Salary Negotiation: A Practical Script for Getting Paid Properly

A recruiter has a band for the role. They open somewhere below the middle of it, because that is what an opening offer is for. If you accept immediately, the remaining budget goes back to the department and nobody mentions it again.

Negotiating is not adversarial, and it is not rude. It is the expected final step in a commercial conversation between two parties who both want the same outcome. What follows is the practical version: the research, the wording, and what to do when they say no.

Why the number is negotiable

• Bands are wide. A typical mid-level band spans 20–30% from floor to ceiling. Where you land inside it is a decision, not a calculation.
• Replacing you is expensive. By the time an offer is made, the employer has spent weeks and real money. Losing you over 5% is a poor trade and they know it.
• The first number compounds. Rises and bonuses are usually percentages of base. A €4,000 difference at the start is worth far more than €4,000 over a five-year tenure.
• Everyone else is asking. Candidates who negotiate are not penalised for it in any serious study of hiring outcomes. The penalty for silence, however, is immediate and permanent.

Finding your actual market rate

"What do I deserve" is not a usable input. "What does this role pay in this market for someone at my level" is. Triangulate from at least three sources:

1. Posted ranges. Pay transparency rules mean many adverts now publish bands. Collect ten for your role, level and city, and note the range rather than the midpoint.
2. Sector salary surveys published by recruitment firms and professional bodies. Treat them as directional — they lag the market by six to twelve months.
3. People. Ask two or three peers what range they would expect for the role, not what they personally earn. Recruiters who specialise in your niche will usually tell you the band if you ask directly.

Then set three numbers before you talk to anyone:

The expectations question

It usually arrives in the first screening call, before you know enough to answer well. You have three options, in order of preference.

1. Deflect once, politely.

"I'd rather understand the scope properly before putting a number on it. Do you have a band approved for this role? If it's in the right area, I'm happy to keep going."

In many jurisdictions they must tell you. Even where they need not, roughly half will.

2. Give a researched range if pressed.

"Based on what I've seen for similar roles in this market, I'd expect somewhere between €74,000 and €82,000, depending on the overall package and scope."

Make your target the bottom of the range you say out loud. Employers hear the lower number.

3. Never state your current salary. In several countries it is unlawful to ask, and everywhere it is irrelevant. If pressed:

"My current package isn't really a guide for this role — it's a different scope. What I'm focused on is the range for this position."

When the offer arrives

Whatever the number, do three things.

1. Thank them warmly and say you are pleased. Enthusiasm and negotiation are compatible; most candidates forget this and sound cold.
2. Ask for it in writing, in full. Base, bonus structure and trigger, equity with vesting schedule and strike price, pension contribution, holiday, notice, start date, review timing.
3. Ask for time. "Could I take until Thursday to review it properly?" Two or three working days is standard and universally granted. Anyone who refuses has told you something important about the company.

The counter-offer script

Deliver this by phone or video if you can, and follow up in writing. Four parts: enthusiasm, a specific number, a justification, and flexibility.

"Thanks again for the offer — I've read it carefully and I'm genuinely excited about the role, particularly the scope around the migration project.

I'd like to discuss the base salary. Based on my research for this role at this level, and given I'd be bringing five years of direct experience with exactly the stack you're moving to, I was hoping we could get to €80,000.

If the base is fixed, I'd be open to other ways of closing the gap — a signing bonus, an earlier review, or additional leave. Is there room to work with?"

Then stop talking. The silence after an ask is uncomfortable and it is doing your work for you. Do not fill it by softening your own number.

Handling the responses

• "Let me check." Good. This is the most common answer and it usually returns with movement.
• "That's above the band." Ask what the top of the band is, and what would be needed to reach it. Then pivot to non-base items.
• "This is our best and final." Believe them, and negotiate the review instead: "Could we agree a formal salary review at six months with the criteria written into the offer?"
• Pressure to answer immediately. A genuine employer accommodates 48 hours. Urgency at the offer stage frequently predicts urgency culture afterwards.

Negotiating beyond base pay

When base is capped, these items often have their own, more flexible budgets:

Value equity conservatively. In a private company it is a lottery ticket with a vesting cliff attached; treat it as upside, never as the part of the package that pays your rent.

Asking for a raise where you are

The same logic applies internally, with one difference: your manager usually cannot decide alone, so your job is to arm them for a conversation they will have without you.

1. Time it to the cycle. Find out when budgets are set — often two to three months before reviews — and raise it before the numbers are locked.
2. Bring a one-page case. What you delivered in the last year, with numbers; scope that has grown since your salary was set; market data for your role.
3. Ask a clear question. "I'd like to move to €X. Is that something you can support in this cycle?"
4. If it is a no, get criteria. "What specifically would need to be true for this to happen at the next review?" Write down the answer and send it back in an email confirming your understanding.
5. Set a deadline for yourself. If the criteria are met and the answer is still no, you have learned something useful about your options.

Mistakes that cost money

• Naming the first number when you did not have to.
• Anchoring to your current salary instead of the market.
• Justifying the ask with personal needs — rent, a mortgage, childcare. Employers pay for value, not for circumstances.
• Negotiating several items one at a time; bundle them into a single request.
• Threatening to walk away when you would not.
• Accepting a verbal offer before seeing the written terms.
• Forgetting that the hiring manager will be your boss on Monday — tone matters more than tactics.

Done well, a negotiation takes two short conversations and improves your income for years. The worst realistic outcome is a polite "we can't move on base, but we can do a signing bonus". That is still a win.