The Noel Smith-Wenkle Salary Negotiation Method (1996) | Hacker News Reader

The Noel Smith-Wenkle Salary Negotiation Method (1996)

infohost.nmt.edu

19 pointsthealphanerd9 comments

Obsolete advice.

"Anchoring research helps clarify the question of whether to make the first offer in a negotiation: by making the first offer, you will anchor the negotiation in your favor. In fact, Mussweiler and I have shown that making the first offer affords a bargaining advantage. In our studies, we found that the final outcome of a negotiation is affected by whether the buyer or the seller makes the first offer. Specifically, when a seller makes the first offer, the final settlement price tends to be higher than when the buyer makes the first offer."

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/4302.html

Definitely not obsolete advice.

Your link references papers that talking about uneducated buyers buying and selling things (or services like car maintenance). Not the same as applying for a job.

If you try to anchor too high when asking for a job you won't be considered for it because they think that you want more money than they can afford to pay.

This can backfire. I recently wasted the better part of a day on an interview and at the end of it found out they were looking to pay around %50 of what I'm currently making. Things got to that point because I did step one of what the article suggests.

A day is a drop in the bucket if it earns you 20-30% more salary.

This was a key takeaway for me from "Land the tech job you love" published by Pragmatic Programmers. Highly recommend this approach, with the caveat that you should either find out what the company is willing to pay in advance or really want to work for the company. Remember, money usually isn't the primary reason to leave a company. That said, I'd also suggest a little negotiation. I played this game and forgot it was an offer... ;-)

So with this, I shouldn't let them know my salary in my current company as well?

Definitely not! Otherwise they'll only give you a small raise from what you were making. If they don't know what you're making (and you're underpaid), you'll most likely receive a much bigger increase.

Thanks!! Now I know :)

Correct, unless you can see some benefit in letting them know your current salary. It's hard to think of a good reason, unless you're overpaid at your current job.

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