Employers often have the upper hand in pay negotiations.

This is because of 'asymmetric information' – bosses can easily find the going rate for a job. It's like a card game where your opponent sees the cards in your hand while you can't see theirs.

Companies rarely allow staff to talk to each other about salaries. In some workplaces sharing salary information is an offence.

Employers compare your pay with that of other employees. They also usually have access to wider industry pay information either through organisations or by buying third-party salary reports.

You'll struggle to find this information. Some recruitment advertisement offer clues.

However, recruiters are often coy about exact salaries. They don't want existing staff to know what they pay newcomers.

Even when you are the recruit, employers often won't tell you the salary until later in the recruitment process.

When you apply for a new job, you need to get as much salary information as possible before negotiating. You also need to know if it is worth negotiating.

Likewise, if you want a pay rise from your existing employer, you need to know what others doing the same job elsewhere earn. This gives you useful ammunition. It also lets you know whether you should stay or move if your negotiation fails.

Resources for New Zealand knowledge workers wanting to compare pay rates.

• Hudson has good pay data for IT, finance, accounting and office workers.
• Absolute IT has a tool for finding pay rates in IT jobs, but you have to give personal details to use it.
• Hays offers NZ salary information from its Australian site – but again you have to give personal data.
• Frog recruitment has basic pay information for a range of knowledge worker roles.
• TradeMe's salary guide covers the widest range of jobs.
• Seek's salary centre uses information from Robert Walters.

The National Business Review reports  Self-employment can be "a life of misery".

I wish I knew this before embarking on my new life as a freelance journalist. Apart from dealing with taxes – the word misery doesn’t capture the nightmare – my experience is more of loneliness than anything else. I miss being able to bounce ideas around with co-workers.

When a nation elects a Prime Minister or President, there’s usually a honeymoon period of around 100 days.

During this time, the incoming leader sets the tone for his or her administration. Typically, the leader gets the benefit of the doubt while opinion makers scrutinise every move and opposition forces regroup.

It’s not unusual for new leaders to stumble. So long as the mistakes are not too bad, small errors are forgiven.

If the incoming leader gets an early reputation for being accident prone, the sound of knives sharpening is deafening.

Your new job

It's the same when you move to an executive position with a new employer. There’s often a honeymoon period where colleagues give you breathing space.

There’s no guaranteed way of ensuring knives stay blunt, but there are some smart strategies for ensuring the first days in a role set the right tone for the rest of your stay.

Making a successful move starts before you finish your old job. It’s not always possible to make a graceful exit: some employers react badly when workers quit to join a rival.

Do what you can to leave on good terms. Make a point of wrapping up unfinished projects and smoothing the path for whoever takes over.

Above all else, it is not wise to sabotage or damage your old employer’s business.

Before you start your job, you need to do research. It’s a good idea to drive past your new workplace in the morning or when employees leave the building in the evening. This is a good way of finding out where to park and how long it takes to get to the office in the morning.

Dummy run

If you plan to use public transport to travel to work and the route is unfamiliar, then a dummy run one morning before you start will help find potential travel problems.

You probably already know a little about your employer – particularly if you a moving to a new job in the same industry.

You may have previously worked for a competitor or a business partner. Even so, your previous job will colour your views – it could be wrong. So, it’s worthwhile conducting extra general research about the company before starting.

Get hold of as much information about the organisation as you can. If they sent you an information packet then make sure you read it.

Make sure you get an early night before your first day. In the morning start by eating a good breakfast including protein. It may be a long time before you get another opportunity to eat.

If you go to work on an empty stomach, the chances are your blood sugar will drop during the late morning and you’ll appear dozy or disoriented.

Small things matter

Being alert is important. While you might be hired to look after the big picture, during the first days in a role little things matter. You need to stay alert and pay attention to details.

It’s a good idea to head off extra early: this is one day you can’t be late. If you are using public transport get an earlier train or bus.

Don’t go into the building until the expected time. People may be preparing for your arrival – if possible grab a coffee and relax before entering the building.

