????每一次成功的求職面試，肯定都會(huì)談到工資問(wèn)題。長(zhǎng)久以來(lái)，求職者們得到的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)建議一直都是：談工資要委婉含蓄點(diǎn)。

????再就業(yè)服務(wù)機(jī)構(gòu)Challenger, Gray, and Christmas的CEO約翰·查林格建議，求職者們應(yīng)該“讓雇主現(xiàn)報(bào)出一個(gè)數(shù)目——這個(gè)數(shù)目可能會(huì)超出你的預(yù)期。”職業(yè)和生活博客網(wǎng)站Brazen Careerist的佩內(nèi)洛普·特倫克建議，“‘你的工資范圍是多少？’對(duì)這樣的問(wèn)題，最好的答案，就是想盡辦法，‘我不告訴你。’”

????這通常會(huì)導(dǎo)致令人不舒服的、甚至敵對(duì)的懦夫博弈。如果你一直擔(dān)心這類(lèi)對(duì)話(huà)，這里有一個(gè)好消息：我們可以給出更漂亮的回答。

????愛(ài)達(dá)荷大學(xué)（University of Idaho）近期的一份調(diào)查發(fā)現(xiàn)，以開(kāi)玩笑的口氣提出百萬(wàn)美元薪酬，實(shí)際上能讓之后公司開(kāi)出的實(shí)際工資增加10%。研究測(cè)試情景中假設(shè)的求職者，是一位行政助理應(yīng)試者，她上一份工作的工資是29,000美元。當(dāng)被問(wèn)及對(duì)新工作薪酬的期望時(shí)，她會(huì)以一種半是猶豫半是自嘲的口氣答道：“我當(dāng)然想要百萬(wàn)年薪，不過(guò)，我只希望能得到公平的待遇。”

????在這位求職者拒絕說(shuō)出具體數(shù)字的情況中，雇主最終給出的平均工資約為32,500美元。但當(dāng)這位求職者開(kāi)玩笑地說(shuō)出一百萬(wàn)美元時(shí)，雇主給出的平均工資則約為36，200美元。

????在上述案例中，工資的增加其實(shí)是一種名為“錨定”的心理效應(yīng)在起作用。愛(ài)達(dá)荷大學(xué)心理學(xué)教授、同時(shí)也是該項(xiàng)研究的負(fù)責(zé)人托德·索爾斯坦森說(shuō)：“我們聽(tīng)到一個(gè)數(shù)字時(shí)，不論是否與主題相關(guān)，我們都會(huì)固定在這個(gè)數(shù)字上，進(jìn)而影響到我們的判斷。”

????但在開(kāi)出具體條件之前，求職者應(yīng)該考慮到可能出現(xiàn)的反彈。德州大學(xué)達(dá)拉斯分校（University of Texas at Dallas）經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)教授、校談判中心主任雷切爾·科洛森警告說(shuō)：“實(shí)際上，如果談判伙伴開(kāi)出一個(gè)過(guò)于極端的條件，對(duì)方最常見(jiàn)的反應(yīng)是停止談判?！?/p>

????在索爾斯坦森研究中有一個(gè)預(yù)設(shè)條件，即參與者們無(wú)權(quán)拒絕求職者，而是可以告訴求職者他們能提供多少工資。

????那么，求職者們到底應(yīng)不應(yīng)該拿高薪開(kāi)玩笑，以期自己的實(shí)際工資能有所提高？科洛森稱(chēng)，除非你能坦然接受可能失去工作機(jī)會(huì)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，否則別這么干。在推薦策略之前，她希望進(jìn)行一項(xiàng)后續(xù)研究，量化相關(guān)的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)級(jí)別，例如，“有多少面試官會(huì)因?yàn)榍舐氄叩耐嫘Ω械絽拹?，進(jìn)而雇傭別人？”

????不過(guò)，率先說(shuō)出確切的數(shù)字還是能帶來(lái)回報(bào)。規(guī)避這個(gè)問(wèn)題的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)建議是，忽略錨定的實(shí)際效果。

????科洛森說(shuō)，信息才是關(guān)鍵?？坡迳瓰楸究粕?、MBA和高管教授談判策略已有18年之久。如果求職者了解到一個(gè)特定職位的工資范圍，并能給出一個(gè)雇主愿意支付的最高金額，那么，率先說(shuō)出自己期望的具體工資額，肯定會(huì)對(duì)求職者自身有利。

????查林格依然建議謹(jǐn)慎行事。他說(shuō)：“雇主千差萬(wàn)別。根據(jù)雇主的工資結(jié)構(gòu)，相同職位的工資水平有可能上下浮動(dòng)20%。”

????There comes a point in every successful job interview when it's time to talk money. The standard advice to job applicants has long been to play it coy.

????John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, and Christmas, urges applicants to "let the employer name a salary first -- it may be higher than you expect." Penelope Trunk, founder of Brazen Careerist, advises that "the right answer to the question, 'What's your salary range?' is almost always some version of 'I'm not telling you.'"

????This often leads to an uncomfortable, even adversarial, game of chicken. If that's the sort of conversation you dread, here's good news: there are better alternatives.

????A recent study out of the University of Idaho found that making a joke about a million-dollar salary actually increased subsequent offer amounts by more than 10%.

????The hypothetical applicant in the study's test scenario was an administrative assistant candidate who had listed her last salary as $29,000. When asked what salary she wanted in the new job, she either demurred or quipped, "Well I'd?like?a million dollars, but really I just want what's fair."

????In the cases where the applicant declined to name any number, the average salary offer was about $32,500. When she joked about a million bucks, the average offer rose to almost $36,200.

????The increase is a function of a psychological effect known as "anchoring." "When we encounter a number -- even an irrelevant number -- we fixate on it, and it influences our judgment," says Todd Thorsteinson, a psychology professor at the University of Idaho and the study's author.

????But before you start throwing numbers around, you should consider the potential for backlash. "In practice, if one's negotiating partner opens with an offer that is too extreme, the most common response is to disengage from the negotiation," warns Rachel Croson, professor of economics at the University of Texas at Dallas and director of the school's Negotiations Center.

????Participants in Thorsteinson's study were not given the option to decline to hire the candidate, but were merely asked how much they would offer to pay her.

????So should job applicants make a high-salary joke in hopes of increasing compensation?

????Only if you're comfortable with the possibility that you might lose the job offer altogether, says Croson. Before recommending the strategy in general, she'd want to see a follow-up study that quantifies the level of risk involved -- for example, "what percentage of interviewers would be turned off by the joke and choose to find a different employee."

????Being the first to talk numbers can still pay off, though. The standard advice -- to dodge the question -- ignores the very real effects of anchoring.

????The key is information, says Croson, who has taught negotiation strategies to undergraduates, MBAs, and executives for 18 years. If an applicant knows the salary range for a given position and can name a number at or near the top of what a company is willing to pay, being the first to throw out a dollar figure is always to her advantage.

????Challenger still prefers to play it safe. "Companies are all over the map," he says. "The same position may pay 20% more or less, depending upon that company's specific salary structure."