For job changers, the pendulum has swung. So many candidates are on the market that executives vying for new positions lack the leverage to negotiate favorable pay packages that they had two years ago.

When the subject turns to pay, negotiations can get really tricky for many senior-level candidates. Instead of earning target-bonus amounts or more for 2001, many executives received only a portion of their payout goals because of the recession. Those who saw bonus payouts reduced -- and most did -- must try to paint their documented 2001 earnings in a better light. In this case, compensation experts say, the best strategy when negotiating pay for a new job is to emphasize your target payout amount instead of what you actually received.

"If your actual bonus is less than target, you talk in terms of target," says Ted Buyniski, a principal in Boston with consultants iQuantic Buck. "If your payout is more than target, you talk in terms of actual."

Two years ago, executives making moves often could use bonus payouts that were well over 100% as leverage at the bargaining table. But the current oversupply of candidates and undersupply of jobs -- a classic employer's market -- have reduced job applicants' muscle. With many good candidates to choose among, companies don't have to offer additional incentives to get executives to say "I do."

"Negotiating power has changed completely," says Judith Cushman, president of Judith Cushman & Associates, a search firm in Seattle. "Instead of saying they have three offers, candidates know there are four or five other very qualified people in the waiting room vying for the same job who might look at moving laterally or taking a pay cut."

Ms. Cushman cites a former senior director of marketing communications who lost her $130,000-a-year job in 2001 when a dot-com folded in Silicon Valley. After a year of job hunting, she has depleted her savings and is considering a new position at a nonprofit that pays $40,000 less annually. "There just haven't been the opportunities she could look at that approached what she was earning," says Ms. Cushman.

Pay packages for senior executives can be intricate. Besides salary and benefits, they might include short-term cash incentives and long-term stock-option or stock-grant incentive programs. Performance objectives and vesting schedules vary. Perks can be hard to compare.

Compensation packages are "clearly more complicated than they used to be because there are more pieces to think about," says Alan Johnson, managing director of Johnson Associates Inc., a New York compensation-consulting firm.

In a good economy, evaluating a new pay offer vs. the package you leave behind at a current employer is challenging. In a poor economy, some comparisons can be financially damaging to executives. A candidate's actual earnings may be below the average or median amount listed in surveys for executives holding similar jobs, so his or her main focus during pay talks may be to keep compensation from falling.

Many senior executives negotiating jobs at leading companies have lawyers and financial experts to work out the details so they "remain whole" and don't lose financial ground by changing employers. If you're a typical executive, you won't have this advantage, but you can take steps to level the playing field during pay talks. These include doing research, preparing a simple spreadsheet to help you compare elements and knowing how to ask for what's fair. First, though, some general advice about the current compensation environment:

Most companies have established salary-administration plans and don't reduce salaries when economic conditions change. The exception is when employers reduce salaries for certain employee groups (typically senior management) or impose pay freezes as a way of preventing layoffs.

The big change in cash compensation is in bonus payouts. Formulas are established dictating what an executive will receive at, above and below the achievement of target corporate and personal goals. When the goals aren't achieved, payouts are reduced, which often was the case for 2001 when corporate revenues and stock prices took a nosedive. Slightly less than 40% of surveyed firms expected 2001 bonus payouts to be between 50% and 100% of target, according to a survey by Hewitt Associates, a Lincolnshire, Ill., consulting firm. Another 28% expected payouts to be between 1% and 50% of target, while 13% didn't expect to pay executive bonuses at all.

Few employees have gotten rich with stock options recently, either. The market stumbled in 2001 and options priced when stock prices were higher are now "underwater." Since options are viewed as an effective way to retain employees -- they typically have three to five-year vesting periods -- many companies have repriced grants or made supplemental grants so that they have the same dollar value. In 2001, 63% of companies saw their stock prices drop, according to the Hewitt survey. According to iQuantic Buck, 76% of firms reported in late 2001 that they had made additional option grants to employees to make up for lost value.

Current interest in options remains high, says Mr. Buyniski. However, executives aren't willing to take salary cuts in return for large option grants. "What hasn't changed and is therefore interesting, is that while people are asking for more cash, they aren't interested in taking less in options," he says.

In fact, two-thirds of companies expect to make approximately the same size stock grants -- defined as the number of shares times the exercise price -- to executives despite the stock-price declines, according to the Hewitt survey. This means issuing greater quantities of stock in an effort to retain top talent.

Option grants being awarded now have lower exercise prices, so they have the potential to be more lucrative than those offered when stock-market valuations were higher, says Mr. Johnson. As the stock market rebounds, the chance to realize significant gains is greater.

"Today's valuations are a lot better than they were two years ago," he says. "If you're changing jobs, this is your chance to get a better deal than you would have last year. Your friends will tell you to go for a bigger base and bonus and that options aren't any good, but if you get options at $12 a share, instead of $35, this may be how you get rich."

The following tips from recruiters and compensation experts may be useful in helping you strike the best deal when you next negotiate pay with an employer:

1. Determine what your current pay package is worth.

Most executives aren't sure about the real dollar value of their current pay packages, says Mr. Johnson. Without knowing the value of each element, plus the total worth of what you're earning, you can't tell how a new offer compares.

Write down the value of your annual salary. Know when your next salary increase is due and what you would earn after receiving it. If your recent bonus payout was below target, determine what your target amount would be. If your bonus was above target, write down the actual amount you received.

If you have stock options at your current employer, put a value on them as well. Just because your options are underwater doesn't mean they lack value. Try to put a price on what the option was worth on the date of grant, says Mr. Johnson. Consultants use intricate formulas to determine this value, but a simple rule of thumb is that an option is worth approximately a third of its price on the day of grant, Mr. Johnson says. If an option was issued at $30, its value might be about $10. If the option is trading underwater, it's probably worth less than a third of the current stock price but "it still has a value," he says. Also write down the percent of company ownership you were granted.

