I have been offered a great new job and for the first time there is an opportunity to negotiate salary. In my previous professional positions, there has always been a set salary schedule, and one started at that first level and that was that. This time however, they called me later the same day after my phone interview to let me know that, pending reference & background checks, they would be offering me the position and "then we'll have a conversation about salary." So I've been doing a little bit of reading & research on the negotiation process, but I would certainly appreciate any advice from people who have been through this before, or links to relevant articles.

Factors I'm considering:
Adjusted for cost-of-living, the start of the advertised salary range is roughly equal to what I'm earning now. However, I've been in my current job for about 16 months, and was due a performance evaluation & raise 4 months ago. Of course I have been trying to make that happen for a while, but part of the reason I want to leave this job is the lack of communication (and indeed, respect) from upper management. So, if I had received the annual raise I had been expecting, that would bump me up higher into the advertised range for the new job.

I'm moving across the country and have about 6 weeks to be there to start the new job. I would have liked to give a full month's notice before leaving my current job (since I work closely with only one other person and she will be away for two weeks at the end of April), but it looks like that might not give me enough time to make the move happen. I'm still in the early process of planning the move of course, but it looks like it could easily cost several thousand dollars, and will take me about a full week to drive from one end of the country to the other.

I know that I was considered a very strong & unanimous choice by the search committee, because they said so. This probably is because I do have 16 months experience doing a very similar job, and have been through an ILS migration before when I used to work circ. This position will be managing a similar migration later this year. The position was previously advertised last fall, and they told me there were several applicants at that time, but really only one who was qualified. That person backed out because he decided he did not want to move. So I know they are eager to have the position filled so that they do not have to push back the migration yet again.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Thanks for your advice, Susanne. Unfortunately, it sounds like the start date is non-negotiable. The first step in the migration process is a series of conference calls with the vendor, planned to start on May 15, and they want me to be there for for that -- however, a phone call is a phone call, and I don't see any particular reason why I could not participate before I make the move. So I'll see what they think about that idea.

Thank you -- I'm listening to her most recent lecture listed on that page, and it's full of good advice!