How to Negotiate a Job Offer: 7 Steps (With Scripts)

Negotiate when you have leverage and something concrete to point at. Wait when you are still being assessed.

Go ahead when:

• You have the offer in hand. CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor) advises waiting to ask about salary until you receive a job offer, and when you get one, expressing appreciation and strong interest, then requesting at least 24 hours to decide. That pause is the window you negotiate in.
• The employer has signalled flexibility. If the recruiter asks what you are looking for, says the number is "a starting point", or gives a posted range rather than a single figure, there is room. CareerOneStop also notes some offers are simply non-negotiable, in which case your only choice is to accept or decline as presented.
• You can name one or two accomplishments that justify more. The University of Wyoming's Haub Career Development Center advises preparing one to two solid examples from your past that explain why the company should invest more in you, rather than asking for more money without a reason.
• Something other than base pay matters to you. Start date, remote days, a signing bonus, extra holiday or a six-month salary review are all live items even when the base is capped (Robert Walters, undated).
• Your research shows the offer sits below the range for the role in your market. Not your feelings about it — a range you can cite.

Not yet if you are still interviewing and tempted to raise pay to find out if the job is worth your time. Revealing too early what salary you would accept, and asking about money too early in the process, are both listed as mistakes by the Haub Career Development Center, which notes that the longer you wait, the more advantage you keep. Robert Half suggests that by a second interview it is generally okay to ask about salary if the topic has not come up, handled with care — but a question about the range is not the same thing as a negotiation.

1. Ask the recruiter for time, out loud, on the offer call. Prepare one sentence of thanks and one sentence of interest so you do not freeze. CareerOneStop advises requesting at least 24 hours to decide. Lead time: 30 seconds, during the call itself. Robert Walters notes that accepting the first offer too quickly is a mistake and that employers expect a brief pause while you review the details.
2. Request the full offer in writing before you respond. Ask for base pay, bonus structure and eligibility, title, start date, reporting line, holiday allowance, health plan start date and any relocation or signing payment. Lead time: most employers send this within one to two business days; a written offer letter can take longer where legal or HR sign-off is involved.
3. Check the market rate for the occupation in your area. Harvard Business School Online suggests starting market-rate research with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which maintains a database of pay by occupation. Add current job postings for the same title in the same city — in states and cities with pay transparency laws, many listings carry a range. Lead time: two to four hours, usually spread over a day.
4. Write down three things before you speak: your target, your walk-away, and your priority order. CareerOneStop advises being clear about the critical issue or issues, and about whether you would refuse the job if the terms do not change. Decide that now, not mid-sentence. Lead time: 30 to 60 minutes.
5. Draft two examples that justify the ask. A project you delivered, a cost you cut, a client you kept, a system you built — with the result attached. One or two is enough (University of Wyoming Haub Career Development Center, undated). Lead time: an hour.
6. Make the ask to the person who controls the budget. That is usually the recruiter, who relays it, or sometimes the hiring manager directly — ask the recruiter who should hear it. CareerOneStop advises being positive and persuasive, and selling the hiring official on why you are worth more. Do it by phone or video if you can; follow with email. Lead time: a 15 to 20 minute call, booked inside the window you asked for.
7. Confirm the agreed terms in writing, then stop. The Haub Career Development Center advises countering only once or twice at most, and avoiding revisiting a compensation package that has already been agreed. Ask for a revised offer letter and read it before signing. Lead time: 24 hours to send your confirmation; one to five business days for a revised letter, longer at large employers with approval chains.

Keep it short, warm and specific. Name the number, name the reason, then stop talking.

Asking for time on the offer call

Spoken — on the phone, the moment the offer is made

"Thank you, [name] — I'm really pleased. [Team or company] is exactly the kind of work I want to be doing, and I'm very interested. Could you send the full details in writing, and would it be all right if I came back to you by [day, within 24 to 48 hours]? I want to review it properly rather than answer off the top of my head."

