When going into a salary negotiation with a potential employer, it is crucial that you know what people in your position are being paid. This is so important to achieving a fair starting salary.

You need to first educate yourself, so that you can make informed moves in the negotiation process. Without this knowledge, you will be forced to settle for the bottom of the barrel in terms of both money and benefits.

You may have had a stable job for a long time and are unfamiliar with current salary trends in your field. There are two different ways which can help you to re-familiarize yourself with the market.

Strategy 1: Utilize the internet to its fullest potential. Use online job classifieds to find out what kind of salary range employers in your field are offering. Often times in job listings, the employer will provide a range such as 45K-90k. This seems broad, but you can place yourself in this category with a little self examination.

What is your education level, and how many years of experience do you have? Answers to these questions will determine what end of the spectrum most applies to you as an individual candidate. Don't feel bad or unqualified if you fall at the lower end. This works to the employer's benefit as well. You may be less educated than candidate "B," but if you are still qualified, you will cost less to please. At the same time, don't sell yourself short by expecting low amounts due to something such as limited education. Your current attitude, experience, and skill set means more to an employer than an advanced degree accompanied by a sky high grade point average.

If you do yourself justice in regards to your qualifications, but maintain a reasonable attitude, you should have no troubles in achieving a salary that is fair and worthy of your work in the position.

Strategy 2: Shop around. Keep your options open and interview with a lot of different employers. Use their starting numbers as reference points. You may want to work at one company, but another offers you more as an initial figure.

You can't use the higher offer to bait the company that you want to work for. You will lose your high offer and small offer, and offend a lot of people in the process, as it is not good business. You can however use the higher bid as a reference for how high you can push the lower offering employer. You should research the companies thoroughly and know when to quit.

You need to recognize what means more to you- the opportunity you want, or the price point that comes with another job. You might very well be able to achieve both if you play your cards correctly. Depending upon the economic conditions of the market and amount of candidates in the pool, however, you might not be able to have both. Keep your options open, and do your research to determine appropriate salary figures to aim for.

Sharon Alexander - Claim That Job.com For more information on how to manage your career successfully, and to get a free job hunting report, visit Claim That Job at http://www.claimthatjob.com