No!  If you're going to try to negotiate more, you start by politely asking if their initial offer is negotiable and see what they say.  If it's not, then you're looking at a "take it or leave it" proposition and since you're not working and the offer is more than you proposed, I'd be tempted to take the job anyway - you don't want to lose this opportunity if the offer was one you'd otherwise be pleased to accept.  If the offer is negotiable, you should counter with a salary range within which you want to be, not based on any external data, but on the level of income you need to make ends meet, pay the bills, and at least maintain your present standard of living.  Whatever that range is, I'd say something like, "Now that I have a more complete understanding of the responsibilities associated with the job, I was anticipating an offer in the $X to $Y range," and see what they say.  Keep in mind that it's the employer who gets to decide what a particular job is worth to his/her organization, not external salary surveys, which many feel tend to be unrealistically high compared to the real world.  It would be a serious mistake, in my opinion, to base a counter offer on what some salary survey said.  If I were the employer, I'd be tempted to suggest that you go see if you can find a salary survey company to offer you a job!  The way negotiations work is for you to be able to show how the JOB will be worth more to the employer based on how well your qualifications match up with the requirements of the job, based on things like your experience, training, skills, and education - not on what a salary survey says.

Paul W. Barada

The Negotiation Expert