What to Negotiate in a Job Offer – What You Can Negotiate Besides Base Salary
You got the job offer. Congrats! Now you're probably wondering what you can actually negotiate. Most people assume the answer is base salary and nothing else. That's one of the most expensive assumptions you can make.
Here's the reality. A job offer is made up of several compensation components and benefits. Base salary is only one of them. If you only focus on base, you're likely leaving money on the table across the rest of the offer package.
In this guide we break down what to negotiate in a job offer, what can be negotiated besides base salary, and how to negotiate everything together so you get a stronger package. These are the same strategies we use across hundreds of job offer negotiations at companies like Amazon, Google, Meta, Apple and Microsoft.
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What Can You Negotiate in a Job Offer?
The short answer is more than you think. Many parts of a job offer can be negotiated in some way. The real question is which parts the company has flexibility on and how you ask for them.
We break job offers into two buckets:
- Compensation. This is your total compensation (your total monetary take-home pay). An easy way to think about it is anything you'll pay taxes on. It includes base salary, bonus, equity and sign-on bonus.
- Benefits and Perks. These are the non-monetary parts of the offer such as vacation, start date, remote work and relocation.
Compensation is where the biggest dollars are and is usually what most companies have flexibility on. Benefits and perks can still make a big difference in how much you enjoy the role and what it costs you to take it, but they are not always negotiable. A strong negotiation still always looks at both.
Compensation Components You Can Negotiate
Your total compensation is usually made up of the following components:
- BASE SALARY
- BONUS
- EQUITY GRANT
- SIGN-ON BONUS
- EQUITY REFRESH
Here's how each one works in a negotiation.
Base Salary
Base salary is your fixed and guaranteed pay. It's also the foundation of your package since your bonus is often a percentage of base and future merit raises build on top of it. Companies have a set base salary range for every role and level. Your goal is to negotiate your offer as close to the top of that range as possible.
Bonus
Most bonuses are set as a target percentage of base salary and paid on a set time range (annually, quarterly, etc.). The percentage itself is often tied to your role level and is harder to move. That's why increasing your base salary is usually the easiest way to increase your bonus too.
Equity (RSUs or Stock Options)
Many companies offer equity in their company to employees. It lets you share in the company's success and will usually comes in one of two forms.
- Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). RSUs are actual shares of company stock that are granted to you and transferred as they vest. You don't buy them. RSUs are most common at public companies like Apple, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Airbnb and Microsoft.
- Stock Options. Options give you the right to buy shares at a set price in the future (typically called a Strike Price or Exercise Price). Their value depends on the gap between that price and what the stock is worth. Options are most common at startups and private companies. If you're weighing a startup offer, read our Startup Salary Negotiation guide.
Equity is also one of the most flexible components in a negotiation and we cover more details about equity in our guide on How to Negotiate RSUs and Equity.
Sign-On Bonus
The sign-on bonus is one of the most flexible levers in any salary negotiation. It's a one time recruiting cost so it doesn't affect long term pay bands. It's especially useful for replacing unvested equity or an upcoming bonus you'd leave behind at your current company, but you can secure them even without walking away from perks or a past company. Learn more in our guide on How to Negotiate a Sign-On Bonus.
Benefits and Perks You Can Negotiate
Benefits and perks aren't part of your total compensation, but they still have value. Some companies have very standard benefits that won't move, like the core perks for a large company. Others have more room, especially at smaller companies like startups and for senior level roles. Here are the most common ones we see negotiated and always recommend asking about:
- Start Date. Pushing your start date back can give you time to rest, finish a project or vest more equity at your current company.
- Vacation and PTO. Extra vacation days are often easier for a company to approve than more money – whether that be approved formerly or agreed to under the table with your future hiring manager.
- Remote or Hybrid Work. Flexibility on where you work can be worth a lot depending on your situation and work life balance goals.
- Relocation Package. If you're moving for the role, relocation support can cover a big expense and should always be separate from a sign-on bonus.
- Learning and Development. Tuition reimbursement, certifications, or a training budget are always good perks to ask about and push for if they don’t currently exist in the role.
- Various Stipends. Companies may be willing to offer stipends for at home WIFI, phone bills, gym memberships, coworking spaces, cars (depending on the role and level), or work from home offices. These perks get missed a lot and are some of the easier ones to secure for certain roles.
The key is to only ask for perks that are missing from your offer package and relevant to your role or situation. We usually bring these up strategically via the asking question step before sending a counteroffer, which is how we’re able to start the discussion on these and secure them.
How to Negotiate Everything Together
Now that you know what can be negotiated, here's how to approach it based on our experience. The biggest mistake we see is candidates negotiating each component one at a time. Instead, you want one well thought out salary negotiation process that covers the full package.
