In this interview, Mark Gordon, director and cofounder of the Boston-based negotiation consultancy Vantage Partners and senior adviser to the Harvard Negotiation Project, offers practical strategies for negotiating a starting salary or raise. Gordon has suggestions for making these negotiations win-win and for putting the concept of BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement) to work for you, no matter which side of the table you’re sitting on. 

Simply put, the BATNA is what determines how much leverage each party in a negotiation has. If your employer can easily replace you or assign your duties to others, you haven’t got much leverage in your negotiation for a raise. Conversely, if you have attractive job opportunities elsewhere or can afford a period of unemployment, you’ve got lots of leverage. Either way, your chances for a positive outcome increase substantially if you think through your strategy before you negotiate.

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