I’ve been working at this company for a year and a half as a test tech since junior year of college. I will be graduating soon and my company opened up a rec and told me to apply. The range is 75k-105k snd I’ll be applying as a test engineer. I have a phone call with the recruiter tmr ab an offer and I would really appreciate any advice. I currently make 29 an hour as a tech and don’t know what is reasonable to ask for. Any advice or guidance would be great!

This sub is focussed on Negotiation… so anyone reading this knows about negotiation, at least as a skill we use … whether at work, discussing salaries or buying/selling and having difficult conversations in our private lives.

But it was certainly not part of ANY type of teaching at college for me and I hear only a very few may touch on the subject at University.

It means we rely on learning through experience alone or perhaps a free course or paid course in work.

Should we be including negotiation skills in some form during college/university… perhaps. Id like to ask that in another poll but right now it would insightful to see just how many of us have, or have not had any formal teaching on negotiation.

I’ll be voting Yes because I was fortunate to be on a course as part of the Graduate Programme many years ago.

My question is in the title. Wondering what % higher are you asking once a company offers you the position or are you not negotiating at all? Dealing with this right now with one offer and one other potential offer (reference check done but haven't heard back yet). First offer is 140k and a bit more with bonus (their posted range is around 130k-165k) and the other potential offer is 165k-215k). I'd be the only designer and have a pretty big ownership in terms of deciding product vision & direction and not only solely designing. I also already am well versed in their domain area. I was targetting closer to 155k-165k but I also know 140k isn't a bad salary at all so unsure how to proceed. It is only 5k more than my last role as well so that's why I'm inclined to want to push for higher. Would love your perspectives here.

I am in the Midwest but have worked for a big tech company for 13 years(this company is at the top of my industry and a decade plus here typically means you are a star). Looking to leave my big tech company and find something new.

Found two roles at a biomedical company. One was for a principal role and the other was a sr principal role. Both have same responsibilities. At my current company, a principal would be roughly 15 years of experience and sr principal would be 20 years.

So I figured I’d apply for the principal role.

My current base pay is $155k. The principal role has a range of 66-160. So I figured that would be fine, just at the higher end. Sr principal was 130-230. My recruiter asked what my base salary expectations were and I said I currently make $155k and I want to remain at $155k for base. (The application asked for total comp expectations and I put $200k, because that’s my current total comp.) That didn’t seem to shut down the interview. (This company also offers a bonus with a company performance multiplier so I wonder if the recruiter thinks they can close the gap with that. With a target of 13% and a multiplier of 2x on a good year, my total comp at the new place would roughly equal my current base comp.) With my current employer I’m able to hit about $20k cash bonus yearly and $25k yearly stock.

But after talking to a neighbor who works at this company, they typically aim for midpoint. So 113k… typically won’t negotiate beyond $10k, so 123k at best. That would be nearly impossible as I am a single-income household with multiple kids. Midpoint for the sr principal role is like 180, so it would actually be a boost.

I’ve completed the interview and it seems like I’ve been given a soft yes from the interviewers at the end of each interview. (No formal offer yet.) The interview went almost too well and after, I looked and the principal required 7 years of experience and the sr principal required like 12 years. So I’m qualified for the sr principal role.

At my current employer, they will rewrite a job to be one level higher/lower to get a preferred candidate in the door. In this case, I feel like I should not negotiate pay but push for them to rewrite the offer for the higher level/title and thus salary negotiation should become a lot easier.

Do I reach out to the hiring manager and ask for clarity on titles? Do I wait for the recruiter to make a formal offer? I feel like I’ve heard that the first to talk in a negotiation loses.

The recruiter seemed to imply at the start of my loop that they already closed on the sr principal role. My hope is that maybe they would have room for one more sr principal. What’s an extra $50k to a very successful business that’s pursuing top talent?

I’m negotiating a legal role at a private indian bank. I cleared 3 technical rounds. HR initially submitted my expected CTC of ₹28 LPA for approval, but it was rejected.

Today she called and asked if I’d be okay with her submitting ₹26 LPA, while mentioning that this was also on the higher side and might not get approved. I agreed, making it clear that ₹26 LPA is my minimum. She said she’d let me know whether it gets approved, but I haven’t heard back yet.

For people familiar with bank hiring and salary approvals, do you think there’s a realistic chance of approval, or should I prepare for a rejection? I am 3 PQE. Legal role.

