[evanmarks]

Advice that I have received that has been helpful when negotiating compensation is:

(1) A good way to dodge being the first one to give a salary number is to say that you will consider the total compensation package offered, of which the salary is just one portion.

(2) If you do get an offer and want to negotiate, but are scared that you will put them off - make sure they know from your response that you are very interested in the position and the offer, but based on your understanding of the job responsibilities and your skills were expecting something in the range of x.