Wrangle a Pay Rise from a Year-End Review

The New York Times’ Career Couch section offers up a handy guide to the major do’s and dont’s of negotiating a raise during or after a year-end performance review. Along with best office practices like gathering a list of accomplishments and knowing your market worth, one source recommends avoiding putting any numbers on the table yourself:

Let your boss do it, said Michael Soon Lee, a negotiations consultant, martial artist and author of “Black Belt Negotiating.” … Letting the boss make the first suggestion sets the lower limit. “They can only go up from there,” he said. “If your boss intended to give you an 8 percent raise and you suggest 6 percent, you can’t change your mind and say, ‘No, I meant 8 percent,’” he said.

What’s the best negotiation jujitsu you’ve ever pulled off in your own raise requests? Share your career control tips in the comments.