A prototype simulation measure of the negotiating skill of interpersonal competence is described, and results of an initial validation study are reported. Of eight negotiating skills identified by the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills of the U.S. Department of Labor, two were the focus of the measure: proposing and examining possible options and making reasonable compromises. A simulation was developed focusing on these skills in a job contract negotiation between a potential employee and an employer. The validity study of this measure was based on an expert/novice criterion group approach, assuming that expert negotiators would receive better counter-offers than would novices. Ten experts were chosen from graduate students who had completed a course in negotiation in a Masters in Business Administration program and 21 novices were chosen from a high school business class. Results, generally supportive of the hypothesis, provide evidence of the validity of the simulation as a measure of negotiation skills. Both the assessment of options and the consideration of compromises are important components of negotiating skill. Eight tables of study results are included. (Contains 37 references.) (SLD)