Workshop Teaches Real-World Skills in Job and Salary Negotiation

Public policy lecturer Kimberly Ling Murtaugh explained the ins and outs of job and salary negotiation at a workshop conducted in the Charles E. Young Research Library on March 7, 2019. The workshop was sponsored by Luskin Career Services, which promotes career readiness and prepares graduate students for employment. The workshop attracted students from all three UCLA Luskin graduate programs, including many second-year students preparing to enter the workforce after they graduate in the spring. Ling Murtaugh explained the essentials of negotiation analysis in three steps. First, job candidates can determine how much power they have in a negotiation by identifying their best alternatives to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) — a strong grasp of their options if the negotiation fails. Next, job candidates should identify their “reservation price,” the point at which they walk away. The last step is identifying a target, which Ling Murtaugh defined as a “realistically optimistic deal that will take care of your wants.” She recommended making a checklist of needs and wants to decide what kind of a salary is acceptable. “Negotiations are just another problem to be solved,” she said. “Tackle [negotiation] the same way you would another problem in the classroom.” While salary negotiation can be daunting, Ling Murtaugh explained that coming out of school is one of the best times to negotiate a jump in salary. She recommended preparing for negotiation by practicing with family members, friends or classmates. “Know your worth,” Ling Murtaugh told the graduate students. “Candidates have sources of power that they often forget.” — Zoe Day

View photos from the workshop on Flickr.

Negotiating Salary and More

Kimberly Ling Murtaugh

Kimberly Ling Murtaugh is a lecturer in Public Policy at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.

She received her Ph.D. and M.Sc. from Carnegie Mellon University in organizational behavior and theory with a special focus on behavioral economics, judgment and decision-making, and her B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in the biological basis of behavior with minors in psychology and Spanish. She also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Family Medicine at UCLA, Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine.

Dr. Ling Murtaugh’s current research focuses on the use of behavioral economic principles to evoke health behavior change in addiction medicine.

She recently worked with a team creating UN guidelines for methamphetamine use and HIV/AIDS risk worldwide. She has worked in strategy management consulting as well as serving as the Chief Strategy Officer for the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, a national network of researchers and practitioners that develop best practices for treating child trauma.

She is also a founding board member of The Ling Family Foundation.