Making the counter by phone

Spoken — scheduled call with the recruiter or hiring manager

"Thanks for making time. I want to say up front that I want this job and I'm planning to accept. There's one thing I'd like to discuss, which is base salary. The offer is [$X]. Based on what I'm seeing for [job title] in [city or region], I was hoping we could get to [$Y].

The reason I think that's fair: at [previous employer] I [specific result, e.g. rebuilt the reporting process and cut month-end close from ten days to four], and in the last year I [second specific result]. That's the work I'd be bringing to [project or team] from week one.

Is there room to move on that?"

Then say nothing. Let them answer.

If they say the salary is fixed

Spoken — immediate follow-up in the same conversation

"That's helpful to know, thank you. If base is set, could we look at the rest of the package? The things that would make a real difference to me are [a signing bonus of $X / an extra week of holiday / a formal salary review at six months / [number] remote days a week]. Would any of those be possible?"

Robert Walters suggests exactly these kinds of items — an extra week of holiday, a signing bonus or a six-month salary review — when an employer says pay is fixed.

The counter by email

Email — subject: [Job title] offer — one question before I accept

Hi [name],

Thank you again for the offer for [job title]. I've read through everything and I'm keen to join — [one specific thing about the role or team] is a strong fit for what I do.

Before I sign, I'd like to ask about base salary. The offer is [$X]. Looking at published ranges for [job title] in [location], I'd like to ask whether [$Y] is achievable. For context, at [previous employer] I [specific result], and I [second specific result] — that's the experience I'd bring to [project].

If base is fixed, I'd be glad to talk about [signing bonus / review at six months / holiday] instead. Happy to discuss by phone whenever suits you this week.

Best, [your name]

If asked what you currently earn

Spoken — redirect, politely

"I'd rather talk about the value of this role than what I've been paid before. Based on my research for [job title] in [location], I'm targeting [$Y to $Z]. Does that fit the range you have for this position?"

Robert Half notes that candidates do not have to say what their previous or current salary is, and that in many places it is illegal for employers to ask. SHRM reports that states and localities have passed salary history bans and pay transparency laws, tracked state by state. What applies to you depends on where you and the employer are — check your state labor department's guidance, and expect different rules again outside the US.

The honest downside: not every negotiation produces more money, and some produce nothing at all. CareerOneStop is blunt that some offers are non-negotiable and your real choice is to accept or decline as presented. You may also spend a week in limbo while an approval works its way through HR, and you may end up accepting the original figure having learned only that it was firm. That is a normal outcome, not a failure — but go in having decided in advance whether you would still take the job.

A no on base pay is not the end of the conversation. Work through these in order.

In the same conversation (minutes): ask what else is movable. Robert Walters suggests an extra week of holiday, a signing bonus or a six-month salary review when base is fixed. Also worth raising: start date, title, remote days, training budget, or equipment.

Within 24 hours: decide. CareerOneStop advises being clear about whether you would refuse the job if the terms do not change — you already wrote that down in step four, so hold yourself to it. If you are accepting, say so cleanly and warmly; do not accept while sounding disappointed.

Within 48 hours: get any non-pay concession in writing in the offer letter or a confirming email. A verbal promise of a six-month review that nobody wrote down tends to evaporate when the manager changes.

First week in the job: put the review date in the calendar and ask your manager what specifically would need to be true at that point. Write the answer down in your own notes.

Months one to five: collect evidence against those criteria — delivered projects, metrics, written praise from colleagues or clients. This becomes your one or two examples next time.

At six to twelve months: make the ask at the agreed review, using the same structure as the original counter. Check current published ranges again before you do, starting with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics database of pay by occupation (Harvard Business School Online, 2026-03-24).

If you decline (within a week): send a short, appreciative email to the recruiter and the hiring manager, say the compensation did not work for you this time, and ask to stay in touch. Hiring budgets change; the same recruiter often fills the same role again in six to twelve months. Keep applying elsewhere in the meantime — do not pause your search on the hope that they come back.