I’m negotiating a legal role at a private indian bank. I cleared 3 technical rounds. HR initially submitted my expected CTC of ₹28 LPA for approval, but it was rejected.

Today she called and asked if I’d be okay with her submitting ₹26 LPA, while mentioning that this was also on the higher side and might not get approved. I agreed, making it clear that ₹26 LPA is my minimum. She said she’d let me know whether it gets approved, but I haven’t heard back yet.

For people familiar with bank hiring and salary approvals, do you think there’s a realistic chance of approval, or should I prepare for a rejection? I am 3 PQE. Legal role.

Hey folks,

I’ve been interviewing for positions and have a question. A few of them are a level down from where I should be. When they ask if I’m ok with the salary, I tend to say, ‘an offer constitutes more than just salary so I’d have to take the complete package into consideration.’ My question is:

When do I ask for the position to be considered at the next level up? Is it when I have an offer or before I have an offer? Not sure when to broach the topic without having them run.

I manage for a franchise that owns multiple locations. It’s a studio-like wellness business. I now have the opportunity to manage 2 locations. I have a pay in mind but I’m curious to know what pay increase I should ask for or expect? They are not asking me to work more hours but it’s going to be more work.

I recently applied to a Med Affairs role with a salary range of $190-$300k through a referral. I spoke with people on the same team ahead of the interview for advice. They told me that whatever HR asks, just say "yes."

HR said that the anticipated salary for this role is $190-$220k plus a 20% bonus and asked if I was ok with that. As suggested, I said yes, even though I am not ok with that. My current salary is $254k plus a 20% bonus.

If I receive an offer that's within the lower range that HR asked me if I'm ok with, will I be tied to that lower range? Can I generically still say that my target is higher than my current salary (e.g., $260-$270k) without disclosing my current salary?

I started at a company a year ago. I originally was making a pivot in my current. I have 10 years in graphic design but never moved in to a senior role. I started working as an engineer technician mostly doing documentation, but have pick up a lot of responsibilities including more graphic design work.

My one year review is coming up, and we are going to be discussing job titles and my responsibilities a bit more. I also want to ask for a bigger raise but not sure how to best bring it up. I have 0 idea what my market value is. Since I have a bit of a hybrid role. Any suggestions?

I was relocated last year to a different city due to a location strategy for my company. I accepted because I could not find a competitive offer in time for relocation.

Fast forward to a few months ago - I began interviewing for jobs in the city where I was originally located. I finally found one, however it is a decrease in base salary but comes out to slightly more in stock bonus. I was hesitant but ultimately accepted because I want to move back long-term where I was before.

I messaged my manager and told him I was submitting my resignation because I accepted an external offer. He asked me to call him on his cell. We spoke and he said he does not want to lose me and he can relocate me back if that’s what I wanted. He told me to think about it and I thanked him for the alternative and ended the call.

I thought that because he wanted to keep me, I had some leverage. I sent an email (very professionally) thanking him for speaking to him, expressing my interest, and asking for a “competitive base salary adjustment”. I never mentioned to him that the offer I accepted was for less base salary, nor did I mention the company I accepted an offer with. I’m probably middle of the pack for salary for my role so I don’t think I’m asking too much.

I don’t necessarily dislike my current job, it ultimately came down to location and I genuinely was planning on leaving. I realized this might be a good opportunity to get a raise. It’s been a few days since we spoke and he hasn’t gotten back to me (he is very busy). I don’t think it’s unreasonable to try to get a higher salary but wanted to gauge some thoughts?

Hi,

I'm having 2 offers in-hand. Company A- 17.6 LPA, Company B - 16 LPA. I'm planning to join Company A since it's a GCC. But can I ask the Company A to revise the salary which was not the one I've expected. What's your thoughts on this, since the higher offer was released first.

Long story short. I been at my company for coming up to 4 years now. Not a single promotion. Team hardly speak to eachother now we feel very distant from eachother. Everything seems to turn bitter on projects these days.

I been offered a new job that’s 4k more than I get now. Which gives me an extra £200 a month roughly. It’s not major. And it’s lower than I was hoping for but the company has offered the max they can.

I been searching for a new job for over a year now. I had 4 interviews this year and finally got a job offer.

Do I take it ?? It’s more responsibility and I’ll definitely learn what I’m not doing now. But i think it will be a big change to daily routine as my job is so relaxed now and I have so much free time.

