Candidates: Before You Say 'Yes', Here’s How to Make a Counteroffer

Extending a counteroffer when you’ve been offered a job can feel ungrateful, selfish, or even scary. After all, you don’t want to lose out on a dream job by over-negotiating.

This anxiety is understandable, but negotiating a job offer can play a critical role in shaping your career. Counteroffering can help you land the job, salary, and benefits you actually want — and set a helpful baseline for your next promotion or move to another role. And if done respectfully and reasonably, it can help get your relationship with your new employer off on the right foot.

Countering a job offer requires patience, practice, and careful consideration. Luckily, it’s also something nearly everyone has had to do in their careers, which means there’s plenty of expert advice out there to help you out. 

By following these best practices during your next job negotiation, you can put forth a counteroffer that’s both respectful and successful:

Gauging what is negotiable

“Before you can negotiate,” Christine DiDonato says in her course Negotiating Your Job Offer, “it’s important to know what’s typically negotiable and what may not be. This will give you the best possible chance of getting what you ask for.”

DiDonato notes that there are certain dos and don’ts to today’s job negotiations: “Most companies today have established paid-time-off policies and bonus structures,” she says, “which has made those items increasingly difficult to negotiate.”. On the other hand, she says, “Base salary can be negotiable, along with equity and long-term incentives, like stock options.”

Before you consider your counteroffer, take some time to research the company extending the offer. Look, for example, to see if they showcase salary ranges in their job descriptions for your role and others similar to it. You can also search for other people with the job title you’ve been offered — if they’re in your network, you could reach out to see if they’d be willing to share details of their original benefit or compensation package.

Answering the question “what are your salary expectations?”

Mike Derezin provides several tips for responding to interview questions about salary in his LinkedIn Learning course, Expert Tips for Answering Common Interview Questions:

1. Don’t provide a specific number: “You want to provide a range,” he says. “You don’t want to lowball, because that’s obviously going to work against you. By the same token, however, if you go too high, you may freeze yourself out of this opportunity.”
2. Research the job’s average salary range and share it in your answer: “Do some research to find your new job’s average salary range,” Derezin says, “and share that range in your answer. ”
3. Bring up the signing bonus: “That’s often a way to bridge the gap at the end of a negotiation,” he says.
   

By following these three tips when discussing your compensation, you’ll be able to drive your starting salary as close to where you want it as possible, even before your employer makes the formal offer.

Four steps to securing the right salary after the offer has been made

Even if you’ve already officially received the job offer and the salary isn’t where you’d like it to be, don’t panic! In the course A Career Strategist’s Guide to Getting a Job, Jenny Foss reminds viewers that “unless a company flat out says ‘we’re at the top of our range’ when they present you your offer, there is almost always room to move.”

Foss suggests following this four-step strategy on how to counter a salary offer you just received:

1. Talk about the specific value you’ll bring to the job. “Get as specific as you can,” Foss says. “What expertise do you possess that'll help them close more deals, streamline processes, improve customer relationships, or cut costs?” 
2. Create a 30-60-90 outline. “Construct a simple proposal,” she says, “detailing exactly how you can and, if hired, will use your expertise to solve challenges in your first 30, 60, and 90 days.”
3. Show enthusiasm for your plan and the job. “Be sure,” she says, “to show enthusiasm about the company and the team even as you push for what you want.” 
   

This approach is effective because it allows you to clearly make the case for yourself without alienating your new boss. “Done well,” Foss says, “this will actually result in the opposite. You’ll walk into that next role already commanding the respect of your boss and feeling great about your compensation.”

Keep the future in mind and advocate for yourself honestly

“Remember to negotiate the entire job offer,” Barbara Bruno says in her course, Understanding Your Compensation and Benefits. “Take into consideration other priorities which could include opportunity for growth and new responsibilities, support for additional education, flexible hours, work/life balance, location, travel, and work environment.” 

Negotiating every aspect of your job offer isn’t just what’s right for you — it’s also in the best interest of your employer. You will only do your best work if you land a job where you’re truly happy and feel fulfilled. Negotiating your initial offer is one of the best ways to ensure you actually want to be where you end up, which will make you both a more valuable employee and a happier person. 

Approach your negotiation from this point of view, and your counteroffer will be understood and respected in turn. “Stay polite, enthusiastic, and keep stressing the benefit of hiring you,” Bruno advises. “In the end, you’ll receive a job offer you can accept without hesitation.”

For much more help advocating for yourself during your job offer negotiations, check out LinkedIn Learning’s helpful courses on the subject.