As job offers are increasingly (and encouragingly!) something people are dealing with, I am hearing plenty of chatter about salaries, what to expect, what to ask for, especially in newer green jobs without a long track record of compensation behind them. I've come across a number of interesting articles in recent days on this topic that I wanted to pass along:

1) This WSJ article, Employers Lowballing New Hires, focuses on how salaries have dropped in the current market. (I have seen this a lot!) And also, How to Get the Salary You Want.

2) The NYT Bucks blog post, On Lying About Your Salary in Job Interviews, referenced a blog that basically recommended lying about your previous salary (which was later retracted from Daily Worth.) I found the readers' comments rather interesting as people debated the ethics of such strategies... The article also raised the issue of legality and the NYT did a follow-up so if you are interested in that, here it is.

3) Linking Compensation to Environmental Metrics: A bit unrelated to salary negotiating but such an interesting article from EDF highlighting Intel's efforts to draw this connection...wow!

And while on the topic, here's my (non-exhaustive) list of on-line salary resources. Of course, do your research - both on-line and off, to get the most robust information you can when embarking on a negotiation:

• Salary.com
• Simplyhired
• The Riley Guide
• Wetfeet
• Bureau of Labor Statistics

Remember, in a green job you are working to save the planet so don’t sell yourself short. This may be the most valuable job you ever do. Best of Luck!!