If the job is creative, then it makes sense to ask the dress code before starting, otherwise you should dress in your smartest, but most conservative outfit.  If you’re too smart, nobody will say anything and you can dress down the next day. If you’re in a T-shirt and jeans but it isn’t a T-shirt kind of workplace, nobody will say much either, but they will notice.

There’s never a problem with standing out on the up-side. But avoid the cutting edge of fashion.

First morning

What happens when you arrive depends on the company. At a well-organised employer someone will spend the first morning with you to help you find your bearings.

It’s possible there will be a formal orientation session. During orientation, you should get some printed information, perhaps a company handbook with details of policies and other key information. The contents of these documents can vary greatly. You should also get a guided tour.

The guided tour will take you around the immediate area where you will be working so you can find things like bathrooms, kitchens, coat hangers, light switches and air conditioning controls. It should also take you further afield so you can meet co-workers in other departments and find your way around the wider company.

Of course, you might not get any of this. If so, then ask. In particular ask for a guided tour and if it doesn’t happen, arrange your own.

Figure out who is good

During your first walkabouts, make a point of finding all the colleagues you will be working with and learning what they do. Try to figure out who are important and who are good at what they do. This might be harder than it first appears, but the sooner you find where the smart people are, the sooner you will get results.

Try to socialise with your new colleagues. Make time to talk to colleagues over lunch and afternoon tea.

Some of the key workers are the support staff. They are often the ones who other managers don’t even bother to say hello to.

Typically, support staff know where the bodies are buried and how things really work (as opposed to how they should work). Often these are the very people who can help you get real results.

If you have a senior position, it’s even more important to put these people at ease.

When talking to colleagues during your first two or three months it is important to use the language of inclusion. Try to avoid speaking about “I” instead think about “we” and “us”. Likewise, avoid making constant comparisons with your previous employers. In particular do not fall into the trap of constantly belittling or criticising them – smart colleagues will wonder how long it is before you say the same things about them.

Your criticisms might be valid and your distaste justified, but there will be a feeling your negative attitude remains.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with drawing on your previous experience to illustrate ideas and concepts. But in general, you should speak positively in forward-looking terms and not negatively and backward looking.

Hand-shaking

As you move around the office, be ready to shake hands with a lot of people, but don’t force the issue if it looks like it will make people uncomfortable and certainly avoid bone-crushing handshakes.

Try to make eye contact with everyone, but again, don’t force the issue if others seem shy or nervous.

It’s a good idea to take part in any company induction programs – no matter how senior you are.

You may run into hostility during your first days in a job. When this happens, it’s important to get to the root of the problem as quickly as possible. You need to nip problems in the bud before they get serious.

Finally, while starting a job is stressful, try to relax and keep things in perspective.

Computerworld explains why non-compete clauses in contracts are dangerous.

The good news is these contracts are hard to enforce in many countries and even in the US, courts recognise these clauses as unfair and can refuse to enforce them.

Human Resources Leader says companies not planning to replace staff sacked during the economic downturn may see a “decrease in the quality and sustainability of knowledge workers’ performance”. It quotes research showing knowledge workers are “buckling under” the extra pressure.

This is basic stuff, but it shows HR professionals are at least aware of the problems created when businesses cut too many staff.

I say large companies who cut staff in the downturn will struggle to recover the lost skills. What’s more, many savvy knowledge workers will avoid these employers in future.

Knowledge workers doing the work of three people

In 2001, Chris Woodhead, England’s chief inspector of schools caused a storm when he accused British universities of devaluing higher education by offering ‘vacuous degrees’.

At the time, London’s The Sunday Times carried a surprisingly candid interview with Woodhead. Among other things he questioned whether many vocational courses deliver on their claims.

Woodhead says many courses don't prepare students for the real world. He argues some vocational degrees do little to help a student’s employment prospects and do even less for their employers. Britain’s Institute of Directors backed these comments, so did a number of employers.

Daft courses are here too

The criticisms could equally apply to courses  on offer in Australia and New Zealand – not to mention some of the less prestigious American universities, which have a long tradition of offering worthless qualifications and dubious courses.

Woodhead grabbed the headlines by decrying certain ‘quasi-academic’ degrees on offer in the UK including: Golf course management, pig enterprise management, knitwear and beauty therapy courses.

