Salary negotiation is the conversation that takes place after an employer has decided they want to hire you and before you sign. It is the single highest-leverage hour in a job search: the base salary you agree at signing becomes the anchor for every future raise, bonus percentage and pension contribution in that job, and often for your next job too. In 2026 the balance of information has shifted towards candidates: pay transparency rules across the EU and a growing list of US states mean the range is increasingly published before you ever speak to a recruiter.
Get the offer in writing, thank them and confirm your enthusiasm, then counter once with a specific number justified by market data and the scope of the role. Negotiate the package (base, signing bonus, equity, holiday, development budget, remote days) not just base pay. Never give a number before the employer has, ask for their range instead, and never accept on the call.
What Changed for Salary Negotiation in 2026
The EU Pay Transparency Directive (Directive (EU) 2023/970) has to be transposed into national law by member states by 7 June 2026. Three of its provisions change the negotiation directly: employers must tell applicants the initial pay level or pay range before the interview stage, employers may not ask candidates about their pay history, and employees gain the right to request information about average pay levels for work of equal value, broken down by sex. Implementation details differ by country, so check what your national law actually requires, but the direction of travel is the same everywhere in the EU.
In the United States a growing group of states (including California, Colorado, New York, Washington, Illinois and Minnesota) already require pay ranges in job postings, and salary-history bans are widespread. The practical consequence for you as a candidate is that you should almost never be negotiating blind in 2026. If a range has not been published, asking for it is now a normal, expected question rather than a bold one.
"Before we go further, could you share the budgeted range for this role?" In most of the EU from 2026 the employer is expected to provide it, and in many US states it must already be in the posting. Asking early stops you from anchoring yourself below the band.
Why Most People Still Don't Negotiate
The reasons are consistent: fear the offer will be withdrawn, fear of seeming greedy, and simply not knowing what to say. The first fear is the one worth killing. An employer that has run you through several interview stages, aligned a panel and issued an offer has already spent significant time and money on you. A polite, evidence-based counter-offer is a normal part of the process, and it is very rarely the reason an offer is pulled. What does damage offers is aggression, ultimatums you cannot back, and re-opening terms you already agreed.
The second fear is worth reframing. You are not asking for a favour; you are agreeing the price of a service. The hiring manager negotiates with vendors, agencies and their own budget holders every week. They will not think less of you for doing it competently.
When to Negotiate
- After you have a written offer. Verbal offers change. Ask for the full package in writing before you counter.
- Within 24 to 72 hours. Long enough to think, short enough that you look genuinely interested. Say explicitly when you will come back to them.
- Not during the interview. If pushed for a number early, deflect to their range. Naming your figure before you know the band is how candidates cap themselves.
- After you have expressed enthusiasm. Thank them, confirm you want the job, then negotiate. Order matters: the same words land completely differently before and after 'I'd love to join'.
- Once, not repeatedly. One well-constructed counter covering everything you want is far more effective than three separate asks over a week.
How to Research Your Market Value
A number without a justification is a wish. A number with a justification is a negotiating position. Build yours from at least three sources so that you can say where it comes from.
- 1The published range. Under the new transparency rules, start with the employer's own band. If the range is EUR 60,000-72,000, the conversation is about where in that band you land and why, not about whether the band exists.
- 2Comparable postings. Collect five to ten current postings for the same role, same seniority, same city, and note their published ranges. Recency matters more than volume.
- 3Levels and titles. Understand the internal level the offer maps to. Moving up a level is often worth more than negotiating within one, and asking 'what would it take to be levelled at the next band?' is a legitimate question.
- 4Your leverage. A competing offer, a scarce skill, a security clearance, a language, a client relationship. Leverage is what turns a reasonable request into an easy yes.
- 5Total cost, not just base. Compare offers on total compensation, and factor pension contributions, bonus targets, equity vesting and any relocation or notice-period buyout.
Anchoring: the Number You Name First
If a range has been published, your anchor should sit in the upper part of it, justified by scope and experience, not above it, unless you can explain why the role as scoped is bigger than the posting. If no range has been published and you are pressed to go first, give a considered range whose bottom is a number you would genuinely accept, because the bottom is what they will hear.
"I want to make sure we're aligned on scope before we talk numbers. What's the budgeted range for this role? I'm confident we can make it work if the role is what we've discussed."
