Will you negotiate your next compensation package? Your salary negotiation is likely to bring you an extra $5,000 a year.
Here are some facts you may not know about negotiating a job offer:
- Many employers are open to negotiating salary, benefits, or other aspects of the offer such as performance bonuses, equity, PTO, remote or hybrid work, signing bonus or professional development. For professional and mid-career positions, many hiring managers even expect negotiation. By negotiating, you can demonstrate confidence, assertiveness, business savvy, and communication skills that may be valuable on the job.
- Nevertheless, half of us never negotiate a job offer, fearing that we’ll appear greedy, damage the relationship, and possibly that the employer will rescind the offer.
- Most of these fears are unfounded—as long as you negotiate professionally: clearly, reasonably, factually, and with a focus on the value you bring and finding a win-win outcome.
- How do you succeed in salary negotiation? There are various techniques, but if you’d like to keep it simple here’s a step-by-step approach to salary negotiation that minimizes risk, maximizes gain and makes it a lot less scary.
- Negotiating your compensation can easily add thousands of dollars to your starting salary—and because future raises are often based on your starting pay, that increase can compound over the course of your career.
Get prepared to do a successful salary negotiation! You owe it to yourself. (This post has been updated in 2026.)
