Most people accept the first number they are offered. They feel grateful, nervous, or just relieved the process is nearly over, so they nod and sign. The awkwardness of asking for more feels worse than the cost of not asking. But that cost is real: accepting £2,000 or $3,000 less than you could have negotiated compounds over your entire career through every raise, every bonus, and every future offer that anchors to your current salary. The fear is completely normal. Staying silent anyway is the part worth reconsidering.
There is a persistent myth that negotiating your first salary is presumptuous. That you have not earned the right yet. That they will rescind the offer if you push back.
None of that is true.
Hiring managers make offers below their maximum budget specifically because they expect a negotiation. Research consistently shows that 85% of people who negotiated their starting salary got at least some of what they asked for. The offer you received is not the final answer. It is the opening position.
More importantly, hiring managers are watching how you handle this moment. Self-advocacy, preparation, and professional confidence are exactly the skills they hired you for. Negotiating well is itself a demonstration of competence.
Negotiating without data is just guessing out loud. Before you respond to any offer, you need to know what the market actually pays for your role, level, and location.
Start with free sources: Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary Insights, Levels.fyi for tech roles, and the Totaljobs Salary Checker for the UK market. Look for the median and the upper quartile. You want to understand the range, not just the midpoint.
Then apply context. Entry-level salaries in London, Sydney, and New York are not the same as regional equivalents. A graduate marketing role at a FTSE 100 company pays differently from the same title at a 12-person startup. Adjust your benchmarks to reflect the actual comparison set, not the broadest possible category.
Once you know your range, you have a defensible position. "Based on market data for this role in this location, I was expecting something closer to X" is a sentence that works. "I just think I am worth more" is not.
The hardest part for most first-timers is finding the words. Here is a structure that works:
"Thank you so much for the offer. I'm genuinely excited about the role and the team. Before I sign, I'd like to discuss the base salary. Based on my research into market rates for this position in [city], I was hoping we could get closer to [your number]. Is there flexibility there?"
That sentence does several things at once. It signals enthusiasm, so they know you want the job. It grounds your ask in external data, so it does not feel personal or arbitrary. And it ends with a question, which keeps the conversation open.
Deliver it calmly. Silence after you have made your ask is not failure. It is negotiation. Let them respond before you say anything else.
This happens more often than people expect, especially in early screening calls. "What salary are you looking for?" feels like a trap because, in a sense, it is.
Whoever says a number first tends to anchor the negotiation. If you go too low, you have set a ceiling. If you go too high without grounding, you risk looking out of touch.
The best response is a researched range, with the number you actually want sitting at the lower end of it:
"Based on my research, roles like this in [city] typically sit between [X] and [Y]. I'd be looking at the higher end of that range, though I'm open to discussing the full package."
Mentioning the full package gives you room to negotiate on other elements too. Start date flexibility, remote working allowance, annual leave, or a performance review at six months rather than twelve are all legitimate asks if the base number is genuinely fixed.
You have made your ask. They have come back with a revised number. It is better than the original offer, just not quite what you wanted.
Most people say yes immediately.
That is fine if the number works for you. But if you are still short of your target, you have one more move available. Use it:
"I really appreciate you moving on that. Could we get to [slightly higher number] and I'll sign today?"
This works because it ties your acceptance to a specific, small concession. It shows you are serious about closing, not dragging it out. "I'll sign today" removes the risk that the negotiation keeps going. You will not always get the extra. But asking costs nothing, and it works often enough that it is always worth one final move.
Negotiate after you have a written offer, not before. Do not raise salary expectations during a first-round interview unless you are asked directly. The right moment is when they have decided they want you. That is when your leverage is highest.
Also: negotiate by phone or video if you can, not email. Tone and warmth are harder to read in writing, and email negotiation tends to feel more confrontational than it needs to. A short conversation is usually quicker and more effective.
If you need time before responding to an offer, it is completely reasonable to say: "I'd like to take 24 hours to review the full package before I come back to you." No reasonable employer will object to that.