And then there is ‘Madonna Studies’ – if you’re wondering, we are talking about the popular singer here and not theological investigation about the mother of Christ. Thankfully this nonsense is no longer on offer.

Sure, these daft-sounding degrees are easy targets, but Woodhead has a point. How many employers need workers who can deconstruct the lyrics of ‘Material Girl'?

How many employers need workers who can deconstruct the lyrics of ‘Material Girl?

You can read more about Woodhead’s comments and various responses at the BBC news web site. Just to prove what a straight shooter he is when getting stuck into the value of various university courses, you can also read Woodhead’s comments on media studies – which he describes as a one-way ticket to the dole queue.

Is there value in media studies?

I’ll leave it to you to decide whether there is any real value in media studies or the more offbeat subjects mentioned.

It’s interesting and disappointing, but predictable that most of the angry defensive response from academics to Woodhead’s comments focused on his trashing of seemingly silly courses and not his more important points about vocational education in general.

Clearly British academics are as insecure as antipodeans when it comes to handling constructive criticism.

Woodhead’s important point was the balance between vocational training and coherent academic learning is now completely out of kilter. The issue is not whether our society needs people trained at public expense in the subtle art of looking after golf courses, tending pigs or even reading newspapers, but whether such a course is on an academic par with an honours degree in Astrophysics.

Bigger picture

Woodhead rightly points out the danger in less obviously worthy courses of devaluing all higher education. It’s a very real danger. I’ve personally known employers in knowledge industries who are suspicious of all graduates – they think universities fill people’s heads with stupid ideas. Many of those who get beyond that level of thinking have doubts about anything other than a straightforward vocational degree.

I always found this attitude prejudiced and hard to understand until I interviewed a seriously strange person with a media studies degree for a newspaper job.

Common sense tells me one or two crazy examples are not enough evidence to deduce a trend. I like to keep an open mind but  few of the media studies graduates I’ve interviewed are cut out to work in the media. It’s hard to image who might employ them. On the other hand people used to say the same thing about sociology, which has since become respectable.

It doesn’t make sense for education to stand still in a world where everything careers about at a frantic pace. Yet we need a benchmark for higher education.

Lively debate about vocation versus academic learning

There’s always been a lively debate over the value of degree level vocational training and more academic learning. Both have their place in higher education and ideally, many people entering the knowledge workforce will  experience both kinds of learning at some point. Modern economies need people trained in advanced skills as well as people trained how to think.

Yet there is a lot of real doubt about the worth of some courses. This isn’t new. Back in the late 1970s an acquaintance studied computer science at an American university. He sent me a copy of his first semester timetable. Of about 30 timetabled hours, only four hours could be loosely described as studying computers.

A liberal education is a good thing, but this bloke spent six hours a week on the university golf course as part of his computer science degree. In year one he was expected to reduce his handicap to six to pass – a handicap of four represented a high distinction.

Playing golf would ultimately account for 15 percent of his degree. It shocked those of us studying in, then still rigorously academic, British universities.

From a vocational training point of view it’s not a dumb idea. A career in the computer industry, particularly in commercial sales, might well be helped along by an ability to knock a small white ball into 18 holes.

Ultimately the only way for knowledge workers and would be knowledge workers to steer through the higher education maze is to spend time researching the options. It’s obviously worth checking the academic reputation of courses, subjects within courses and institutions before signing up.

Less obvious and more difficult is checking with potential employers about the relative merits of these things. You’ll need to be extra canny about this – people just pass on their own prejudices and not provide valuable insight. But education is too valuable to waste. You don’t want to spend three years getting a Mickey Mouse degree – even if you plan to work for Disney.

In 2001 Australia's technology industry faced recession after the dotcom crash. I interviewed Professor Michael Vitale of the Australian Graduate School of Management for The Australian Financial Review about hiring skilled workers in a downturn.

His words are just as relevant today as we pull out of another recession:

The main difference between IT companies and the rest of the economy lies in the ongoing, severe shortage of people with the right mix of talent, skills and experience, Vitale says.

