Salary negotiations are an inevitable piece of any job interview. There are possibilities and the hard truth in an “truly open negotiation” is this – its a give and take without getting into a stand-off situation. Multiple factors will influence this little game, namely:

Employer side

• How urgently does the position need to be filled?
• How critical is this position to the organization – are they seeking a worker bee or a queen bee?
• Where in the organizational hierarchy does this position fit (how high / low)?
• What fit is there between the candidate and the position’s requirements?
• What is the allocated budget for the position in question?

Candidate side

• How desperate is the candidate?
• What fit is there between the candidate and the position’s requirements?
• Is this position going to add resume-value?
• Is the organization going to add resume-value?

OK – the hard work of researching the great job, the company and the harder work of getting your resume in to the right people has FINALLY culminated in a job interview. The interview is going on and your take is that you have a very strong fighting chance at being the in the final considerations … Great going! Then the interviewer(s) throw an opportunity at you – “Do you have any questions”. Here is an opportunity for you to showcase your thinking and how much of the position have you understood and potentially how you can garner more information about the position to make an informed decision whether or not to accept the position when the offer is dropped.

Also, don’t forget that having a good handle on some (or all) of these will also give you leverage on how you can negotiate your salary (or at least have a idea what to pitch for without pricing yourself out!). I will be posting on salary negotiation tips in a later post.

Excerpted from David Silverman’s Harvard Business Blog for the benefit of the WordPress community who read my blog posts. As David aptly puts it across

“… you need to listen and react to the person in the room with you, not slavishly follow any list of rules — I present to you my list of rules for interviewing:”

(From the book “The Accelerated Job Search” by Wayne D. Ford, Ph.D, published by The Management Advantage Inc.)

1. Tell me about yourself:
The most often asked question in interviews. You need to have a short statement prepared in your mind. Be careful that it does not sound rehearsed. Limit it to work-related items unless instructed otherwise. Talk about things you have done and jobs you have held that relate to
the position you are interviewing for. Start with the item farthest back and work up to the present.

2. Why did you leave your last job?
Stay positive regardless of the circumstances. Never refer to a major problem with management and never speak ill of supervisors, co-workers
or the organization. If you do, you will be the one looking bad. Keep smiling and talk about leaving for a positive reason such as an opportunity, a chance to do something special or other forward-looking reasons.

3. What experience do you have in this field?
Speak about specifics that relate to the position you are applying for. If you do not have specific experience, get as close as you can.

As a recent car buyer, I am (as of this writing) fairly armed with a wealth of information and new tricks that would make for a PhD thesis in itself!

Confessions of a car salesman – http://www.edmunds.com/advice/buying/articles/42962/article.html

If you have not read the above mentioned article, then STOP EVERYTHING IMMEDIATELY! Its a lengthy article, but TRUST ME – its like going to be very very very rewarding if you read this and EDUCATE yourself. Its written in a storyboard narrative and I kid you not – you will see the narratives from this exhaustive article being played out in front of your eyes when you are sitting at the dealer. For me this article is the bible unless car dealers start changing their sales ops (which has NOT happened in the last 25+ years!).

These are trying times for the economy – as is VERY OBVIOUS – greed has dictated the days bygone and the entire concept of capitalism is under question to a lot of people. Isnt this something that US has preached to the rest of the world?

Were you just laid off? Are you being skinned to your bones as part of the job? Are you *perceived* as unhappy and/or disgruntled? Are you *seen* as an activist rather than someone who will sulk/shout and walk-away never to return? If you answered “yes” or “maybe” or anyof the above questions, your life may be in danger and you could be shot and killed – at nowhere else but at your office / place of work!! Who will be the perpetrators – your colleagues. Will they be prosecuted or even tried for the *crime* – ABSOLUTELY NOT. In fact they may just get a merit certificate!

Not in my lifetime and neither is it going to be in the lifetime of my children. Globalization and other forces are at work here and we know that no two countries with a McDonald’s have EVER gone to war (till date atleast)! What then is the rationale? One simple reason – balance of power and/or trading clout.

The dictionary defines clout as Informal. pull; strong influence; muscle, esp. political power. The cold war is long since over, and with it the bi-polar world too. What are the new “poles” – developed vs. developing? first world vs. third world? Rogue nations vs. Policing nations? All these are fine, but these definitions do not contribute to national incomes (aka. Gross Domestic Product or GDP for short), does not put food on the table for its citizens. As the geo-political powers are getting re-aligned and re-defined, countries are gearing up to ensure that they get their fair share and more – read on for more details …

Author: William J. Holstein

News that Vikram Pandit will be the new chief executive officer of Citigroup, joining other Indians such as Pepsi’s Indra Nooyi at the top of major U.S. corporations, comes at the same time that we learn that Tata Motors may buy Jaguar from Ford Motor.

Former AT&T technician Mark Klein is the key witness in the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s class-action lawsuit against the telecommunications company, which alleges that AT&T cooperated in an illegal National Security Agency domestic surveillance program.