--- title: The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make in a Job Negotiation description: 1) Not Negotiating Via The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want: …the overarching theme to successful job negotiations is to... canonical: https://time.com/3670103/job-negotiation-mistakes/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-16T05:01:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:07:59.341Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make in a Job Negotiation og:description: 1) Not Negotiating Via The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want: …the overarching theme to successful job negotiations is to... og:url: https://time.com/3670103/job-negotiation-mistakes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf10b8f9521e0c6da/69877a3155a85964b1a85479/business-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5575 og:image:height: 3136 og:image:alt: business meeting og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make in a Job Negotiation twitter:description: 1) Not Negotiating Via The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want: …the overarching theme to successful job negotiations is to... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf10b8f9521e0c6da/69877a3155a85964b1a85479/business-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make in a Job Negotiation > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jan 16, 2015 5:01 AM UTC  Businessmen shaking hands in office Businessmen shaking hands in office Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Jan 16, 2015 5:01 AM UTC ## **1) Not Negotiating** Via [The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313395845/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0313395845&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## **2) Not preparing effectively for the job negotiation** Via [The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313395845/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0313395845&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## **3) Talking** **about** **numbers (that is, negotiating) too soon in the process** Via [The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313395845/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0313395845&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## **4) Paying too much attention to the base salary number at the expense of other issues** Via [The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313395845/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0313395845&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## **5) Not explaining why you want what you are requesting, and not framing it to seem fair** Via [The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313395845/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0313395845&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## **6) Asking for too much “just to see”** Via [The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313395845/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0313395845&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## **7) Missing details by not listening carefully or by getting overwhelmed** Via [The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313395845/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0313395845&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## **8) Sending unclear signals** Via [The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313395845/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0313395845&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## **9) Giving too much information to a headhunter or other intermediary** Via [The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313395845/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0313395845&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- ## **10) Lying or misrepresenting yourself in any way** Via [The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0313395845/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0313395845&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20): --- > “” --- **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/11/mistakes-job-negotiation/)**_._** **J** **oin over 151,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [6 Hostage Negotiation Techniques That Will Get You What You Want](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/06/hostage-negotiation/) [How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/10/how-to-get-people-to-like-you/) [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3670103/job-negotiation-mistakes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3670103/job-negotiation-mistakes/"},"headline":"The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make in a Job Negotiation","datePublished":"2015-01-16T05:01:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:07:59.341Z","description":"1) Not Negotiating Via The Essentials of Job Negotiations: Proven Strategies for Getting What You Want: …the overarching theme to successful job negotiations is to...","url":"https://time.com/3670103/job-negotiation-mistakes/","keywords":["Psychology","Careers & Workplace","Careers","advice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf10b8f9521e0c6da/69877a3155a85964b1a85479/business-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf10b8f9521e0c6da/69877a3155a85964b1a85479/business-meeting.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"business meeting","caption":"business meeting","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3670103/job-negotiation-mistakes/","name":"The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make in a Job Negotiation"}}]}] ```