Negotiation Scripts (Word for Word)
"Thank you for the offer. I'm genuinely excited about the role and the team. Based on the published range, the scope we discussed and comparable roles in the market, I was hoping we could land at [X]. If we can get there, I'm ready to sign."
"I understand the base is fixed at the band's midpoint. In that case, could we look at a signing bonus, an earlier salary review at six months, or an extra five days of leave? Any of those would let me say yes today."
"I want to be transparent: I have another offer at [X]. Your role is my first choice on scope and team, and I'd rather join you. Is there flexibility to close the gap?" Only use this if it is true. Bluffing a competing offer is the fastest way to lose both.
"Thank you. This is exciting. Could you send the full written offer, including bonus, pension and start date? I'll come back to you with any questions by Thursday."
Beyond Base Salary
Base pay is often the least flexible line in the offer because it is bounded by internal bands and by what colleagues at the same level earn. Everything around it tends to be more negotiable, and several items are one-off costs that a hiring manager can approve without opening a band review.
- Signing bonus. Frequently the easiest concession: a one-time cost that does not disturb internal pay equity.
- Salary review timing. A guaranteed review at six months, written into the offer letter, is worth more than a small base bump.
- Equity or profit sharing. Ask for the strike price, the vesting schedule, the cliff and the current preferred valuation before you value it at anything.
- Bonus target and its mechanics. A 15% target that is 'discretionary' is not the same as a 10% target with defined metrics. Ask what percentage of target was actually paid last year.
- Holiday and remote days. Often the cheapest thing for an employer to grant and among the most valuable to receive.
- Development budget. Training, certifications, conference attendance, usually a separate budget line entirely.
- Notice-period and relocation costs. If you are buying out a notice period or moving city, ask for it explicitly rather than absorbing it.
Handling the Four Hardest Responses
- 1'This is our best and final offer.' Accept it as information, not as the end. Ask: is base fixed, or is the whole package fixed? Those are different sentences, and the second one is rarely the true one.
- 2'What is your current salary?' In the EU from 2026, and in many US jurisdictions already, employers are not permitted to ask. Answer with your expectation, not your history: "I'd rather focus on the value of this role. My expectation is [X]."
- 3'We need an answer today.' A genuine deadline is fine; a 24-hour ultimatum on a permanent role is a small red flag. Ask politely for 48 hours in writing. An employer who cannot allow that is telling you something about how they will treat you later.
- 4'The band doesn't allow it.' Move to level and to non-base items: "Understood. What would it take to be levelled one band higher: now, or at a defined review point?"
Mistakes That Cost You Money
- Accepting on the phone. Enthusiasm plus a written follow-up costs nothing. An immediate yes costs you the entire negotiation.
- Negotiating against yourself. Naming a number, hearing silence, and lowering it before they have responded. Say your number and stop talking.
- Justifying with need instead of value. Rent, a mortgage and childcare are not negotiating arguments. Market rate and scope are.
- Negotiating everything at once, repeatedly. One consolidated counter. Drip-feeding new demands erodes goodwill fast.
- Forgetting the offer letter is the contract. Anything agreed verbally that is not in the letter does not exist. Get the six-month review, the signing bonus and the remote days written in.
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Practise interviewsFrequently Asked Questions
It happens, but it is rare and it is almost always a reaction to how the negotiation was conducted rather than to the fact of it: ultimatums, aggression, or re-opening terms already agreed. A single, polite, evidence-based counter that ends with 'and if we can get there I'm ready to sign' carries very little risk.
There is no universal percentage. Anchor to the employer's published band and to comparable postings rather than to a rule of thumb. If the offer sits at the bottom of a published range and your experience is above the minimum in the posting, asking to move up within that band is straightforward to justify.
Under the EU Pay Transparency Directive, employers may not ask about pay history, and many US states ban the question too. Even where it is permitted, you can decline politely and give your expectation for this role instead.
Graduate schemes with fixed, published intake salaries genuinely have no room on base. Negotiating there wastes goodwill. Everything around it may still be negotiable: start date, location, rotation, and sometimes a signing or relocation bonus.
Email gives you control of the wording and creates a record. A short call, followed by an email summarising what was agreed, is the strongest combination: the call keeps the tone warm and the email keeps the terms unambiguous.
Ingmar van Maurik is the founder of MakingMoves.ai and Assessment-Training.com. With 10+ years in psychometric assessment design, he has helped over 1 million professionals prepare for job assessments.