Salary negotiating is an important topic that must be addressed prior to your initial interview with a prospective employer. Knowing your bottom rate, and being able to live with it [or on it?] is an important thing for candidates to uncover before the first interview. Why then do so many of us make the tactical mistake and go to the interview unprepared?
One of the first mistakes a real killer is to tip your hand too early in the interview process on what you will accept for a salary. Many interviewers will attempt to screen you out by finding out what your ballpark figure is. To mention that amount too early in the interview process can and will lock you in to a figure you might not be happy with later. Try changing your salary requirements after an offer has been made and you will come across looking flakey or greedy.
You must have a salary range in mind before going on the first interview you then have to be determined not to reveal it in that interview or you just might find yourself on the outside looking in. In other words, you will be screened out of the selection process before you can show the employer [the person with hiring authority, not the Human...