Dealing With the First Offer

When you get that first offer, you may be inclined to quickly accept or decline, especially if you haven't received any other job offers yet. That's a bad course of action. This is a decision that is going to affect your life for the next several years, so it's not something you should rush into.

If the individual asks you, “Would you be happy with that salary?” don't respond with a yes or a no. Instead say, “That's a very generous offer, but I need a couple of days to think it over.” No organization is going to refuse this request so don't worry about losing the deal if you don't accept immediately.

As soon as you hang up the phone or leave the individual's office, you need to start calculating your counter offer. Remember to begin higher than what you are expecting. Your counter-offer should be at the higher end between what you need and what you can get, so there's room to go down if necessary.

Don't wait too long before providing your counter-offer. It's best to act within 24 to 48 hours of the first offer, if possible. You may want to wait a little longer if you suspect another job offer will be arriving in a couple of days. Out of respect for the employer, you shouldn't wait more than a week.

Negotiating a Revised Deal

When you make your offer, the employer may also need some time to consider the offer. Be patient. If you become overly anxious, you may end up taking a less satisfactory deal or may succeed in driving down their counter-offer.

If they accept your offer, then you'll have succeeded in getting what you want and can proceed with the rest of the deal. In most cases, this is not what happens. Most of the time they will submit a counter-offer which you will need to consider. Again, you can take some time to think about their offer. There's no need to rush into a decision.

You still have the option of submitting another offer which would start the process all over again. However, if the increases in their offers are not significant, then you may need to be prepared to either lower your demands or reject their job offer completely.

Before we talk about that possibility, you may have another advantage in the negotiations. If you've received other job offers, you can use these to help you negotiate a better deal, particularly if you have a preference among the offers. When an employer knows you are in demand, he or she is more likely to give you what you want. So don't hesitate to mention those other offers.