How to negotiate a job offer (scripts, numbers and when to stop)

Most people accept the first number they are offered. That is understandable — the offer arrives after weeks of uncertainty, relief is overwhelming, and negotiating feels like risking the thing you just won. But the first offer is rarely the company's best, employers routinely expect a counter, and the base salary you agree now compounds through every future raise, bonus and offer for years. A single conversation is worth more per minute than almost anything else in your career.

The fear that negotiating will lose you the offer is nearly always misplaced. Rescinding an offer because a candidate politely asked for more is extraordinarily rare — the company has already invested heavily in the process and has internal approval for a range, not a point. What can genuinely damage things is aggression, ultimatums you can't back, or negotiating in bad faith with no intention of accepting. Politeness and specificity carry essentially no risk.

Preparation is most of the outcome. Before any number is discussed, establish a researched range for this role, at this level, in this location, using multiple sources rather than one. Decide three numbers privately: your target (ambitious but defensible), your acceptable figure, and your walk-away — the point below which you genuinely would decline. Writing these down beforehand matters, because in the moment it is remarkably easy to talk yourself into a number you'll resent in six months.

When you're asked your expectations early in the process, deflect once. "I'd rather understand the role and the level properly first — could you share the range budgeted for this position?" Most companies will answer, and in many jurisdictions they're now legally required to. If pressed a second time, give a researched range rather than a single figure, and position your target near the bottom of the upper third: "Based on what I've seen for this scope in this market, I'd be looking somewhere in the region of X to Y." Never volunteer your current salary — it anchors the conversation to your past employer's budget rather than this role's value.

When the offer arrives, do not respond immediately, even if it's good. Thank them genuinely, express real enthusiasm for the role, and ask for the full package in writing plus a couple of days to review. Enthusiasm matters here: the mistake candidates make is going cold and transactional the moment money is mentioned, which makes the negotiation feel adversarial. You want them to feel they are helping a future colleague get to yes.

The counter itself is short and specific. A script that works: "Thank you — I'm genuinely excited about this role and the team. I've looked at the market for this scope, and based on the reliability work I'd be taking on, I was hoping we could get closer to X. Is there flexibility on the base?" Three elements make it effective. You reaffirm enthusiasm, you justify with the value you bring rather than your personal needs, and you ask one clear question that invites a yes.

Justify with their value, not your costs. "My rent went up" or "I need more to cover my expenses" invites sympathy but not money — your expenses aren't their budget. "This role owns the checkout service and I've done exactly this migration before" links the number to what they get. If you have a competing offer, mention it factually and without threat: "I do have another offer at X, but this is the role I'd prefer." That sentence is powerful precisely because it is true and unaggressive.

Base salary is not the only lever, and often not the most flexible one. When base is genuinely capped by band, ask about a signing bonus, additional equity, an earlier review date with a defined increase, extra annual leave, a remote or hybrid arrangement, a learning budget, or a title adjustment that affects your next move. Signing bonuses in particular are frequently easier to approve than base, because they don't set a permanent cost. Ask which lever has the most room: "I understand if base is fixed at this level — is there flexibility on the signing bonus or the equity component?"

Some specifics matter more than people realise. Get everything in writing before you resign from anything — verbal agreements evaporate when the person who made them changes role. Understand your equity properly: the vesting schedule, the cliff, the strike price, and what the shares are actually worth today rather than at a hoped-for valuation. Check the bonus is contractual rather than discretionary. And read the notice period and any clawback clauses, which are the terms most likely to hurt you later.

Know when to stop. One well-made counter is normal and expected. A second, smaller counter is sometimes reasonable if something material changed. A third makes you look like you're negotiating for sport, and it damages the relationship you're about to start. If they hold firm and the offer clears your acceptable number, take it graciously and move on — you'll have another shot at review time, and starting a job feeling you extracted the last pound is worse for you than the money is good.

If you decide to decline, do it warmly and quickly. The recruiter who couldn't meet your number this year is often the same person hiring for a better-funded role next year, and industries are smaller than they look. A short, appreciative decline costs nothing and preserves a relationship with real future value.

A final word on who negotiates. Research consistently finds that women and candidates from some minority backgrounds negotiate less often, and part of the reason is a well-founded concern about being penalised for it. The framing that reliably works is collaborative rather than combative: not "I demand X," but "I'm excited about this — can we get to X?" That phrasing is both more comfortable to say and, in practice, more effective, because it invites the hiring manager to solve a problem with you rather than against you.

JobStraight includes free salary calculators and negotiation scripts you can adapt — salary-to-hourly conversion, take-home estimates, raise maths, and worked scripts for the counter conversation. All free, all in your browser, no signup.

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