Salary negotiation script — what to say after the offer

The reason most people leave money on the table is not that they're bad negotiators. It's that they don't have words ready. The recruiter calls, they panic, they say "that sounds great, let me think about it," and the offer becomes final by default. This page gives you the words.

Every script below has the same structure: short, calm, anchored to a reason, and ends with a question. The goal is to make the recruiter's job easier, not harder.

Before you say anything

You need three numbers before you open your mouth:

1. Market range for your role, level, and location. Public sources work: levels.fyi for tech, Glassdoor + local communities for everything else.
2. Your floor. The number below which you would actually decline.
3. Your target. Usually the 75th percentile of the market range, not the 90th.

If you don't know these three, you're improvising and you will lose. Spend twenty minutes with the AI career consultant or with public data first.

The four phrases that do most of the work

1. Counter the base

The recruiter has just stated a number. Pause two seconds, then:

That's it. No apologies, no caveats, no story about your mortgage. The anchor is "market" — the most defensible anchor that exists. Then a direct, short question. Now stop talking. The recruiter will counter; let the silence do the work.

2. Mention a competing offer (without lying)

If you have another offer or a strong process running, mention it once, briefly:

If you don't have a competing offer, don't fake one. Recruiters call each other; you don't want to be the candidate who got caught. Instead:

3. Defer naming a number

Recruiter screen, first 5 minutes, they ask "what are you looking for salary-wise?" This is the most common moment people overshoot or undershoot. Defer:

If they push:

Notice you gave a range, not a number. The floor of your range is your target, not your floor.

4. Ask for a signing bonus

When the base is locked but you want more total comp:

Sign-on bonuses come out of a different budget than base and are easier to approve. Equity refreshes work the same way. Ask for one specifically, not both at once.

What NOT to say

• "I need this much to live." Cost of living is your problem, not theirs. Anchor to market, not need.
• "My current salary is..." In many jurisdictions you don't have to share. Even where you do, share total comp, not base, and round up.
• "I deserve more because I've worked hard." Hard work is a baseline expectation. Anchor to scope, impact, and market.
• "Whatever is fair." "Fair" is whatever the company already offered. Be specific.
• "That's my final answer." Don't use ultimatums you're not ready to enforce. They turn polite asks into adversarial fights.
• Anything in writing that you wouldn't want a screenshot of. Recruiters forward emails.

When to walk away

The hardest part of negotiation is being ready to leave. Walk if:

• They refuse to move on a single lever. Not base, not sign-on, not equity, not start date, not vacation, not the 6-month review. That's not negotiation, that's "take it or leave it." Leave it.
• They get hostile when you ask once. The recruiter is on their best behavior right now. If "is there room to revisit?" gets pushback, working there will be worse.
• The final number is below your floor. Not below your target — below your actual floor. The number below which you'd resent the job within six months.

Walking is easier when you have alternatives. The cure for fear of walking is a parallel process. Run two or three job conversations at once so no single offer carries all your hopes.

The decline-politely-and-stay-in-touch script

If you've negotiated and the number is still not enough:

Six months later that recruiter is in a different role at a different company, and you're in their first call. Decent rejections compound.

Putting it together — the 24-hour playbook

1. Hour 0: Verbal offer received. Say "Thank you, that's really exciting. Can I take 24 hours to review and come back to you tomorrow?" — and stop talking.
2. Hour 1: Pull market data. Calculate your target and floor. Write down the script you'll use.
3. Hour 2–4: If you have other processes running, ping those recruiters. "I have an offer in hand. I'd love to wrap up our process this week if possible."
4. Hour 20: Rehearse the call out loud, twice. Use the AI for the mock if you can.
5. Hour 24: Make the call. Use phrase 1 (counter base) if base is light. Use phrase 4 (sign-on) if base is locked. Use the walk-away if the number doesn't move.

For the rest of the offer decision (manager, role, growth), pair this with the 7-point offer evaluation. Negotiation is one of seven dimensions, not the whole decision.

Frequently asked questions