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Are you looking for a job or wondering what - if any - raise to expect this year? Here are a couple suggestions for negotiating your salary and other terms of employment, especially in this tough economic environment.

Assuming your employer or potential employer will reciprocate, Problem-Solving Strategies typically work best in negotiating compensation.

What does this mean?

A recent CNN article about managing negative emotions in the workplace points out that in tough times, keeping your cool is essential.

In most cases, significant deals should be reduced to enforceable written contracts. Preferably, you and/or your lawyer should draft them and you should have standard templates for your standard agreements. Doing so has several advantages:

1) Your first draft becomes the starting point from which all subsequent negotiations proceed;

2) You get to include your standard terms;

3) By making your counterpart suggest changes, you can get credit for being reasonable when you accept them;

An important part of every negotiation is identifying what information you need from your counterpart and then getting it. Effective information gathering will not occur unless you create the appropriate atmosphere. One information gathering technique I recommend is the "big schmooze." This rapport-building technique is based on the Liking Principle.