No, it's a matter of knowing what you want and getting as close as possible to that objective rather than accepting what's initially offered (unless what's offe

No, it's a matter of knowing what you want and getting as close as possible to that objective rather than accepting what's initially offered (unless what's offered is already good enough). Mainly through convincing other people that you deserve it. Over the course of a career this behavior compounds into superior experience, superior interview performance (you have more examples to draw on/confidence in general), and secure enough position such that you have the ability to walk away. For example, your perspective of "they have a long line of candidates if you try to negotiate". That may be true but your name arrived at the top of the list somehow. The fact that you're getting an offer alone gives you some leverage, and small increases in salary can matter over time. There's always a range of salaries for a given position, why not convince them you deserve the top of that range? Maybe it's through actual experience, maybe it's just by reading their personalities and being likeable in the interview, but at least try the hand you're dealt. Granted this isn't always possible given an individual situation, but so many people simply throw away what leverage they have out of anxiety.