What to say when recruiters ask you to name the first number
Using a throwaway, because of my position.<p>I recently withdrew an offer to a VP candidate because he negotiated too much (without being a jerk). He probably took advice from an article like this, and he wanted a) higher pay b) more vacation time c) special dispensation for items involving pay and time whose effect is even more pay.<p>He has been pursuing me to accept my original offer for the past 2 months and I have been lukewarm because I got turned off.<p>Summary: all successful negotiation comes down to leverage and it all comes to who has the leverage in a given situation. If you don&#x27;t have the leverage, you may want to think about how much you negotiate. I have been in situations when I had no leverage at all, like my first job - where I had only one job offer, due to a) irrelevant educational credentials  b) tough economic times -  and thankfully, I had not read articles like this and that job led me to life outcomes that today I am quite successful and wealthy.<p>One of my classmates negotiated hard for that same job, and while he got more money, he left a bad taste in people and eventually got fired (I won&#x27;t say he got fired because he negotiated hard in the beginning but he started out with a negative vibe, and I heard that from managers, and it went downhill from there). In fact, later on, when I became successful, he approached me for a job, and again negotiated hard with me. I passed him on.<p>So don&#x27;t just blindly follow advice like this article. In fact, don&#x27;t just blindly follow any advice, including mine. Negotiate if your situation permits, and know when your situation doesn&#x27;t permit.