How to Negotiate a Job Offer (With Scripts)

The moment between “we would like to offer you the role” and “I accept” is the only point in your relationship with this employer where the power sits with you. They have run a process, spent weeks on it, rejected other candidates, and decided they want you specifically. Replacing that decision is expensive and slow.

Most people give that moment away in under a minute by saying yes on the phone. The single most valuable habit in this entire guide is not saying yes immediately.

The first call

When the offer comes, your job on that call is to be pleased and to buy time. Nothing else.

Do not react to the number, positively or negatively. Do not say “that sounds good.” Do not counter on the call — you have not seen the pension contribution, the bonus terms, or the notice period yet.

Two to five working days is a normal amount of time to consider an offer, and asking for it is entirely standard. If an employer refuses any time at all to read a written offer, that is worth noticing as information about them.

Read the whole offer

Before deciding what to ask for, work out what you have actually been offered.

• Base salary and when it is reviewed
• Bonus — discretionary or contractual, what it is based on, and what it actually paid the last two years
• Equity — number of shares or options, strike price, vesting schedule, cliff, and what happens if you leave or the company is sold
• Pension or retirement contribution — the employer percentage, and whether it is matched
• Health and insurance cover, and what it costs you
• Annual leave, and whether public holidays are on top
• Working pattern — hybrid expectations in writing, not verbally
• Notice period on both sides, and any probation terms
• Restrictive covenants — non-compete, non-solicit, and their duration
• Conditions — references, background checks, right to work

Add up the parts that are actually cash. A £3,000 lower base with a 10% employer pension contribution against a 3% one is not a worse offer.

Deciding what to ask for

Ask for one primary thing. Possibly a second, smaller one. A list of six requests reads as a negotiation with a purchasing department rather than the start of a working relationship.

If base salary is the priority

It usually should be. It compounds into every raise, pension contribution, and future offer.

Ask for a specific number, not “more.” Aim roughly 8–15% above the offer if your research supports it. A number with a reason attached is far harder to refuse than a vague request.

If base is genuinely fixed

Public sector, structured bands, and unionised environments often cannot move base. Ask what can move:

• Starting at a higher point within the band
• A signing bonus — often from a different budget than salary
• An earlier salary review, at six months rather than twelve
• Additional annual leave
• A training or certification budget
• A formally agreed remote or compressed pattern
• Title — which costs nothing now and affects your next move

Making the ask

Do it by phone or video if you can, and follow up in writing. Tone matters more than wording: you are two parties trying to reach an agreement you both want, not adversaries.

Then stop. The pause after the ask is uncomfortable and it is the most important part. People routinely negotiate against themselves in that silence — “but obviously if that’s not possible I completely understand” — and hand back what they just asked for. Let them answer.

Justifications that work

• Market data. “Comparable roles in this region are advertised at…” Neutral and verifiable.
• Scope beyond the posting. If the role turned out to include something material that was not advertised, say so.
• A specific scarce capability that you have and the posting emphasised.
• A competing offer, if genuine.

Justifications that do not

• Personal expenses. Real, and not an argument the employer can act on.
• “I feel I am worth more.” Unverifiable.
• What a colleague earns. Puts them at risk and is not your evidence to use.
• Vague threats to walk away that you have no intention of acting on.

Reading the response

• “Let me check with the hiring manager.” Normal. There is usually some room and they need to confirm it.
• “We can do £55,000.” A genuine meet in the middle. Accept it, or accept it with one small non-salary addition. Do not push a third time.
• “This is our best and final.” Usually true. Decide whether the offer as it stands is one you want, and if it is, accept gracefully — do not let a failed negotiation sour the start.
• Irritation at being asked at all. Genuinely useful information about how the organisation handles reasonable requests.

Get it in writing

Anything agreed verbally — the higher salary, the six-month review, the two remote days, the training budget — must appear in the written offer or the contract before you accept. Not because people are dishonest, but because the manager who agreed it may not be there in a year, and a verbal understanding does not survive a change of manager.

“Thank you — that works and I am delighted to accept. Could you send an updated offer letter reflecting the £56,000 and the six-month review, and I will sign and return it the same day?”

Before you resign

Do not hand in notice until every condition on the offer is cleared — references returned, background and right-to-work checks complete, and the signed contract in hand. Conditional offers are withdrawn occasionally, and resigning first leaves you with nothing.

Declining well

If you turn it down, do it quickly and warmly. Industries are small, and the hiring manager who offered you a job this year may be somewhere better in three.

“Thank you for the offer, and for how straightforward the process was. After a lot of thought I have decided to accept another role that is closer to what I want to be doing next. I hope our paths cross again — I enjoyed the conversations.”

No detailed justification is needed, and you should never disparage the offer.