When a company extends an offer, they expect a negotiation. If you do this well, you can receive a lot more money than the original offer. Here are some things to say to make the most of this process.

I’ve been asked by almost every company at the beginning of discussions what my “salary expectations” are.

How Amazon asks for salary expectations.

And I’ve caved in a few times. But now I know better. You are under no obligation to answer that question. When a recruiter asks you, they’ll try to frame it so “if there’s a big discrepancy, we won’t waste your time.” Simply state

“there’s probably not a big discrepancy, can you share the range?”

They know the range (obviously if they are going to spot a discrepancy they are starting at the range…) and might play coy and say they’ll send it over later. As more American states require this info to be posted on the listing, it becomes less of an issue for base salary at least.

But as we’ve learned, a base salary is not all you get with a tech salary. Employers are not required to post ranges for restricted stock units (RSUs) and signing bonuses, which is a popular offer mix.

I’ve negotiated higher salaries, RSUs, and signing bonuses by forcing the company to be the first to talk numbers, and never hanging up the phone saying yes. Any increment up, I’d say things like

“I appreciate the update and I/we will think about it, and consider some other factors, once I get off the phone because this isn’t something I can say yes to right away.”

As other negotiation articles mention, that ‘we’ is important. Include whoever is in your life because it establishes that you aren’t the sole decision-maker that the recruiter has to please.

Also, try to frame everything as unique to you. The recruiter will be steering in the opposite direction by saying things like “we don’t normally do that,” or “only in rare cases.” And you need to keep feeding in lines like

“I’m trying to make this work for my specific case.”

“This is a little different since [unique point].”

“I want the deal to make sense for my situation.”

Keeping a deal unique will take it to interesting places.

I’d also stay in touch in multiple ways. My last recruiter and I negotiated a lot over text, which gave me a chance to respond at my own pace.

Base Salary

Don’t give out your current salary. But talk about what you’re used to. For instance, bonus percentage isn’t negotiable it’s fixed to a level, but you can bring up what you’re used to if it’s not comparable:

“I’m looking for more base, because my current bonus is guaranteed, while yours is dependent on [utilization] or [company performance].”

And any unanswered benefits…

“Im looking for more base because I’m used to no healthcare fee, $100 dollar/mo fitness plan, dollar for dollar 401k matching, childcare discount, new parent leave duration, etc.”

I’ve used both of those to help with base salary discussions. Any pushback on base increases may sound like “they don’t recommend you be at the top of the band so that there's room for raises.” Simply respond with

“I’m comfortable without room for raises, and expect I can prove myself to get to the next level quickly.”

Your goal for base salary negotiations is to get as close to the top of the band as possible. What they don’t tell you is the band keeps moving, so don’t worry about getting stuck or ‘low raises.’ That’s not the issue.

It’s also important not to even counter with a number here. Countering with a number basically ends the negotiation. Let’s say they offered you $150k and you countered with $160k immediately. Then they’ve identified your cap or what you would settle for. And you’d have a boring negotiation that would land you with $155k, instead of playing it closer to your chest, which could lead you to $180k. That’s just an example but a $30k negotiation is common, which makes $5k negotiation underwhelming.

Negotiations that span a longer period of time tend to bump more as well so long as they aren’t too drawn out. This is because the hiring manager and recruiter need you to start working to complete their goal, so time creates leverage for you. A few of these lines will help, like

“I’m out on vacation for a few more days, but let’s keep this discussion going.”

“I’m awaiting another offer, and have a final round scheduled with another company, but I’ve stopped interviewing with any new companies. I’m hoping to wrap all this up soon.”

And try to keep the ball in their court by asking multiple questions that the recruiter has to get off the phone to answer. Questions like these provide an excuse for a longer negotiation:

“To help with this decision, can I get a copy of all your health benefits, other benifits, vesting schedule, etc. so I can make sure what I’m gaining or losing in other areas?”

Stock

RSUs or some form of stock is another part of total compensation to be negotiated in tech. RSU’s are a bit more fixed, but they are updated with market value. Sometimes they are tiered, meaning you may be negotiating to get a tier 1 package instead of a tier 2 package, not specific numbers. If you’re lucky they’ll even update the tiers because of the market while you’re still negotiating and get some more stock for free.

Developers have an easier time jumping tiers because they tend to get multiple offers without being amazing storytellers. So don’t be surprised if your RSU package is lower than what developers on Blind cite—at least we don’t have to be on-call. For a designer to get top tier, we need to crush the interview process with great stories, a proven track record, a solid portfolio, and a stellar take-home or whiteboard session.

If you don’t have competing offers, you can talk about your level. If they down-leveled you, you can state

“I’m still interested in the position with a lower title, but it needs to make financial sense and I’d be closer to a deal with more stock.”

