things you bring up and it's besides "somewhat risky if you end upwardly asking for too little." His advice? Learn as much every bit you can—before and during the interview procedure—so that yous can answer the question appropriately, if and when asked.

"If, despite all of this, you find yourself feeling quite unprepared to answer the question, you lot can honestly tell the other side this," says Malhotra. It's OK to say that you need more than information, such as most what the office volition be, earlier you respond.

Besides, your alternative to answering the question is refusing to. "That can make you seem hard or unprepared," says Malhotra. It goes without proverb that you don't desire to wait like a wiggle. Every bit he wrote in his article, "15 Rules for Negotiating a Job Offer," "People are going to fight for you lot only if they like y'all. Annihilation you practice in a negotiation that makes you less likable reduces the chances that the other side will piece of work to get you a improve offering."

two. "Do your research and notice out what other people with your title make in the company, or in the industry."

You should do as much research as possible. "Search the Net, utilise your network, go to your career development part or a trade association, if there is ane," says Weiss. There is lots of information out there that will help you lot piece together what people are making at the company," says Weiss.

Reach out to people who work at the company through LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter and enquire them what people make there. You might recollect this is an inappropriate question but in a recent HBR survey, 27% of respondents said that if asked, they would tell a chore candidate how much they make. Of those who worked in pedagogy, authorities, and law, 48%, 44%, and 37% respectively said they would share that information with an applicant.

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Of course, at that place may be limits to what you can find out, and there'southward cypher wrong with that. Come prepared to the conversation with a list of the information that would be helpful to you in determining what a fair salary is. "It'southward OK to ask questions that put the onus on the employer to gather more information," says Weiss. You tin can inquire, "What is the typical salary range for a position similar this ane?" or "What do people with my same qualifications and years of experience make?"

It's besides helpful to find out what limitations your hiring manager is working with. Malhotra writes, "they may have certain ironclad constraints, such as salary caps, that no amount of negotiation tin can loosen. Your job is to figure out where they're flexible and where they're not." Some companies may take a cohort of employees at the same level whom they have to pay the same. Only they may be flexible on other things like signing bonus or vacation fourth dimension. "The improve yous empathise the constraints, the more probable information technology is that you'll be able to propose options that solve both sides' problems," says Malhotra.

3. "Don't accept the outset offering — they await yous to negotiate and salary is ever negotiable."

"That's just not true," says Weiss. Sure, much of the time there is an opportunity to negotiate, but some hiring managers genuinely give yous the merely number they tin offer. The best mode to find out, says Weiss, is to inquire. And don't merely say, "Is that number negotiable?" merely dig into what went into calculating the figure. Weiss suggests asking: Where did the number come up from? What did you count as my years of feel? "At that place are many companies that don't want you to negotiate only that doesn't mean you don't come dorsum with questions," he says. "If an offer is made, in that location is an opportunity to explore and expand it."

But don't negotiate only to negotiate, advises Malhotra. "Resist the temptation to prove that you are a peachy negotiator," he writes. "If something is of import to you, admittedly negotiate. But don't haggle over every petty thing. Fighting to become just a bit more tin rub people the wrong way — and can limit your ability to negotiate with the company later in your career, when it may matter more."

4. "Play hardball because it shows you lot're skilful at negotiating."

"If hardball means you're well prepared, you come to the table with creative ideas, you lot negotiate with discipline, and you don't roll over when pushed, then, aye, play hardball," says Weiss. On the other mitt, if it means making threats and banging the table, forget it. "You might win, just you too might piss a bunch of people off," he says.

A smarter strategy, says Malhotra, is to think about what yous feel you deserve and exist prepared to explain why that is "the advisable or fair amount." Tell the story that goes with that number. "Far from playing hardball, you should be in the business of making their life easier," he says. Recollect well-nigh how the hiring manager will be able to justify the amount you lot've requested to his boss or to HR. "Work with them to come up up with artistic solutions," he advises.

5. (Corollary to #iv) "If you're a woman, don't play hardball because you lot'll look too aggressive."

"There areveryfew contexts where the person hiring you wants to see you play hardball—whether yous are a human being or a woman," says Malhotra. And Weiss agrees: "Information technology might be more acceptable for men to rant and rave and make threats but I don't think that's skilful behavior for anyone."

That's not to say that women and men are on a level playing field. In fact, women are more hesitant to negotiate job offers precisely considering they are treated differently. Research has shown that women are nervous nigh negotiating for higher pay considering advocating for themselves presents a socially difficult situation for them. "Tragically, women do confront greater potential backlash than exercise men when they try to negotiate for higher salaries," says Malhotra. These risks may exist mitigated only when "the other side sees the negotiator—man or woman—as beingness fair-minded, empathetic, collaborative, and well-prepared to discuss not only what is appropriate, only how best to attain information technology."

vi. "Don't just focus on the money. Think about the overall packet."

Many people think about a job negotiation equally being almost 1 number, only it'south not. It'due south nigh the overall package: who you work for, what kind of grooming you lot'll take, when you'll start, etc. "Companies sometimes won't budge on the dollar corporeality," says Weiss. "But you lot tin can become a lot of value past request for things that don't cost much." And often, says Malhotra, these other aspects of the job are where your satisfaction with the job will lie.

"Don't go fixated on money. Focus on the value of the unabridged deal: responsibilities, location, travel, flexibility in work hours, opportunities for growth and promotion, perks, back up for connected education, and so forth," writes Malhotra. To effigy out what specific aspects yous desire to negotiate, showtime think nearly what you want. Weiss advises exploring your interests behind the number. For example, if y'all want to make $75,000 at your job, inquire yourself why. Is it because you want to travel or save up to eventually go back to school? If so, perhaps you lot would have less if the task allowed you to travel and came with a tuition reimbursement.

There are benefits that come at an additional cost to the visitor (e.g. a higher signing bonus), those that don't toll anything (eastward.g. a flexible work schedule or rotations within the company), and those that have a price but are already existing benefits and therefore don't cause trouble for the person you're negotiating with (eastward.yard. tuition reimbursement, participating in training). Things in the latter two categories are likely to be easier requests than the beginning and yous shouldn't hesitate to ask for them. With those in the first saucepan, think carefully about how many requests you make.

Of grade, even if yous are able to create a sweeter deal for yourself with the overall package, the number still matters. "The salary you accept sets a baseline for the future — it'due south ofttimes what your bonus is calculated on and is the ground for the raises you'll go far the years to come," says Weiss. So information technology's worth getting to a number you experience expert near.

But, if at the end of the day, y'all withal oasis't reached your ideal number, don't crush yourself up, or walk away necessarily. "Salaries are often renegotiable," points out Weiss. "If y'all can't get to the dollar corporeality you desire today, keep in heed that yous'll be even more persuasive six or twelve months into the chore when you lot've proven yourself."

If you love the job and you lot want it, there is no question you should negotiate with the to a higher place principles in listen. Simply if you're $10K shy of your request, don't obsess over it. Instead, says Weiss: "Become in, be indispensable, and and then negotiate a raise."