Originally Posted by
Gonnachange 
Lots of good advice although some of it is conflicting. Personally, I don't want to be the first to show my hand, so to speak. Also, FreeOwl's generalizations are gold. I don't know if it's still published, but while in graduate school in the early 80's I had to read a book titled Getting To Yes and it focused on the BATNA strategy. Having multiple graduate degrees I had to do a lot of reading and to this day I feel as if that book was one of the most important books I was tasked to read.
I wish you well and don't sell yourself short. Remember it's a two way street, they know you, and they want you.
Getting to Yes and the BATNA stuff came out of the Harvard Negotiation Project and has been employed around the world in everything from corporate negotiations to hostage negotiation situations in the middle east.
I was trained on this stuff in New York by members of the Harvard team and a 6'6" tank of a man who has put these principles to work with a gun held to his head and others' lives at stake. The stuff works. Getting to Yes is a great book and those techniques have served me well in many situations over the years - from contracts to home purchases to hiring to divorce proceedings and even parenting toddlers.