If you’re leveled correctly you can say you’re at the top end of the years of experience required for the role and would like to see more stock come with the offer. Or if you’re bringing the exact skill into the role that they wish for, say

“I’m looking for more equity because of my extensive experience with [rare skill like augment reality].”

Signing Bonuses

Then there are signing bonuses. Check Blind to make sure the company provides these. This is your last bargaining chip. I’d start negotiating sign-on once you’ve maxed out everything else because sign-ons are temporary—I’d rather add $30k to my base than a $30k signing bonus. The best leverage to gain a signing bonus is having the recruiter reach out to you for a job, instead of you directly applying to the role. But if you’re not in that situation, no worries, I wasn’t either and still gained one. When my recruiter told me they couldn’t go up in base anymore, I asked

“I like where this discussion has headed, but what else can we do because I’m leaving a lot on the table?”

This means I had some unvested stock or some bonus coming at my current company that I will miss out on by quitting. This is also where you might start hitting some friction with the recruiter. They might say “I’ll ask about a signing bonus, but I need HR approval…”

They also may ask “when is your bonus hitting/stock vesting?” This is a tricky question to answer. If this cash is coming in a few days or weeks, they may just delay your start date and encourage you to wait to put in your two weeks until your previous employer pays out. I told my recruiter I was hung up on a bonus I was set to receive a month and a half out, which seemed like the sweet spot.

Starting a relationship with the hiring manager here works wonders. Get their contact info early and set something up with them. State that your

“ready to join the team, it’s just this one thing holding up the deal. Can you help the recruiter here?”

Remember if you’re negotiating, that means they want you. The hiring manager wants you to start work immediately, which is why slowing the deal down creates leverage. They don’t think you’re overpaid or asking too much. They did the same thing to get into their position. They will move mountains to get the deal over the line as long as you stay positive/excited.

From the other side

All the quotes mentioned are not new to recruiters. They have a response lined up to each one of them and a monetary sum tied to it. Here’s what you’re recruiter is looking at.

The highlighted portion describes their process for when I said “I’m leaving a lot on the table.”

At this company, the recruiter can approve a $15k sign-on at this salary band with barely any pushback. This is very company-specific though. At this senior level, some companies offer $100k signing bonuses*, so don’t take these numbers at face value, it’s just an example of what they look at. If you ask your recruiter

“what increase can you push through without extra approvals,”

they might answer. And if they do, it’s as good as yours on any of these buckets. The recruiter is measured on closing deals, not how much they pay out. Some negotiations for them are as simple as sending an email.

You can also start to ask for a specific number now that you’re in the last phase. Quantify what you’re leaving on the table and ask for it, and understand the recruiter won’t be the decision maker here:

“I’m leaving $50k on the table, and your RSUs arent touchable for a year. Can we ask for $50k in signing?”

The worst thing your recruiter will say here is “wow, that approval would have to go all the way to the Chief People Officer.” And that is knowledge for you. Now you know $50k needs the highest of approvals. Then you can ask what monetary value would have an easier time being pushed through.

If you follow all of these steps, it should keep you on the leverage end of a deal.

Vesting schedules from levels.fyi

*Some companies that offer $100k+ signing bonuses, like Amazon, do this because their RSU vesting schedule over 4 years is 5% (Not sellable for the first year)/15% (vests end of year)/40% (vests semi-annually)/40% (vests semi-annually). This is really rough compared to the average 25% (Not sellable for the first year)/25% (vests quarterly)/25% (vests quarterly)/25% (vests quarterly), which is a much more consistent payout. In Amazon’s case, many people use this vesting schedule as a reason to gain a large signing bonus because the stock is so locked up. If you join Google, on the other hand, you don’t even have to wait a full year to start selling the stock, it’s available monthly in many cases, so you can’t use their vesting schedule as a reason for a signing bonus. To get a singing bonus from Google, you may need multiple offers from other FAANG companies. You may see other companies use $100k+ signing bonuses like Bloomberg which pays all cash, so it’s not a way to compensate for a vesting schedule, it’s just to stay competitive in the financial industry and clear anything you have left on the table. Check levels.fyi for vesting schedules to stay informed.

Pocket guide

To screenshot on your phone.

These methods worked well for me, but some may not be applicable in your case — take what you’d like and leave the rest. I’ve read other negotiating articles that I disagree with, feel free to do the same and let me know if you have any questions. I’ll answer in the comments the best I can.

About me

I’m an anonymous product designer working in tech in a high-cost-of-living area. I’m writing about salary transparency in order to stop gatekeeping high-salary jobs. Follow me for more articles, and check out my other topics—How much money Senior Product Designers make, and A designer’s salary progression from $12/hour to $414,000/year, which shows the salary I negotiated cited here.