Everything You Need to Know About Negotiating (for Yourself)

First, I have a confession to make. I haven't always been a good negotiator. In fact, like many women, I started out my career behind the eight ball in terms of salary simply by my lack of negotiation during my first job offer. Twenty-plus years ago, as my boyfriend and I were both graduating with Master’s degrees — his a MBA, mine a MA in Communication — I just assumed my worth was less than his. He went on to negotiate his offer to a $50,000 per year salary, while I, just thrilled to be offered a job, accepted $31,000 per year without negotiation. And so, my climb began. If my story echoes yours, we're not alone. In 2016, Glassdoor found that 68 percent of women accepted their offered salary without negotiation (compared to 52 percent of men), which can lead to a pay gap of up to $2 million over the course of a woman’s career. And while a 2019 Glassdoor study has shown improvement in women (and men) in negotiating their salary offers (only 42 percent of women accepted their