>It's true that the #1 mistake people make is to sell themselves short by giving away a (low) salary upfront. As an agency/3rd party recruiter/headhunter who a

>It's true that the #1 mistake people make is to sell themselves short by giving away a (low) salary upfront. As an agency/3rd party recruiter/headhunter who asks people questions about salary all the time (current or desired), I'd argue that the #1 mistake people make is saying that they are willing to negotiate before getting any objection. I've written about this at length, but the typical conversation goes like this. ME: "How much are you looking to make?" CANDIDATE: "I'm looking for 100K." ME: PAUSES TO TAKE NOTE CANDIDATE: "...But I'm always willing to negotiate" I haven't even said "no" and they are already negotiating against themselves. Any hiring manager dealing with junior level candidates will likely know this tendency for inexperienced negotiators to mention flexibility when greeted with any silence, so they'll incorporate that silence into their "script".