The Ultimate Salary Negotiation Guide
How to find what a job really pays, answer the salary questions at every stage, read and counter an offer, and negotiate raises, promotions, and counteroffers, with plain words for hourly workers, new graduates, career changers, and anyone told the offer is final.
- 220
- pages
- 23
- chapters
- 6
- parts
- 4
- tools at the back
A few of the chapters
Every chapter says what the employer is weighing on their side, so you know which parts of an offer can move and why.
Find your market rate
Your number should come from what the job pays, not from what you earn now or what you need.
“What are your salary expectations?”
The question comes at every stage. Go first only when you know enough, and never let your number become the ceiling.
Making the counter
Most good counters are one calm call with a number, a reason for it, and a written recap afterward.
When they say no, or “the offer is final”
Test it once, calmly, then ask for a different shape of yes or decide.
Hourly, shift, and union pay
When the rate is set, negotiate the hours, the shift, your status, and the next step.
Asking for a raise
Raise budgets are set months before you ask. Bring evidence, ask early, and leave with a date.
What’s inside
Six parts, in the order you’ll need them, plus checklists and templates at the back.
Before you talk numbers
Why the first number matters so much, how to find what the job really pays, and what pay ranges and the law tell you.
- 01Why the first number matters so much
- 02Find your market rate
- 03Pay ranges, bands, and the law
The hiring process
The expected-salary question, the salary-history question, reading an offer, making the counter, and handling more than one offer.
- 04“What are your salary expectations?”
- 05“What do you make now?”
- 06The offer: what’s really in it
- 07Making the counter
- 08Competing offers and timing
Beyond base pay
Bonuses, sign-on money, relocation, equity, benefits, and time: the parts of an offer that often move when the salary won’t.
- 09Bonus, sign-on, and relocation
- 10Equity
- 11Benefits, time off, and flexibility
When it gets hard
Rescinded offers, a firm no, negotiating without leverage, and first jobs.
- 12Rescinded offers and how to avoid them
- 13When they say no, or “the offer is final”
- 14Negotiating when you need the job
- 15New grads and first jobs
Other kinds of pay
Hourly and union pay, government and other pay scales, remote pay, and pricing contract work.
- 16Hourly, shift, and union pay
- 17Pay scales: government, schools, and health systems
- 18Remote and location-based pay
- 19Contract and freelance rates
The job you have
Raises, promotions, finding out you’re underpaid, and deciding whether to stay.
- 20Asking for a raise
- 21Promotions
- 22When you’re underpaid
- 23Counteroffers, and knowing when to leave
Tools
Checklists, prompts, and templates for the moment you need them.
- Before any pay conversation
- Reading an offer
- Scripts for the salary questions
- Where to check the rules
Questions
Who is it for?
Anyone with a pay conversation ahead: an application asking for expected salary, an offer on the table, a raise you’ve put off asking for, or a counteroffer from the job you’re leaving. It covers hourly, union, government, remote, and contract pay too, not just salaried offers.
How do I get it?
Every guide is included with Plus. Once your first payment goes through, they appear on your account page and on these pages, ready to download as PDFs.
Why isn’t it included in the free trial?
A book can be downloaded once and kept, so the guides unlock with your first payment rather than on day one. If you’re in a trial and want them now, you can start your paid plan early from your account page.
What if I cancel?
The guides are yours to keep. Canceling Plus doesn’t take them away, and you can download them again from your account anytime.
What format is it?
A 220-page PDF designed for reading on a phone, tablet, or computer. The contents, cross-references, and Start here page are all clickable links.
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