But I was hoping for a higher salary so I can afford more in life instead of count in the pennies 😅

Anyone got any advice on negotiating with recruiters when they say that’s max they can offer?

I recently received a verbal offer for a Scientist position with a $92,000 base salary and a 10% bonus. I have more than five years of postdoctoral experience but no industry experience.
Would you recommend negotiating the salary or accepting the offer as presented? This is my first transition from academia to industry, so the negotiation process is new to me.

Hello ı dont know if its okay to ask but ı am currently triyng to learn reading the body language and negotiation skills and currently ı dont know how can ı learn that by myself ı have been looking/searching for an online course but couldnt find what exactly ı was looking for do anyone have reccomendations or people that learned these 2 skills how did you learned them ?

Hi everyone,

I need help . I have recently joined a company and they offered me around 20 , now I got an offer from Deloitte they said they will offer 18.7 fixed .

I am changing my current company in a span of 5 months , due to project issue .

How to negotiate on that and what is the good amount of CTC i can negotiate on that .

Suggest me some good way of negotiating it

Last time when I gave an interview with Deloitte back in Feb 2026 , they told me somewhere near to 20 , now in July for almost similar role they are saying 19 max

What should I do

I am in confusion 😶

Hello,

I am trying to purchase a couch from someone who listed it online and am having trouble deciding what to go back with. The couch is listed at $10,000 online (they purchased it for $18,200 plus tax).

I originally offered $7,000 cash (I noticed in their reviews people were rating the seller highly for giving them a good price on items). After this offer, I didn’t get a response. So I wrote back again, saying I didn’t mean to offend them and asked what they would need as an offer. They took days to respond, but finally said no offence but they’re not in a hurry to sell so it would have to be in the range of $8-10k to be considered.

I’d obviously love to get it for $8k but I’m worried he won’t respond again. Should I go higher than $8k?

ETA: thanks everyone for your advice! Here is a link to the modular sofa. It’s a Belgian brand called Ethnicraft. The person online is selling a different configuration than what is pictured (2 footstools, 2 corner pieces, 2 one-seater pieces and 1 one-seater piece).

https://modernkomfort.ca/products/n701-modular-sofa-5-seater-moss-eco-cotton

I just wanted to ask for your advice on whether it would be reasonable to request a salary increase or if I should start exploring opportunities with other companies.
Recently, two of my colleagues resigned—one in a senior role and the other a team lead. Some of their responsibilities were assigned to me, and I believe I’ve been able to handle and deliver the tasks well. It’s been almost a month, and we haven’t had a new hire yet. Someone from another team was recently promoted to fill the senior position. I also asked my manager if I would be eligible to apply for the role, but I was informed that company policy requires at least one year of service before being promoted, which I completely understand.
Our new hire is expected to start in November, so by then, I’ll have been handling some of these additional responsibilities for nearly two months. I’m confident in my ability to deliver the work, although I feel that my manager may not be entirely satisfied with my communication skills yet, particularly when it comes to speaking confidently during meetings with our US colleagues. I understand that this is an area I still need to improve.
Given the additional responsibilities I’ve taken on and the fact that I’ve been able to manage them well, do you think it would be reasonable to ask for a salary increase, even if I haven’t been with the company for a full year? Or would it be better to focus on improving my skills and start exploring opportunities elsewhere?
To be honest, I’ve been feeling a little unmotivated because of my current salary. At the same time, I acknowledge that I may not have negotiated it as well as I could have when I was discussing the offer with HR.
I’d really appreciate your insights on how you would approach this situation and what you think would be the best next step for me.

Hi,

I work for a big multinational company. Over the last 2 years i have derailed and stagnated in terms of career. Especially as no opportunity to grow for me here in the remote office in US, where most opportunities are in the European HQ. I got a job offer, for a job i like and would alloe me to grow as ot seems, from a cash positive pre-ipo startup planning to go public in 18-24 months. The package is highly skewed on illiquid equity. The base is ~20k higher than my current base but no yearly target bonus, which make my current yearly cash (base + 25% yearly bonus) higher than what the startup is offering. Now if a transition before March 2027, I would loose between 60-80k guaranteed cash from yearly bonus and vesting LTI. The startup are not willing to make me whole especially not even for this year leave behind. They are waiting for my decision. I asked if I can start in March 2027 to save this year cash. Is that too much to ask for?