Mutual Adjustments

The book Essentials of Negotiation discusses Mutual Adjustment. Reflecting on chapter one of the book, this is the most obvious aspect that will affect my professional life. Every person in the workforce deals with mutual adjustment. Some may deal with it in their dealings with co-employees, superiors, or customers. The most prevailing aspect of my professional career that I see this impacting is stating your salary. As I prepare for graduation and look at job openings I am amazed at the information that employers want from you. Specifically, are the requests for salary requirements. Apparently applicants are required to submit to the employer their salary requirements. This is completely opposite of any position I have had in the past and is one that troubles me. How do I go about stating what I am worth? I am concerned that in an effort to make myself employable, I will undervalue myself in an effort not to push away a potential employer. The book discusses situations like this and offers some guidance.


One needs to find a balance between honestly and trust in negotiating salary marks with employers. It is important to show some of your cards but not all. Likewise, it is important to know when and that you can show some of your cards. If you go out showing all of your cards it is likely that the employer will lowball you or give you the lowest number you gave them. However, if you chose not to show them any of your cards you run the risk of losing the employer’s interest because of your lack of cooperation. Finding a balance between what you want and what they want is critical. They want to employ someone at a reasonable cost and you want to work for a reasonable wage. Finding the positions of each side and understanding why they have that position will allow you to make an informed decision. Finding your bargaining range in a salary talk will help each side see the minimum and the maximum each party expects. By fining this range, it is easier for the parties to reach an agreement simply by meeting in between the two figures. This results in the employer getting an employee at a satisfactory cost and the employee getting a job at a wage that they feel comfortable.

I think that many of my professional encounters will require the use of this technique outside of salary talks. Negotiation has become a highly important skill that lawyers must not only learn but become experts in. By having the ability to see both sides of the coin and understand each party’s position, I will be better able to serve my client and bring about a solution to the problem that is best for my client.