Home > Articles > Business & Management

How to Negotiate a Job Offer

Unless you're a professional athlete or a movie star, you're unlikely to get a job offer with payment expectations beyond your wildest dreams. But you also shouldn't approach a potential employer with hat in hand. If you want the job and you're qualified for it, you have something to offer in exchange. Pat Brans explains how to approach the bargaining table with confidence and walk away satisfied—and hired.
Like this article? We recommend

A March 2015 National Longitudinal Survey (NLS) report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that, on average, Americans change jobs nearly a dozen throughout their careers. [1] What's more, many people are giving up altogether on the idea of "permanent" employment. According to research published by Intuit, by the year 2020, more than 40% of the American workforce will be "contingent workers"—hired on a nonpermanent basis and without full-time employment status. [2]

While negotiation skills have always been important, in today's fluid job market such expertise can very easily make the difference between career success and failure. If the NLS is right, you will negotiate a dozen or so job offers throughout your career. So let's have a look at what you should know before you approach your next bargaining table.

Preparing for Negotiation

Before you start negotiating a job offer, think about how much you want the job and why. Do you want the position because it's a step toward something better? Is the work itself fun? Does the position pay well? Is the job close to home?

Now think of all your alternatives. What are some other ways you can achieve the same objectives you expect to fulfill in this job? For instance, you might get the same benefits from another job that's within your reach. Perhaps getting another degree could give you the same results. The stronger your alternatives, the better your negotiating position; and when it comes to negotiating a job offer, the strongest alternative is a simultaneous job offer. If at least one other company wants you just as much, you'll have a powerful hand to play at the bargaining table.

Once you know what you want and you have an inventory of alternatives, you're ready to set reasonable objectives. Research how well your prospective company pays compared to similar companies. Then look beyond the pay and find out about the entire package. Some companies offer free lunch to employees. Others offer extra paid vacation. Look also for broad market statistics on salaries for the kind of job you're seeking.

Now list all the peripheral items to be negotiated. You may want to start the new job earlier or later than indicated in the job posting. If you've planned a trip to Europe, you may want to ask the potential employer to advance some paid vacation time, so you can use it within the first six months. If you live far from the prospective workplace, you might want to work from home one day a week.

Think also of some of the extra benefits you can bring to the negotiation. Maybe you're willing to work over the Christmas holidays. Perhaps you can start the job earlier than requested. If the organization's budget pays for moving expenses, but you don't need that money, you can offer some savings in that area. Keep a list of everything you can give to the potential employer. You can use that list later to try to get something in return.

Assessing Your Counterpart

Once you've inventoried your alternatives, think about the negotiator. Will you be negotiating with your prospective supervisor, with that person's boss, or with an HR director? How much authority does that person have for negotiating? While you're unlikely to get all of this information, try to find out as much as you can without making it obvious that you're fishing.

If your counterpart doesn't have final authority, you need to aim a little higher than the level at which you expect to settle the terms. Why? Because when the final authority gets involved, he or she is likely to try to negotiate you down a little more.

In any negotiation, each side has some power over the other side, and power comes in many forms. The next step is to evaluate your sources of power and the negotiator's sources of power.

Here are some examples of the kinds of power that might come into play in negotiating a job offer:

  • Age. In most cultures, the older you are, the more respect you get. If your counterpart is significantly older than you, you might feel a little intimidated during your discussion.
  • Credentials. University degrees, professional certifications, and previous job experience all bolster your position.
  • Expertise. How well you know a subject (particularly the subject around which the position revolves) versus how well your counterpart knows the subject will play into relative power during your discussion.
  • Needs. How much you want the position versus how much they want you also plays into the power differential. If you have a lot of extra needs, like the need to leave work early every day, your position may be weaker.
  • Indifference. How much each side values the relationship plays into the power differential during a negotiation. You should be friendly while you're bargaining, but don't go into the discussion with an excessive need to be liked.
  • Resolve. While you don't want to get into a battle of wills, resolve plays at least a subtle role in every negotiation. If you're more convinced of what you're asking for than the negotiator is of what they're offering, you have an advantage. Whereas the negotiator might express conviction through confident body language, the best way for you to show your resolve is by calmly presenting statistics that back up your statements. Remember your research on what similar companies pay and what that position is worth on the broader market.

Before you enter any negotiation, remind yourself that you deserve to be at the table as much as they do. Never go into a negotiation thinking that the other side has all the power. You want something they have; but they also want something you have. Inventory the sources of power on both sides to see what strong suits each side has.

You've evaluated the power differential, but that doesn't mean you should go into the negotiation with a combative attitude. Remember that if all goes well, you'll be establishing a long-term relationship with the negotiator, and you'll want to be on the friendliest terms possible.

Conducting the Negotiation

Now that you've done your preparation, you're ready to sit down at the table and try to reach an agreement. The first step is to try to establish a good rapport with your counterpart. One of the best ways of reaching a good outcome in any negotiation is to reach a level of trust where the two sides can freely exchange information and brainstorm ideas for a mutually beneficial agreement.

In many job negotiations, the organization making the offer will try to learn what you're currently being paid. This is their way of discovering your minimum acceptable offer. If you aren't comfortable revealing how much you're paid, explain that you aren't basing your expectations on your current salary, but give them what you think is a reasonable pay range based on your research.

If you have good credentials, you can make the case for expecting a high offer. You might say that since you graduated in the top 10% of your class, you expect a salary at the higher end of the range.

When your counterpart makes an offer, take your time to evaluate it. If you accept an offer right way—even if the offer seems high to you—you'll send a signal to the other side that they probably could have gotten you for less.

If you make a counteroffer, give the negotiator(s) time to evaluate it. If they spend more time evaluating your proposal than you think is reasonable, ask when they think they can get back to you. But don't jump the gun and follow your own counteroffer with another counteroffer. That sends a signal that you had no confidence in your first counteroffer.

Once you think the negotiator will no longer move on salary, see what other concessions you might get. This is the time to bring out your list of "extras" you might give in exchange for some of the peripheral items the potential employer might give you. If you offer to start the job earlier, maybe they can give you vacation time after just a few months. If you save them money on moving expenses, maybe they can let you work from home once or twice a week.

Final Thoughts

When you're negotiating a job offer, it's good to aim high, but don't try to squeeze everything you can out of a prospective employer. Again, remember that you hope to work for them. The last thing you want to do is set unreasonable expectations of your performance before you start the job.

If you can't reach a mutually satisfactory agreement despite all your efforts, make sure that you leave the discussion on good terms. Since both you and the negotiator are likely to change jobs around a dozen times, you may run into each other again in a different context.

References

[1] "Number of Jobs Held, Labor Market Activity, and Earnings Growth Among the Youngest Baby Boomers: Results from a Longitudinal Survey," Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, March 31, 2015.

[2] "Intuit 2020 Report: Twenty Trends That Will Shape the Next Decade," Intuit Inc., October 2010.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020