[xivzgrev]

I think a big reason people get into poker is Expectation of negotiation.

If employee talks first, the number can only go down.

If the employer talks first, the number can only go up.

It's unfortunately wide spread. I wish we lived in a world where people saw a fair offer and accepted it without automatically asking for more (employee) less (employer). If something's not fair then fine negotiate, but I think people negotiate even if an offer is fair to "win" or "its expected" or "everyone else would". So employers come in below budget and employees are hesitant to give salary numbers.

Heres a good post on it:

http://workplace.stackexchange.com/questions/183/does-the-fi...

[solarmist]

Vinnyroe's anecdote at the end of his answer is EXACTLY why people negotiate what's a fair offer is almost completely (within 10's of thousands of dollars) SUBJECTIVE. I've had places where if I had mentioned a number first I'd have lost more than $10k off my salary. Honestly many times I do accept the salary offered because it was above the range I was expecting (although nowadays I'm better calibrated to my area... Well, I hope so).

If there was an objective way to determine then people and companies would be much happier not negotiating for the most part.

[Silhouette]

The solution in that case is simple: as an employee, you come in with what you regard as a fair level, and then you don't negotiate and just state that you think it's a fair offer and they can take it or leave it.

This does away with all the upside where you could have achieved something higher, but the only other downside is if you run into an employer whose policy requires their staff to get an initial number from a candidate and then agree on a reduced level, and you know what to tell them when you discover that is the kind of employer they are.