Negotiating Salary Without Checkmating Yourself

by David Larson

In chess, it's possible to lose in just two moves.
You have to really screw up...but it's possible.

In a salary negotiation, it's possible to lose even faster—in just one move. And if you’re like many people, you've already lost this way in the past without even knowing it.

In chess, it’s actually a rule that the winner has to announce to the loser that he's been checkmated.

There is no such rule in your salary negotiation.

If you’re dealing with a professional, they will do everything in their power to make sure you never even know you lost.

Just go ahead and try asking your new boss to tell you how much everyone else at the office makes.

Forget What You Think You Know About Negotiating Salary

Here's some bad advice:

1. Get your Opponent to make the first offer
2. Flinch at your Opponent's number
3. Ask if their number is negotiable

Every week, articles are published giving advice like this. Some of it is just misleading and the rest is completely wrong.

Consider the common advice to “Ask if the offer is negotiable.”

“Is the Salary Negotiable?”

At first glance this sounds like a perfectly legitimate question, right?

You probably hear some variation of it all the time in your daily life:

• Can we talk about it?
• Do you have any flexibility?
• What other options are there?

If you don’t recognize the problem with the three questions above, you’re not alone.

So What's Wrong with Asking "Is the Salary Negotiable?"

                                              1   |   2