How to Negotiate Your Salary (Without a Script)

Not because they are weak. Because the offer is flattering, the process has been long, they are unsure what to ask for, and asking feels like risking something they already have. The most effective preparation is not courage, it is having a specific number and a specific reason — which removes most of the awkwardness.

• Know the market range for your role, level and city. Levels, not titles — 'senior' means different things at different companies.
• Anchor on total compensation, not base salary. Bonus, equity, remote days and insurance all count, and companies know it.
• Have a specific ask with a reason: 'Based on the market range for this role and my experience in X, I was expecting closer to Y.'
• Decide your real walk-away number before the call, and do not negotiate against yourself.
• Know what the role is worth to them. A role they cannot fill has a cost, and that is information they do not have.

• Ask for time: 'I'd like to think about the offer and come back to you tomorrow' — very normal, and it stops an immediate yes becoming an immediate anchor.
• State the number without apology. No 'I know this is a lot, but…' weakens the ask before you finish it.
• Give a reason, then stop talking. Most people negotiate themselves downward by filling the silence.
• Ask what flexibility exists in the budget rather than whether they can raise it. Different question, same options.
• If they cannot move on base, trade other things: start date, remote days, title, review timing, training budget.

• Naming a number with no reason attached — it reads as a guess, and it usually is one.
• Negotiating against yourself by mentioning what you would settle for.
• Citing your current salary as your justification. Many employers anchor to it, which works against you.
• Lying about other offers. It is checkable, and it makes everything else you say suspect.
• Treating a 'no' as a rejection of you rather than a constraint on their budget, and accepting it immediately.