conversation: User (Engineering_Throwawa): "Hey PF, big time lurker here, throwaway for reasons, but I now need some advice. Currently, I'm working in a position where I make around $52k/year as you can guess from my throwaway, I'm in an engineering field. I've been working at my current job for ~5 years, have my bachelors degree and will be getting my masters in the next few months. However, I would like to move on from this company as I see myself getting stuck doing the same one thing if I stay much longer. \n\nWhen researching salaries on [BLS](http://www.bls.gov/ooh/) for the career path and engineering field that I want/am in now, I'm seeing median numbers around an average of $74,000. Seeing that and with the addition of my masters, I'm thinking that I'm worth around $80k. So I've can't help but be thinking that I'm being severely undervalued at my current job.\n\nI recently had an interview with a company where a recruiter that connected the company and myself gave them a number of $55k, based on my current salary I presume. When I was asked in my interview, I gave them a range of $60k-$65k based on my recent performance review at my current job and I guess that I felt that asking for around $80k was too high of a jump from what the recruiter told them. \n\nBased on my experience, degrees and goals that I want to achieve, I feel that I'm above the range I gave in my interview. I don't have very much experience interviewing and especially salary negotiations so I'm finding it difficult in portraying my worth and feeling confident giving a number around $80k. Now that I've given this firm a range, I feel like I would be reneging on my previous salary ask. Any advice in pushing your skill set and getting past this mental block I have about asking for a certain salary and the negotiation tactics or even techniques in determining your net worth?"
  Self: "Sounds like you're just too shy to ask for what you think you deserve, in which case you will probably not get it.  If you have research showing you can get an average of $74k then you should ask for at least that much.  5 years experience and a master's degree makes a big difference in positions that you can get and earnings potential.  They might tell you that you're aiming too high but that is not a big deal."
  