It has been going on for some time and shows no sign of abating. The recession might see some companies slow or halt their recruiting, but that’s just like a starving person skipping a few meals – at the end of the day they’ll still be undernourished”, he says.

Importantly, Vitale says despite a severe shortage of talented, skilled, experienced IT workers, there’s no room for compromise.

“Every word in that phrase is important. IT workers need to be talented, skilled and experienced. Anything less won’t do. The shortage doesn’t mean you should be any more tolerant of people who aren’t performing.”

You got the secretive phone call. You met the head-hunter in a discreet pub or café. You jumped through the hoops, passed the tests and sailed through the interviews.

Now there’s only one step before you make the jump: negotiating the right deal.

Because you’ve been head-hunted, the negotiation is slightly different from when you answer an advertisement or otherwise find your way to a new job.

People asked you to come and work for them. They paid an expensive head-hunter to find you, woo you and tempt you into taking their approach seriously.

Face it, they aren’t going to go to all that trouble and then lose your skills because of a few dollars here and there.

Negotiate a deal

If negotiating a deal is like a game of poker – and there are similarities – then you’ve been dealt a good hand. But as any card player will tell you, the cards you are holding are only part of the game. You still need to keep your wits about you.

Most people understandably reduce an employer’s entire offer to its cash equivalent when evaluating salary offers. This makes a lot of sense and I’m not going to disagree with the general principle.

However, it is worth paying close attention to working conditions while in negotiation.

For example, if you don’t like overseas travel – maybe you have a young family – make sure there’s written agreement on the amount of required overseas travel.

Likewise this is a good moment to make sure you have adequate support staff, the right working environment, a budget that covers your expected expenses and so on.

Hours and leave

This is the best time to talk about working hours and annual leave entitlement. Once you sign it's too late.

It’s usual for today’s employers to talk vaguely about you technically being paid for a working week of so many hours, but being ready to work as many hours as it takes to complete the various tasks that are assigned to you. This is fine up to a point, but if your employer is effectively asking you to commit to unlimited hours, it is not unreasonable to put some qualifications. For example you might ask that you never have to work on Sunday because you’re an active member of your local church.

Annual leave is a sticky issue. You’re entitled to a certain amount of leave by law. In practice the amount of leave your employer will let you to take will probably be considerably less than your legal entitlement and will almost certainly be less than the amount nominated in your contract. These days most people get a handsome payout for unclaimed holiday pay when they leave a job. The money is nice, but time to unwind is better.

A long time ago I worked with someone who quickly climbed through the ranks of a sizable organisation. Each time he was promoted he negotiated a deal that increased his annual leave – in many cases he traded leave entitlement for pay.

The result was he reached a level where he had 10 weeks leave a year. This might not be possible today, but the principal is good. For most of us cash-rich, time-poor knowledge workers annual leave is a luxury.

In my opinion it is a good idea to specify some leave dates when negotiating initial terms and conditions before joining a new company. Try and get them written into an agreement. If you’ve been head-hunted the employer will almost certainly agree to this as it seems a cheap way to complete a deal. Even if you haven’t been head-hunted, the salary negotiation is your best opportunity to fix this.

Get professional tax advice

It pays to get some professional advice about the salary part of any deal. The big trap people fall into when head-hunted, is to overlook the tax considerations of any extra salary. Unless you’ve been hired by a US company to work in the states, you will almost certainly already be on the highest rate of income tax.

This means that looks like a 20 percent pay rise on paper might be as little as a 10 percent increase in take home pay. In many cases it is possible to negotiate terms that minimise the tax impact.

Finally, there’s twist to negotiating salary when you are head-hunted. In many cases the head-hunting recruitment process is one long whirl and very flattering. It’s possible to have your head turned by the process – you may laugh, but many head-hunted executives end up with poor deals by being charmed into accepting far less than their new employer would pay.

It doesn’t help that these processes tend to go ahead at a breakneck pace. The usual rule of salary negotiation is to do plenty of homework and benchmark your salary against industry norms – if the employer is in a hurry you may not have time to do this properly.

If possible try to slow the process down. Don’t make it look as if you are dragging your feet, but buy yourself some time to do the research. A few days shouldn’t make any difference to your new employer, but they can make a big difference to you.