the other applicants.
• Not until you’ve gotten to know them, as completely as you can, so you can tell when they’re being firm, or when they’re flexible.
• Not until you’ve found out exactly what the job entails.
• Not until they’ve had a chance to find out how well you match the job requirements.
• Not until you’re in the final interview at that place, for that job.
• Not until you’ve decided, “I’d really like to work here.”
• Not until they’ve said, “We want you.”
• Not until they’ve said, “We’ve got to have you.”—should you get into salary discussion with any employer.
If you’d prefer this to be put in the form of a diagram, here it is:
WHEN TO NEGOTIATE SALARY 
Reprinted by permission of Paul Hellman, author of Ready, Aim, You’re Hired! and president of Express Potential (www.expresspotential.com). All rights reserved.
Why is it to your advantage to delay salary discussion? Because, if you really shine during the hiring-interview, they may—at the end—offer you a higher salary than they originally had in mind when the interview started—and this is particularly the case when the interview has gone so well, that they’re now determined to obtain your services.
THE SECOND SECRET OF SALARY NEGOTIATION
THE PURPOSE OF SALARY NEGOTIATION IS TO UNCOVER THE MOST THAT AN EMPLOYER IS WILLING TO PAY TO GET YOU
Salary negotiation would never happen if every employer in every hiring-interview were to mention, right from the start, the top figure they are willing to pay for that position. Some employers do, as I mentioned. And that’s the end of any salary negotiation. But, of course, most employers don’t. Hoping they’ll be able to get you for less, they start lower than they’re ultimately willing to go. This creates a range. And that range is what salary negotiation is all about.
For example, if the employer wants to hire somebody for no more than $20 an hour, they may start the bidding at $12 an hour. In which case, their range runs between $12 and $20 an hour.
So, why do you want to negotiate? Because, if a range is thus involved, you have every right to try to discover the highest salary that employer is willing to pay you within that range.
The employer’s goal is to save money, if possible. Your goal is to bring home to your family, your partner, or your own household the most money that you can, for the work you will be doing. Nothing’s wrong with the goals of either of you. But it does mean that, where the employer starts lower, salary negotiation is legitimate, and expected.
THE THIRD SECRET OF SALARY NEGOTIATION
DURING SALARY DISCUSSION, NEVER BE THE FIRST ONE TO MENTION A SALARY FIGURE Where salary negotiation has been kept offstage for much of the interview process, when it finally does come onstage you want the employer to be the first one to mention a figure, if you possibly can.
Nobody knows why, but it has been observed over the years that where the goals are opposite, as in this case—you are trying to get the employer to pay the most they can, and the employer is trying to pay the least they can—whoever mentions a salary figure first, generally loses. You can speculate from now until the cows come home, as to why this is; all we know is that it is.
Inexperienced employer/interviewers often don’t know this quirky rule. But experienced ones are very aware of it; that’s why they will always toss the ball to you first, with some innocent-sounding question, such as: “What kind of salary are you looking for?” Well, how kind of them to ask me what I want—you may be thinking. No, no, no. Kindness has nothing to do with it. They are hoping you will be the first to mention a figure, because they know this strange and funny truth: whoever mentions a salary figure first, generally loses salary negotiation, at the end.
Accordingly, if they ask you to name a figure, the countermove on your part should be: “Well, you created this position, so you must have some figure in mind, and I’d be interested in knowing what that figure is.”
THE FOURTH SECRET OF SALARY NEGOTIATION
BEFORE YOU GO TO THE INTERVIEW, DO SOME CAREFUL RESEARCH ON TYPICAL SALARIES FOR YOUR FIELD AND IN THAT ORGANIZATION As I said, salary negotiation is possible anytime the employer does not open discussion of salary by naming the top figure they have in mind, but starts instead with a lower figure.
Okay, so here is our $64,000 question: how do you tell whether the figure the employer first offers you is only their starting bid, or is their final final offer? The answer is: by doing some research on the field and that organization, before you go to the interview.
Oh, come on! I can hear you say. Isn’t this more trouble than it’s worth? No, not if you want to win the salary negotiation.
Trust me, salary research pays off handsomely. Let’s say it takes you from one to three days to run down this sort of information on the three or four organizations that interest you the most. And let us say that because you’ve done this research, when you finally go in for the hiring-interview you are able to ask for and obtain a salary that is $15,000 a year higher than you would otherwise have gotten. In just the next three years, you will be earning $45,000 extra, because of your salary research. Not bad pay, for one to three days’ work! And it can be even more. I know many job-hunters and career- changers to whom this has happened.
There is a financial penalty exacted from those who are too lazy, or in too much of a hurry, to go gather this information. In plain language: if you don’t do this research, it’ll cost ya!
Okay, then, how do you do this research? Well, there are two ways to go: on the Internet, and off the Internet. Let’s look at each, in turn:
