Please know that you are expected to negotiate salary! Don’t be shy and do it even if you are happy with the job offer. Make the most of all opportunities is my motto and below are the recommended ways to ensure that you make the most you could be making.

How to negotiate salary after getting a job offer

Now, you can’t negotiate salary unless you set yourself up for negotiating salary upon receiving the job offer. This means not giving them a number earlier on.

What to say when asked about salary expectation at the earlier stages of the job interview

“I will consider all reasonable offers”

You don’t want to give them a number for as long as possible. If you give them a number, you miss out on potential higher income because the company could have been ready to pay you more, but you low-balled yourself.

Also, they might offer you less than what you say for your number because they assume you are willing to take less than what you said. So, chances of getting as high as possible are best by remaining mysterious about the final number until you have an offer.

When you have a job offer, you have power and that is your time to seize the opportunity to negotiate salary and ask for more money.

If you already said a number before, you can’t really negotiate. Negotiation is best possible when you have leverage, and the job offer itself is leverage. Plus, that is when you point out again how great you are, and what you bring to the table, and therefore, you are asking for more salary.

More leverage the better. If there is another job offer you can pit against this one, even better.

If you already have a job right now, then you may say what you make now – if needed. But never say what you want to make at the new job at the earlier stages of the interview process because what you want to make is the maximum possible salary, not whatever number you say right now.

For the case where you do mention what you make now

Unless it is leverage because you are making really good money, it could still put you on the back foot. The offer could be just a bit better than what you make now because they feel like they don’t have to offer any more than that even though your worth might be a lot more than what you make now.

So in this case, I would point out things like the location, cost of living, difference in pay between industries, to ensure that you let them know that YOU know that your worth is MORE in the new industry. For example, a postdoc salary cannot really be compared to the salary that the same postdoc would make in an industry job. Let them know this.

Coming off as informed and prepared will help you to secure a better offer. But do everything in a pleasant and professional manner, not desperate and defensive.

What to say when asked about salary expectation

Special thanks to Cheeky Scientist for help on how to negotiate salary.

If you have any further questions or comments, please post them below as comments. I will get back to you.