1) Understand Every Component of Your Offer
Before you negotiate anything you need a clear picture of your total compensation and benefits. That means your base salary, bonus target, equity grant, vesting schedule, sign-on bonus and any equity refresh. Use our Total Compensation Research Comparison Tool or free Compensation Calculator to lay it out.
- Understand Total Compensation – Use our tool to break down and calculate the compensation in your job offer.
- Research & Compare Offers – Organize your compensation research and determine the right counter amount.
- Get Here
2) Ask Strategic Questions
Next, ask the recruiting team questions about the offer and benefits. This builds leverage before you make an ask and shows you're evaluating the offer seriously. It's also where you build negotiation leverage and uncover the benefits and perks that might have room to move. We secure a lot of sign-on bonuses and extra vacation time in this step alone. Our Strategic Questions for Negotiation Leverage give you the exact questions we use with clients.
- Build Negotiation Leverage – Ask the right questions to strengthen your negotiation before sending a counter.
- Email & Phone Scripts – Get our list of questions to ask and what to say if the recruiter wants to chat through them.
- Get Here
3) Research the Base Salary and Total Compensation Range
Research the base salary range and total compensation range for your exact role, level and location. These ranges tell you where your offer currently sits and how much more to ask for in your salary negotiation. The gap between your offer and the top of the total compensation range is the space your base, equity and sign-on bonus can grow into.
4) Send One Counter Offer That Covers Everything
Put your full ask into one counter offer by requesting the base salary and total compensation is in line with the top of your research. Then add any specific benefits or perks you want to address and were not secured in the strategic questions step. This gives the compensation team everything you’re hoping for and the flexibility to decide how to close the gap. Sometimes that's more base salary, sometimes it's more equity or a larger sign-on bonus or ideally increases in all of these.
We recommend sending your counter by email so it’s organized and gives the hiring team something to review together. Our Counteroffer Templates show you how to word it and our Salary Negotiation Email Template guide walks you through what to send and when during the salary negotiation.
- Proven Counteroffer Templates – Built from hundreds of successful job offer negotiations.
- Negotiate with Confidence – Remove the guesswork with our professionally crafted counteroffers.
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5) Handle Pushback and Lock It In
Expect the recruiter to push back and be prepared with how to overcome their objections. Respond professionally by acknowledging their constraints and ask them to take your request back to the compensation team for one last look. Our Objection Handling Scripts give you word for word responses to this push back. Once the final package lines up with your research, confirm everything in writing with our Acceptance Email Template to lock it in.
- Overcome Recruiter Pushback – Proven scripts to handle pushback and keep your salary negotiation on track.
- Communicate Effectively – Use expert responses to get recruiters to advocate for you with the compensation team.
- Get Here
- Accept or Decline – Expert crafted job offer acceptance email and rejection email templates to share your decision.
- Professional & Genuine Tone – These help you communicate in a professional manner regardless of what you decide.
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Job Offer Negotiation Mistakes to Avoid
Here are the most common mistakes we see when candidates decide what to negotiate in a job offer:
Negotiating Before You Received the Offer
One of the biggest mistakes is starting to negotiate salary before you have an offer in hand. Until the company has made you an offer, you don’t know the full package: base salary, equity, sign-on bonus, and perks. You also have the least leverage at this stage, because the company hasn’t committed to you yet. Wait until you have the offer and then decide what to negotiate based on what’s actually in it and what’s missing. Don’t fall into the trap by thinking you’re negotiating by Sharing Salary Expectations.
Only Negotiating Base Salary
Base salary matters, but it has a ceiling and is only one part of your total compensation. If base is already near the top of its range, focusing only on base leaves the rest of your total compensation untouched. Always focus on increasing the base salary and total compensation during your job offer negotiation.
Negotiating One Component at a Time
Asking for more base, then coming back for equity, then coming back for a sign-on bonus burns your goodwill fast. Each new ask looks like you're moving the goal posts, so always put everything in one counter.
Not Getting It in Writing
Every negotiated item should show up in your final offer letter. Verbal promises about start dates, vacation or a future review can get lost. Always confirm everything in writing before you sign and offer letter.
Salary Negotiation Coaching & Tools
Knowing what to negotiate in a job offer is the first step. Knowing how to ask for it is what gets results. Our expert Salary Negotiation Coaching gives you offer specific guidance on your full package.
Or leverage our Salary Negotiation Courses and Templates & Scripts.
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Additional Resources You'll Love
- How to Negotiate RSUs and Equity in a Job Offer
- Salary Negotiation Email Template: What to Send After You Get the Offer
- Sign-On Bonus Negotiation: How to Negotiate a Sign-On Bonus
- How to Counter a Job Offer: Counter Offer Salary Correctly
- What is Total Compensation
- Startup Salary Negotiation Guide
- How To Negotiate a Job Offer Course