Negotiating a job offer: what to ask and when

In three experiments, whichever side of a negotiation made the first offer got the better result, and first offers predicted where the price ended; when the other side thought about its own target, or about the first side’s alternatives or lowest acceptable price, the first offer lost its pull (Galinsky and Mussweiler). An offer you receive is a first offer, so decide your numbers before you hear theirs.

Negotiating honestly means every number you give is true and every reason can be checked. This lesson covers what can move in an offer, the three numbers to prepare and how to counter in writing, deadlines and notice periods included.

Most of an offer can move, so ask what can

An offer is several things at once: fixed pay, the level, a joining bonus, a stock grant, the joining date, a buyout of your notice and the days you work remotely. They do not all move. A campus package is often one figure for the whole batch, so ask what can change instead of pressing on the number; an offer made to you alone moves most on fixed pay and level, because pay bands follow levels. Answer three questions about your own offer:

In short: on a campus package, ask about the joining date or the location; on an offer made to you alone, ask about fixed pay and level first, a joining bonus to close a gap in the first year, and a later date or a buyout when your notice is long.

Three numbers before the call: target, walk-away and best alternative

Your best alternativebest alternative (BATNA): Your best alternative to a negotiated agreement: what you will do if a negotiation ends without a deal, such as keeping your job or taking another offer. It sets the point below which you walk away. is what you will do if this negotiation ends without a deal: keep your current job, take another offer or keep searching. Harvard’s Program on Negotiation says it decides whether to accept a proposal and when to walk away. Your walk-away pointwalk-away point: The least you will accept, set before the talks from your best alternative and what the move would cost you. An offer below it is worse than not reaching a deal. is that alternative plus what moving costs you, and your target is what your research supports for the level.

For research, use published ranges where a law requires them: the EU’s pay transparency directive gives applicants a right to know the initial pay or its range, in the job posting or before the interview, California requires pay scales in the postings of employers with 15 or more employees, and Google includes ranges where local law requires them. Salary-sharing sites are estimates people report about themselves. Write the three numbers down before the call, because a number heard first pulls on what follows, the effect called anchoringanchoring: The pull a first number has on a negotiation: later offers tend to stay near it, so the side that names a number first often does better unless the other side holds its own target in mind.. Here are Sana’s, for an SDE-2 offer; press Edit and put in your own:

"""Sana's three numbers for an SDE-2 offer, set before the call, and three first offers tested against them."""

CURRENT = 22_00_000  # her fixed pay a year now (invented)
RAISE = 0.08  # the raise her manager has confirmed for the next review
MOVING_COST = 1_00_000  # what moving costs her: a notice buyout she would pay and a riskier first year
BAND = (26_00_000, 34_00_000)  # fixed pay for the level, as the recruiter wrote it
TARGET = 31_00_000  # in the upper half of the band: she has led work at this level for a year


def inr(amount: float) -> str:
    """Rupees with Indian digit grouping: 24,76,000."""
    digits = str(round(amount))
    head, tail = digits[:-3], digits[-3:]
    groups = []
    while len(head) > 2:
        groups.insert(0, head[-2:])
        head = head[:-2]
    return ",".join(([head] if head else []) + groups + [tail])


best_alternative = CURRENT * (1 + RAISE)  # staying where she is
walk_away = best_alternative + MOVING_COST
counter = min(TARGET + 1_00_000, BAND[1])  # a little above the target, inside the band

print(f"Best alternative: stay, {inr(best_alternative)} after the confirmed raise")
print(f"Walk-away point:  {inr(walk_away)} (the alternative plus {inr(MOVING_COST)} to move)")
print(f"Target:           {inr(TARGET)} (band {inr(BAND[0])} to {inr(BAND[1])})")
for offer in (23_50_000, 27_50_000, 33_00_000):
    if offer < walk_away:
        reply = "below the walk-away: decline this number, ask what else can move"
    elif offer < TARGET:
        reply = f"between the two: counter at {inr(counter)}, with the reasons"
    else:
        reply = "at or above the target: accept the pay, settle the other terms"
    print(f"Offer {inr(offer)}: {reply}")

Best alternative: stay, 23,76,000 after the confirmed raise
Walk-away point:  24,76,000 (the alternative plus 1,00,000 to move)
Target:           31,00,000 (band 26,00,000 to 34,00,000)
Offer 23,50,000: below the walk-away: decline this number, ask what else can move
Offer 27,50,000: between the two: counter at 32,00,000, with the reasons
Offer 33,00,000: at or above the target: accept the pay, settle the other terms

Her walk-away point is 24,76,000 rupees and her target 31,00,000. An offer of 27,50,000 falls between them, so she counters at 32,00,000 with her reasons; one below 24,76,000 she declines as a number while asking what else can move.

Answer the expectations question, then counter in writing

Asked early what you expect, give your researched range and what it rests on, as the recruiter call lesson sets out. In the EU an employer may not ask about your pay history; in California it may not seek it, though it may ask what you expect. Once the offer comes, keep one order: thank them, get the whole offer in writing, ask for time until a specific date, counter with one reasoned number, then accept or decline in writing:

A reasoned counter is short:

“Thank you for the offer for the SDE-2 role; I am keen to join. The band you shared for this level is 26,00,000 to 34,00,000, and I have led work at this scope for a year, on the payments migration, so I would like to ask for a fixed pay of 32,00,000. If the fixed pay cannot move that far, a joining bonus would close most of the gap in the first year.”

It names one number inside the band, gives two reasons the employer can check and offers one other part, so the reply can be yes, a counter or no without anyone losing face.

Three negotiations that branch: a low offer, a competing offer and a deadline Pro: opens with a Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass

A prep sheet that values each trade over four years, worked with numbers Pro: opens with a Pro, Premium or Ultimate pass

Practise: choose the stronger move

Each question below is a moment from a negotiation. Choose the move, then read why the others lose:

Interview questions

Hiring managers and recruiters may ask how you weigh an offer or handle a disagreement about pay:

Key takeaways

• An offer is several parts; ask what can move, and on a campus package ask about the date or the location rather than the number.
• Write your best alternative, your walk-away point and your target before the call, so no number can anchor you.
• Counter once, in writing, with one number inside the band and reasons the employer can check.
• Never invent a competing offer, and accept or decline in writing.