How to Negotiate Comp Avoiding Common Pitfalls

I often click on career tips to see if they are any good. And I liked this one, 4 Red Flags to Avoid When Discussing Salary, by career guru Sho Dewan. I go through his tips below and customize them for in-house counsel negotiating their comp:

1. Be confident, but not aggressive or hostile. Yes. While an employer might expect you to negotiate since you’re a lawyer, they do not want someone who is hard to work with, and I have seen candidates taking too harsh of a tone come across as demanding, which sours the working relationship. What I would add to this is you should come across as very interested because no employer is going to bat for you if they think you’re just trying to game the system and get more money out of them.
2. Come prepared to talk; don’t avoid the subject. Yes in part. He says “If your manager asks for your expectations and you dance around the answer, it can come off as unprepared — or worse, unsure of your own value.” I disagree. You can ask nicely. In California, employers have to post the range anyway, so you can certainly say you read the job description and see the range of $X to $Y and ask if there’s flexibility in any component of the salary (between base, bonus, and equity, or sign-on). If the employer doesn’t want to get into it at an early stage, you should have a “well-researched range that reflects what you bring to the table.”
3. Don’t over-negotiate. Yes. This is in line with #1, where you don’t want to come across as difficult. I would say one round is completely acceptable, maybe two, and don’t go crazy.
4. Don’t sound ungrateful; show gratitude. Yes. This is in line with #1 and 3. (Was the article trying to make it to 4 points?!) Sho gives sample language: “I’m so grateful for this opportunity, and I really appreciate the offer. Here’s what I was hoping for…” I agree with that. I would add that you should always give the reasoning behind your ask, whether it’s money left behind or promotion coming up or another offer with higher