Disclaimer: Use these tips at your own risk. Don't get career advice from bloggers.

When you get a new job, you can breathe a sigh of relief, but not for long. You have an offer letter in your hand, and it is easy to miss one of the most important opportunities of your life: the starting salary. Here's the tale of two programmers. When getting a job, Goofus didn't negotiate. Gallant asked and got an extra $2500. They both get yearly raises of 3%

Year Goofus Gallant 1 45000 47500 2 46350 48925 3 47740 50392 4 49172 51904 5 50647 53461

After five years, Gallant has made an extra $13272, enough to get his car paid off, or keep his Macbook software up to date.

Goofus is in prison because he had to become a spam lord to pay child support for his six kids.

Everything in life is negotiable. C.E.O.s and corporate executives are simply people that learned this at an early age. The things that are most negotiable are the things written in black and white in indelible ink. They are engraved in silver, carved in stone, simply to trick you into thinking you cannot negotiate. "Just sign here. It's a formality." "It's a preprinted form, it can't be changed."

Do not be intimidated. Salary negotiation is a game, and the first to give a number loses.

When it goes wrong?