Have I sold myself cheap? Should I have bargained harder? These are questions most job seekers grapple with when negotiating for a new job. For youngsters today, cost-to-company (CTC) and designation remain the biggest brag factors among peers. What you earn and how well you negotiate your salary are critical to ensuring your long term financial well-being. But how does a career strategy focused largely on a salary package play out in the long run? What’s your take home?

When starting out one's career, peer pressure is high. How much one makes is as important for one's social standing as it is for one's wallet. Not surprisingly, young executives switch jobs for as little as 10% and bargain hard for salary hikes. In the short run, it matters. One is the obvious compounding effect. Two equally competent executives starting out at the same time with different negotiating skills can end up with significant gaps in salaries after barely six years and three job hops.

Not to forget that in the early years when the base salary is low, a differential of even 10% adds some cushion to the financial well-being. There is another reason why negotiating well for salaries feels important. Since the present salary has a significant bearing on the future compensation packages, these two executives may command very different CTC packages from their prospective employers.

“Do not expect the new employer to bridge the gap in one stroke, no matter how hard you try,” says Vineet Kaul, chief people officer, Hindalco India . “Over time, as one proves his performance in the new company the gap is generally narrowed and bridged,” he adds. The flip side But there are many who find themselves in the clutches of what some call the ‘golden handcuffs’.

A great salary may not promise a great job after all. At times, an executive may have so out priced himself in the job market vis-a-vis peers that his CTC simply shuts out numerous exciting job opportunities. Also, he may often be stuck in a job with no joy or learning left. Pricing one's skills at the highest level of the salary band may play out adversely at a psychological level. In most organizations, there is a salary band attached with each job level. No matter how hard one bargains, the salary cannot cross the upper limit.

For someone joining at the topmost level of the band, there would be additional, self inflicted pressure to deliver in a new job. Add to it the fact that in the highly competitive job market, a low-paid competent executive can easily be lured away by competitors. And his present employer may do his best to retain him. “Obviously, the pain of that guy leaving is that much more,” says Prashant Deo Singh, head (human resources), Panasonic India .

The organization will do its best, by either offering an exciting assignment or project or a salary hike to keep him. Beyond salary Is salary the best thing to haggle and bargain on? “While salary and company brand are important, what is most rewarding in the long run is the kind of job profile one has had throughout his career,” says Singh of Panasonic India.