Four years ago, I wrote “Got the Offer? What to Watch For, and Can You Negotiate More Salary, Stock, or Vacation?” about what to pay attention to when you negotiate after receiving an offer. The basic point is this: if you accept an offer with no negotiation at all, you can be almost certain you left money on the table. A company has no incentive to give you its highest offer up front, and the job market today expects candidates to negotiate. If you do not negotiate, the company gets to hire you at a lower salary, and every raise you get in the future is based on that starting salary. Over a few years, what you lose adds up to a significant gap.

Last week, I wrote “Asked About Salary Expectations in an Interview? How to Handle the Money Question”, which covered how to respond when a recruiter asks about your salary expectation at the beginning of, or during, the interview process. After you fight your way through the onsite interviews and the recruiter tells you they want to give you an offer, how should you handle the salary and the overall package?

First, a Recap: Even With an Offer, Let Them Name the Number First

Here is a recap of the last exchange from the previous post:

Recruiter: Congrats, Brian. I got good news for you. The team really likes you and we want to give you an offer. Can you tell me your salary expectation now?

Me: Thanks. That’s great news to hear. I also had a good time with the team. Since I don’t know the position level, the role’s expectations, and the company budget for a person with my skills and experience, I think it would be better for you to give me the offer number first.

Even after you get the offer, let the recruiter name a number first before discussing. After all, they are the ones who know the level of the position, what the role entails, and the company’s budget for the position.

The Sandwich Method: Thank, Talk Numbers, Thank Again

Recruiter: Great news, Brian. After I discussed with the hiring manager, we would like to offer you the software engineer position based in our San Francisco HQ office. The base salary would be $90,000/year, 1000 units of RSU vesting in 4 years, a $5,000 sign-on bonus, and a 10% target bonus yearly.

Me: Thank you for the wonderful news and the offer details. I felt really excited when I interviewed with the team and can’t wait to work on the project the team will focus on this year.

The recruiter tells you the company has decided to give you an offer, along with the salary details. The sandwich method starts by thanking them for the good news and saying again how much you enjoyed talking with your future teammates during the interviews, and how much you look forward to working with them.

Me: Based on the market data, to be compensated fairly with my skills, education level, and experience, I’m looking at the base salary range of $110,000 to $120,000/year and 2000 units of RSU. I want to get to a number we can collaboratively agree on.

Next, it is time to discuss the offer itself. You need to do some homework first: understand the level of the role, how your education and skills stack up, and roughly what the market in your city pays. The sites below can help you look up the general salary range for roles in your area. Keep in mind that most of the people willing to share their data online are the higher earners, so there is survivorship bias. You can use the data as a reference, but you do not need to anchor on the very highest number you see. And because you expect the company to meet you somewhere between their number and yours, the number you propose can be slightly higher than the number you actually expect.

Check the Market Data Before You Negotiate

Glassdoor: The long-standing company review and job salary site, with data for roles across many cities.

Levels.fyi: Lets you compare how engineer levels map across tech companies (for example, Facebook E4, Google L4, Apple ICT3, and Amazon SDE II are roughly equivalent levels), with data on base, bonus, stock, and total compensation.

H1B Salary Database: Uses 2019 data from companies’ work visa applications to show what US companies pay foreign workers by role.

One very important technique is the phrasing: “to be compensated fairly,” and “I want to get to a number we can collaboratively agree on.” On one level, you are saying you expect pay in line with the market. On another, you are signaling that you want to work with the company to reach a number both sides can accept. Negotiation is not an argument. Only when both sides are willing to work together toward the final result can there be a good outcome.

Me: Thank you so much for your opportunity. I can’t wait to get started. I look forward to working with you on this and to executing the top goals in the next six months.

After you state the salary you are looking for, remember to thank them for the opportunity once more, and say you look forward to starting work and executing the company’s goals.

Every Word in the Contract Is Negotiable

As I mentioned in my post from four years ago, every word in the contract is negotiable. You can ask for a higher base salary, more stock, a bigger sign-on bonus, more PTO, or for the company to start your green card process as soon as you begin working. Everyone’s situation and needs are different, and every company’s policies are different too. Only after the negotiated result is written down in black and white are your rights protected.

Many people are afraid that negotiating puts the offer at risk. In reality, the chances of that happening are very low. After all, the company spent a great deal of time and money interviewing many people, filtering round after round before finally giving you the offer. They do not want to lose you at this stage over a reasonable negotiation.

If a company really does reject you because you asked for fair, market-level pay and a number both sides can agree on, that company does not see your value. It underestimates you before you have even joined, and after you join it will not value your contributions either. Its rejection is actually doing you a favor, saving you from regret in the future.

The Final Move: Give Them a Reason to Sign You Today

Finally, suppose you have already negotiated one round with the company that gave you the offer, and everything has been raised to meet your expectations. You may still have two or more companies matching each other’s offer packages, leaving you unsure how to choose in the end. This is where one final move comes in, one that can get a company to sweeten the deal to win your signature:

Hi XXX,

Thank you for providing me the updated written offer. After reviewing the written offer and the benefit plan, I have a few concerns that I wish to discuss with you.

I’m currently in the middle of my job search and would be forgoing some opportunities and offers I am excited about. For example, I’m about to have on-site interviews at Facebook and Google soon and I have other offers in hand. I enjoyed the time speaking with the team at OOO, and I am really excited about the projects there. If OOO can increase the base salary by $10,000 to a total of USD $XXX,XXX/Yr., I’d end my job search now and accept the offer at OOO today.

Thanks. I am really excited for the chance of becoming part of the OOOO family. I look forward to hearing from you.

Brian

One thing must be clear: this email only works if every word of it is true, that you really do have other offers and interviews in progress. Never invent them. Recruiting is a small world, and if a company finds out, it can rescind your offer, and your reputation takes the real damage.

Basically, this email tells the recruiter that you have offers from other companies, as well as companies whose interview results are still pending. Because the other opportunities are attractive to you too, the company needs to step up a little more so you can bring yourself to turn down the other opportunities and join them.

In my email, I asked to increase the base salary by $10,000. You can change that to a sign-on bonus, RSU, a relocation bonus, and so on. Many companies, worried that in the end the candidate will still accept another company’s offer, are willing to sweeten the offer at the last moment to get you to sign. This is especially true when you emphasize “end my job search now and accept offer today.” It lets the company know you are serious about joining them, and even if they do not fully agree to your final request, they may still give you a counteroffer close to your number.

Negotiation Is Not Greed. It Is Getting Your Fair Market Value

The sandwich method and the final email negotiation above sum up the approach I have built over my years of job hunting in the US. In Chinese culture, people are less comfortable talking about money, or feel that talking about money hurts relationships, but in the US workplace that easily leads to you being undervalued. Negotiation is not greed. It is about being paid your fair market value.

With this approach and the final move, I have negotiated four-to-five-figure increases for myself, several friends, and recently my dear wife. Negotiation is not only for yourself. It also helps companies and the industry give fairer treatment in the future to people with backgrounds similar to yours. Your negotiation today helps not only your own monthly salary going forward, but also lays the foundation for better offers in the future for Chinese candidates, women, and younger alumni from your school at the same company.

This post was originally published on my former blog, 「半路出家軟體工程師在矽谷」, on October 5, 2019. The blog is now offline, and the text is preserved via the Wayback Machine. It has been lightly edited for this site.