Salary Negotiation Strategies
When to negotiate, how to anchor a counter-offer, which parts of a package actually move, and word-for-word scripts for the conversation with a recruiter.
Step 1: Know the market rate
A counter without data is a wish. Triangulate at least two of these for your role, level and location before the offer arrives.
Glassdoor
Employee-reported salaries by company and title
Levels.fyi
Tech compensation including equity, by level
LinkedIn Salary
Ranges by title and location from member data
Payscale
Ranges adjusted for location and experience
Blind
Anonymous, verified tech compensation threads
Recruiter salary guides
Annual surveys from staffing firms, by function and region
Step 2: Make the counter
- 1. Open with the offer, not the number
Thank them and say what you like about the role. It sets the tone as a conversation about joining, not a standoff.
"Thank you for the offer — I am genuinely excited about the team and the work on [project]. I would like to talk through the compensation before I accept."
- 2. Make one counter, with the reason attached
A specific number, a market reason, and one thing about you that justifies the top of the range. Then stop talking.
"Based on the market for this role in [location] and my [experience or skill], I was hoping for a base of [X]. Is there flexibility there?"
- 3. If base is fixed, move to the package
Base salary often has the least room. Signing bonus, equity, level, start date and leave usually have more.
"I understand the base is set. Is there room on the signing bonus or the equity grant instead?"
What else is in the package
- Signing bonus
- Annual bonus target
- Equity or stock options
- Title and level
- Start date
- Remote or hybrid arrangement
- Annual leave
- Learning and conference budget
Handling the hard questions
"What are your salary expectations?"
Ask for their range first: "I would rather find the right fit and then talk numbers — could you share the budgeted range for the role?" If pressed, give a researched range with your target at the lower end of it.
"This offer is not negotiable."
Take it at face value for base and move on: "Understood. Are there other parts of the package with flexibility — signing bonus, equity, or start date?"
"We need an answer by tomorrow."
Ask for a reasonable window without apologising: "I am very interested and want to give this proper consideration. Could I have until [date]?" A firm that will not give you three days is telling you something.
"What is your current salary?"
In many places employers may not ask this; where they can, you can decline: "I would prefer to focus on the value of this role. My expectation is [range]."
Rules that hold
Never accept on the call
Even an offer you love. Ask for a day; nothing is lost by it.
Decide the walk-away number first
Before the conversation, not during it.
Counter once, well
Repeated counters spend goodwill. One considered ask, then the package.
Let silence do the work
After you state the number, wait. The next sentence is theirs.
Get it in writing
The offer is what the letter says, not what the call said.
Rehearse it out loud
The words come out differently under pressure. Say them to someone first.
Once the number is agreed, the follow-up email templates include the acceptance and the polite decline.
Frequently asked questions
- Should I always negotiate a job offer?
- Almost always. Most employers expect a counter and build room for it into the first number. The exceptions are fixed public-sector scales and offers where you have been told, credibly, that the number is at the top of the band.
- Can negotiating cost me the offer?
- A polite, reasoned counter does not get offers withdrawn. What does is hostility, repeated re-negotiation, or a counter far outside the market. Stay collaborative and ask once.
- How much should I ask for?
- Anchor on the market data for the role and location, then ask for a number in the upper half of that range that you can justify with something specific about you. Ten to fifteen percent above the offer is a common, defensible counter.
- How do I practise the conversation?
- Say the scripts above out loud to a friend, or run the salary negotiation round with the AI interviewer, which plays the hiring manager and pushes back the way one would.