How to Negotiate Your Salary After a Job Offer (With Scripts)

How to Negotiate Your Salary After a Job Offer (With Scripts)

You've done the hard part. You survived the applications, the screens, the interviews. You got the offer.

Now comes the part most people skip: the negotiation. Studies on salary negotiation consistently find that the majority of job seekers don't negotiate their initial offer — and those who do are rarely turned down. The upside is thousands of dollars per year in additional compensation, often compounding for years because future raises are calculated as a percentage of base salary.

Not negotiating is almost never the right decision. Here's how to do it confidently.

The Mindset First: Why Most People Don't Negotiate

There are three common reasons people don't negotiate:

Fear of rescinded offers. This almost never happens for reasonable counter-offers. Companies invest significantly in finding and selecting candidates. Walking away from a candidate over a professional salary negotiation would be irrational — and savvy employers understand that a candidate who negotiates is often someone who advocates for themselves in other contexts too.

Not knowing their market value. If you don't know what the role pays, you don't know whether the offer is fair or whether you have room to ask for more. Research before the offer eliminates this barrier.

The feeling that they should just be grateful. The offer is a business proposition, not a gift. Negotiating is a completely normal part of the hiring process. Recruiters and hiring managers expect it.

Step 1: Research Before You Negotiate

Before you receive an offer, you should have a clear sense of the market rate for this role.

Sources:

• Levels.fyi — for tech and engineering roles, has extremely detailed compensation data
• LinkedIn Salary — broad coverage across industries and geographies
• Glassdoor — self-reported, so treat as a range rather than a precise figure
• Payscale — useful for non-tech roles
• Job postings in your area — many states now require salary transparency; look at what competitors are listing
• Your network — ask people in similar roles at similar companies what their compensation looks like

Build a range: the low end of your range is the floor (below which you'd decline), the high end is your target ask. The offer will likely land somewhere between the two.

Step 2: Buy Time to Respond

When you receive an offer — especially verbally — you don't have to respond immediately. In fact, you shouldn't.

Script:
"Thank you so much — I'm really excited about this opportunity and I appreciate the offer. I'd like to take some time to review everything carefully. Can I get back to you by [specific day — typically 2–3 business days]?"

This is universally accepted. No one expects an immediate answer to a job offer. Use this time to research, compare, and plan your counter.

Step 3: Evaluate the Full Package

Salary is the most visible number, but it's not the only number. Before you counter, evaluate:

• Base salary (the primary number)
• Bonus (target percentage and how it's calculated)
• Equity (stock options, RSUs — vesting schedule, refresh policy)
• Benefits (health insurance premium, dental/vision, retirement match)
• PTO and flexibility (days, remote work, flexibility)
• Signing bonus (one-time, useful for compensating for unvested equity you're leaving)
• Start date (can sometimes be negotiated to complete projects, allow vacation, or time vest)

The total compensation picture often looks different from the base salary alone. A slightly lower base with excellent equity, strong benefits, and a robust bonus can outperform a higher base with minimal other compensation.

Step 4: Make Your Counter

When you're ready to negotiate, call the recruiter (don't email — negotiation is better in real-time conversation). Here's a script for the standard scenario where you want to ask for more base salary:

Script:
"[Name], thank you again for the offer — I'm genuinely excited about this role and the team. I've had a chance to think through everything, and I wanted to share where I'm at. Based on my research into the market and my background in [relevant experience], I was expecting something closer to [specific number]. Is there flexibility there?"

Key elements of this counter:

• Express genuine enthusiasm first (you want them to want to keep you)
• Name a specific number, not a range (if you say "between $90K and $100K," they'll hear $90K)
• Give a brief justification without over-explaining
• Ask whether there's flexibility — don't demand, ask

What to say when they ask where your number comes from:
"I looked at market data from [Glassdoor, LinkedIn, Levels.fyi] for this role in [location] and talked with people in similar positions. The range I'm seeing is [range], so I'm asking for something in that territory."

Step 5: Handle the Push Back

Companies rarely say yes immediately. They also rarely say a flat no. Most often, they'll come back with something between the initial offer and your ask.

If they come back with a partial increase:
"I appreciate you working on that — getting to [their revised number] is helpful. I was hoping to get to [your target]. Is there any more room, or is there flexibility on [bonus / signing bonus / equity refresh] to close the gap?"

If they say the base is fixed but can offer other things:
"I understand. Let me think about whether there are other elements — signing bonus, equity, or [specific item] — that might bridge the gap. Would [specific ask, e.g., a $10K signing bonus] be something you could offer?"

If they say they genuinely can't move:
"I understand — I appreciate you checking. Let me take a day to think through the full package and I'll get back to you."

Then actually evaluate. Sometimes the total package is better than the base suggests. Sometimes it isn't — and declining is a legitimate option.

Step 6: Get It in Writing

Whatever you agree to, confirm every element in writing before you sign. The formal offer letter or employment agreement should reflect every element discussed: base salary, bonus terms, equity grant details, benefits, signing bonus (if applicable), start date.

If something discussed verbally isn't in the written offer, ask for it to be added before you sign. Verbal commitments without written confirmation are promises that sometimes don't survive management changes.

A Note on Negotiating for Women and Underrepresented Candidates

Research consistently shows that negotiation outcomes are more fraught for women and many underrepresented groups — not because of negotiation skill, but because of how negotiation behavior is perceived differently. The advice is the same — research, ask confidently, use data — but the emotional labor is often higher, and that's worth acknowledging.

The data also shows that this dynamic is starting to shift, particularly as salary transparency laws spread and as more companies explicitly signal that negotiation is expected and welcome.

Document everything. Stick to market data as your anchor. Negotiate the offer, not your sense of what you "deserve" (which can be weaponized against you). And know that asking for what you're worth is not aggressive — it's professional.

Land the interview so you have something to negotiate. Resunote helps you build a resume that stands out, gets you to the offer stage, and positions your experience in the highest-value light.