10 Mistakes People Make When Negotiating

By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

I recently interviewed Kate Dixon for Job Search TV on YouTube, Amazon, Roku, and elsewhere about mistakes people make when negotiating the total compensation. It may be available on No BS Job Search Advice Radio by the time you read this. Kate is the author of “Pay Up!: Unlocking Insider Secrets of Salary Negotiation.

Here’s a summary of the points she made. You can watch the complete interview here.

10. You treat the negotiation like it’s a cage match. You fight to the death and cause damage to your reputation in the process. Thus, when you join the new firm, you lose the halo new hires usually have.

9. Practicing in your head and not out loud. Just like in an interview, rehearsing what you’re going to say in your head and not speaking it leaves you prone to making mistakes. Make the mistakes in mock negotiations, not in the actual negotiation.

8. Listening to Uncle Hank. Maybe it is Uncle Ramesh or your Aunt Sumi or Brother Julius. Many people believe they know better how to negotiate, even though they’ve only done it a few times. Even people who have negotiated as part of hiring someone only know how to do it from their employer’s standpoint, not others. Taking advice from the wrong people can prove costly.