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Subject:Re: How Do You NOT Mention Salary First? From:Sheridan-Smith John <john -dot- sheridan-smith -at- BMWFIN -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 14 Apr 1999 14:33:05 +0100
I think the key to successful salary acquisition is realising that, as an
employee (of whatever kind and in whatever area), you are only "worth" what
someone will pay you. A writer has no intrinsic value but as many relative
values as there are potential employers.
Interview salary discussions are games of cat and mouse. On some occasions
you will win and talk up your salary or price yourself into a job (whichever
you aim for) ; on others you will lose and fail to get the job.
One consequence of talking yourself up on salary which many people overlook
but which I have both direct and indirect experience of is that of being
made to justify the "high" rate that has been extracted. I have seen
employers take a distinctly hostile attitude to someone who negotiates a
rate higher than was originally on offer, pressurising the "culprit" more
than other employees.
