Isn't it bad to take salary negotiation advice from a recruiter? They might want to get you a job, absolutely, but their pay is directly proportional to how shitty you negotiate. I don't know if I can take advice from someone that directly benefits when their own advice is wrong.
Not necessarily. Let's assume the recruiter is paid a percentage (although in some cases they get paid more simply because you get paid less, let's ignore that case.)
First, you and the recruiter have a different BATNA. He just wants you to get a job, otherwise he gets $0 and you want to get a job that aligns with your goals. Those usually don't match up. I've been in the position of being offered a job and rejecting it, it was clear at that moment the recruiter and I had divergent interests.
Secondly, at the margin, the fact that the recruiter gets a percentage of the benefits of the negotation but usually shares equally in the costs of negotiating (every recruiter I work with proxies the negotiation), the profit maximization point for you and the recruiter are rarely ever at the same point. In fact, the recruiter will nearly always be willing to abandon negotiations and settle at a lower salary than you should. The same thing happens in real-estate. Offering and counter-offering for 3 days over 6% of $3000 is a lot different than 94% of $3000.
Maybe I am wrong. Also, I am not saying the recruiter that wrote this is incorrect. I am just saying that I hold his advice under the strong light of scrutiny. I hope I haven't crossed the line into ad hominem fallacy by doing this.