Evaluate how much your benefits and perquisites are worth to you. Place a value on each item, such as your medical, dental, disability and other insurance plans, tuition reimbursement, company match of a 401(k) plan, other retirement plan and accrued vacation time. If you receive a company car, country-club membership or other perk, "put a value on it," says Mr. Johnson.

"You need to sit down with a calculator and spreadsheet and write down your free parking, medical benefits and whatever," he says. "This is a Sunday afternoon's work."

The value of some perks can be surprisingly high. For instance, among the 69% of companies providing cars for executives, the average annual auto expense in 2000 for a purchased car for senior managers was $21,000, for a leased car, $14,500, and for a car allowance, $11,700, according to a poll by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC in Westport, Conn.

2. Determine how well you're paid relative to others in your field.

The Internet has a wealth of information on compensation for executives. Countless numbers of sites, including this one, provide data on pay in various functions and industries. Executive pay varies by company size, geographic location and other differentials. Some sites, including CareerJournal.com, allow you to plug in job titles in different zip codes to determine how well you might be paid in a specific location.

You also can review the salary tables organized by industry and job function on CareerJournal.com. For more pay data, contact your professional association or review pay surveys published by trade journals in your field.

Many pay surveys provide bonus or total compensation amounts in addition to salary. Since 2001 incentive payouts may be low due to the economy, look at two or three years' worth of survey data and average the amounts, Mr. Johnson suggests.

3. Learn what typical option grants are for executives at your level.

If you'll receive equity, know the size of typical grants for executives in your position and company sector. The size of a grant varies depending on a company's stage and whether it's public. A pre-IPO company is likely to award more options than a large established public company because there's greater risk they won't be worth much. Typically, the more critical you are to the company, the more ownership you receive.

An iQuantic Buck survey of high-tech firms indicates that CEOs hired by a pre-IPO company during the start-up stage receive a median of 5.4% ownership, while those hired to come in at later stages of pre-IPO companies receive a median of 4.2% to 2.9% ownership. Other chief officers receive a median of 2% of company ownership if hired during the start-up phase and a median of 1.2% to 0.8% if brought in during later stages.

After the company has become public, new CEOs receive a median of 270,000 stock options, while other chief officers receive a median 82,000 options, according to iQuantic Buck.

New Economy companies are more generous with options than old economy firms. For instance, CEOs of small to mid-sized high-tech companies receive stock options worth 1,900% of their salaries, while CEOs of small to mid-sized heavy equipment/transportation companies receive stock options worth 262% of their salaries, reports The Segal Co. in New York.

Consider if mentioning the value of your options or the percent of the company you own currently will put you in a better position during pay talks, says Mr. Buyniski. If your current employer has a $10 million market capitalization and you're going to a company with a $30 million market capitalization, it's better to say that you have options worth 0.5% of your current employer "because you're looking at tripling the value of your options at the new company," he says.

But if you're going from a $10 million company where you have options with a face value of $150,000 to a firm with seed capital of $2 million, that same $150,000 in options translates to three-fourths of a percent of the new company, he says. "You need to be able to flip back and forth between face value and percent to whatever will give you a good position," says Mr. Buyniski.

The only way to make a meaningful comparison of different pay packages is by evaluating each element against the same element at the new company. Break it into discrete parts. Look at salary vs. salary, cash incentive vs. cash incentive and stock vs. stock.

That said, a new pay package might differ from your current program, with some elements worth less and others more. However, the total package may be designed to make the job offer attractive and to compensate for what you're leaving behind. For instance, if the new company can't raise your base salary because of its internal salary structure, it may offer you more stock or a hiring bonus to make up the difference. "It may be impossible to get another $10,000 in salary, but perhaps you can get more options," says Mr. Johnson.

Understand how the new incentive plans operate at the new firm vs. where you are now, says Myrna Hellerman, senior vice president of the Sibson consulting division of The Segal Co. "Ask what it will take to get to the target amounts being presented," she says. "They may have a terrific program, but based on how the plan is designed, it may not yield what's promised."

One way to evaluate long-range elements that don't pay out for four or five years is by calculating the likelihood that you'll still be with the company at that time, says Mr. Johnson. "With vesting schedules and things that don't happen for five years, you have to ask yourself, 'What are the odds I'll be there in five years?' " he says. "If there's only a 50-50 chance, you have to put a big discount on the stuff that comes later."

A key difference to pay talks nowadays is executives' keener interest in their employment terms and conditions, such as severance and change-in-control provisions, says Mr. Buyniski. "Three years ago, that wasn't even an issue because everyone knew they would be going public in six months," he says.

Also look at the job content and your career prospects, says Ms. Hellerman. Will you have enough autonomy, authority and scope to accomplish your objectives? Do you subscribe to the firm's values and operating style? Do you respect its leaders? And will the job move you along to the next level? "Determine from a selfish perspective if this will build a foundation for you in your career," she says.

6. Be firm, fair and flexible -- then trust your gut.

Employers will usually try to be fair with candidates they're anxious to hire. No one wants a new executive to be unhappy from the outset. By the same token, you don't want a new employer to think you're stubborn. Explain how you're paid and what you're concerned about leaving behind, and wait to see what the company offers. This process might take several discussions.

"The whole process should be a discussion, not a confrontation," says Ms. Cushman. "The goal should be somewhere in the space called fairness. Usually the candidate wants to receive more and the employer wants to offer less, and the process works best when you have a lot of information."

Mr. Johnson adds that you can ask an employer for "almost anything if you do it professionally and with a smile. Many people don't get what they should because they don't ask."