Patrick, rdouble is not being nice, but his major point is right. There are different forces in play for negotiating engineer's salary than a consulting engagement.
Employee compensation within a company needs to be equitable. Similar work for similar pay. Whereas terms of a unique consulting engagement don't affect anybody else. This is a huge driver of all kinds of compensation decisions, like standardized salary ranges, etc.
You are right about pattern matching. But unlike for an investment banker or a marketing consultant, for an an engineer his negotiation skills do not correlate with the quality of his work. More than that, an irrational but hard negotiator will come off as an dick. And employers avoid hiring irrational dicks as engineers.
But should you negotiate salary in general - sure. But you should realize it's a different situation than a consulting deal.
Employee compensation within a company needs to be equitable. Similar work for similar pay. Whereas terms of a unique consulting engagement don't affect anybody else. This is a huge driver of all kinds of compensation decisions, like standardized salary ranges, etc.
You are right about pattern matching. But unlike for an investment banker or a marketing consultant, for an an engineer his negotiation skills do not correlate with the quality of his work. More than that, an irrational but hard negotiator will come off as an dick. And employers avoid hiring irrational dicks as engineers.
But should you negotiate salary in general - sure. But you should realize it's a different situation than a consulting deal.