Most important takeaway about salary negotiation, by the way: disclosing a previous salary is almost always against your interests because it pegs your new sala

Most important takeaway about salary negotiation, by the way: disclosing a previous salary is almost always against your interests because it pegs your new salary to that plus 5% rather than your value to the new firm minus a discount, which is a brutal mistake I used to believe in this adamantly, however recently I think it requires a bit of refinement. First, it depends on where you are presently. If you are in a job you really don't enjoy or are not performing well in, for whatever reason, your top priority is finding a job that better utilizes your talents. A lot of people believe that once you start a job at a certain rate of pay, you can't negotiate it up significantly because you will always be anchored to that initial amount. That isn't really true. Once you start if you perform well you become a valuable asset, and companies don't like to lose valuable assets. One option is to find another company that will offer you the amount you want to make and take it back to your company and ask them to match it. Very often they will and without much argument. However the important thing is to start. Now if you are in a job you enjoy and have no real desire to leave except pay, then you definitely should not disclose your salary, as you have a powerful negotiating position as you really don't need to move. However if the company is really pressing you to give them a number and won't move you on unless you do, it's okay to tell them the number if you are up-front and steadfast in that you are looking for amount $X which could be 1.5x, 2x, or any multiple of what you are presently earning. If they claim they can't match it then move on. Finally, never negotiate salary with a recruiter before meeting with the hiring manager. Many times (certainly not always) recruiters do not know much about the job requirements besides what was written by the hiring team in a bulleted list. They don't have the authority to grant salary requests, but in many cases hiring managers do. I have had several job offers come in well above what the recruiter told me the job paid. No matter what you are told the salary range is, if a team really wants you, they will pay to get you.