So you begin your search. You work hard and spend quite a bit of time searching for your new job. Your efforts are finally rewarded; you have received an offer. Congratulations! Now comes hard part. Wait a minute! Did I just say “now comes hard part”? What am I talking about? The hard part is finding your new job, isn’t it?

If you are employed while searching for a job, you must inform your present employer that you have received an offer of employment elsewhere. When you give notice, two things can happen. Either your present employer will accept, with regret, your decision, or they will do whatever they can to persuade you to stay.

A majority of job candidates do not negotiate their offer. They are happy just to have received it. They just want to start their new job and start getting paid again. Besides, there's a myth that process of negotiating could turn employer off and cause offer to be rescinded? Does this kind of thinking sound familiar?

Offer negotiations are certainly an optional part of job search process. You don’t have to negotiate. Should you? Absolutely! In fact, when you don’t negotiate, negative ramifications can occur.

For example, you’re in Sales or Customer Support or any other profession that requires a persuasive style. As a final “test”, an employer may extend to you position contingent upon how persuasive you are at negotiating offer. If you don’t negotiate, or negotiate poorly, you lose. A runner-up may be offered position on a similar basis.

Even if you are not in a profession that requires a persuasive style, you should seriously consider engaging in a negotiating process. Employers expect you to negotiate. There is always a higher amount that you can receive over and above compensation you are initially offered. How much more will be a function of bargaining chips you have, and finesse used to negotiate them.

Let’s take stock of bargaining chips you may have: • Your educational degrees • Being currently employed (assuming you are) • Your level of expertise and number of years in field • The salary you currently command • Your assessment of your true worth

Depending upon type of position you are seeking, each of these areas has validity and relevance, and a specific “chip” value that can be called upon when negotiating. Probably most esoteric yet most valuable of these is your own assessment of worth.