Negotiations can increase your lifetime earnings by $1,000,000.

Having a job offer in hand can be exciting. Whether you're a recent graduate or a seasoned professional, an offer is validation. It says that a company thought you were smart, interesting and valuable. As soon as you receive your offer, you're ready to sign some paperwork. Negotiation? It never crossed your mind. If you're a woman, you're definitely not alone. Twenty percent of women say they never negotiate. When entering a situation where they're forced to negotiate, women report increased apprehension over their male counterparts. They report feeling grateful and thankful for their job. This translates into accepting the offer's terms. By never negotiating their first salary, women lose $500,000 by the age of 60. Over her career, if she never negotiates her salary, she could lose $1 million. These statistics and dozens more are from the study, "Women Don't Ask," which covers the typical negotiating behavior of women. The numbers are staggering. The obvious question is, in today's economy is negotiation acceptable? The short answer: yes. Negotiation is almost expected. In this economy, if a company has selected you from such a large pool of candidates, they're really interested in hiring you. Polite negotiations shouldn't cause your position to be rescinded. Here are four tips for doing it right:

1. Make Sure You Have the Job Don't begin negotiating until you've been formally asked to join the company. Negotiating before salary is introduced is presumptuous and a bit rude.
2. Know What You're Worth Find out the average salary of comparable jobs in the same industry and region. Websites such as Payscale and Vault compare the average salaries of individuals with the same job title. They can even compare your salary with other individuals who are geographically close to you. If your salary falls much below the average, bring the facts to your potential employer. Outline your job description and the average salary for comparable professionals in your region. If they’re still not interested in negotiating, see Tip #4.
3. Negotiate Your Job Description Talk with your future employer about the tasks you will be responsible for. If you feel that the tasks are below your level of expertise, describe your experiences. Upgrade your position and subsequently upgrade your salary. Forbes recommends that potential hires negotiate their pay grade— the salary range your job falls in. If the job’s salary is at the top of a pay grade, it’s beneficial to be bumped up to the next highest pay grade. By requesting the higher pay grade, you could be eligible for raises without getting a promotion.
4. Know Your Limit While working for this company might be the job of your dreams, know how much you need to be paid. If this company isn’t willing to pay a reasonable salary for an individual of your skill level, know that it’s time to walk away. Before you enter salary negotiations, determine the lowest salary that you’ll accept. If the final negotiations leave you with a salary that’s below that number, enter the job market again. A “job of a lifetime” isn’t the job for you if they don’t value you as a potential employee.
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