Asking for a ridiculously high salary — even when offered as a joke — can get you a much higher salary offer than if you stay within the typical salary range for a job, the Harvard Business Review suggests.
Photo by Ross Breadmore.
In a recent simulation, job candidates who jokingly said they’d like to earn $US100,000 for an administrative assistant job were offered 9 per cent more than those who said their previous salary level as $US29,000. Todd J. Thorsteinson of the University of Idaho, the researcher, said:
In a negotiation, an initial offer-even one offered in jest-can serve as an “anchor”, affecting the eventual outcome.
While this was just a simulation and ridiculous joking might not be appropriate for your job search or salary negotiations, especially in a tight job market, starting on the higher end of a salary level when you know that the employer is interested in you may set this anchor for a higher salary, perhaps. Thoughts?
Go Ahead and Ask for an Absurdly High Salary [Harvard Business Review]
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