Hi friends,
Below is a collection of screenshots of questions that people actually asked us in our live negotiation Q&As. Sharing our responses below for those who couldn't join our recent ones.
But for those who are free tomorrow at 12pm PT... 👇
Kick Off 2026 Strong: Live Q&A (+ free gift for attendees)
Tomorrow, January 28th at 12pm PT, we’re hosting our first negotiation Q&A of 2026! This is your chance to get live input and real-time feedback from us on all your negotiation questions as we kick off the new year.
We’ll also be sharing a special gift with everyone who attends 😉
RSVP here, and feel free to forward this to anyone who could benefit: https://luma.com/tgz36527
FAQ #1: What should I negotiate first?
What you ask for first should be based on your own personal priorities. Typically, you want to negotiate your nonnegotiables or top priorities first.
Do you care about maximizing cash because you need short-term liquidity, or do you want to maximize equity because you truly believe in the company's future? Do you care about work/life balance and in-person/remote/hybrid work arrangements? Are there benefits that really matter to you, like wellness perks, specific parental leave benefits, transportation reimbursements, relocation bonus, others?
The first thing we do with our clients is a rigorous priorities exercise to uncover what truly matters to them. A lot of people think they already know their priorities, but whenever we pressure test their initial assumptions, they almost always end up discovering something new.
For what this looks like in action, we wrote this past case study of a client we helped. This client was very intent on getting this one specific paternal leave benefit. After we examined her priorities, we ended up redirecting her negotiation strategy to favor cash and increased her base salary by $40K instead: Don't Waste Your Negotiation Capital
FAQ #2: How should I use salary data in my negotiations?
One of our hottest takes: researching salaries and market data is largely a waste of time for many reasons, namely:
- Employers almost always have more accurate data than you. If you cite inaccurate numbers, you risk looking like you don't know what you're talking about (a potential client who passed on working with us did this, and he ended up never getting the offer because the vibes turned bad after he did. Read the full case study here: This is How the Candidate Lost His Job Offer)
- Even if you have the perfect data and bring that into the conversation, every company has canned responses prepared to just dismiss what you say. So that time you spent researching salaries didn't matter anyway.
The leverage that actually works comes from your competing opportunities (Do you have other offers? Are you interviewing with multiple companies?) and you strategically bringing up those opportunities in your negotiations.
Our past newsletter on what you should do instead of researching salaries here: Salary Market Research is a Waste of Your Time
FAQ #3: Should I even negotiate?
Absolutely yes. Negotiating is a common business practice, especially for people with multiple job offers or facing limitations like needing to work fully remotely. Companies often account for this by offering initial offers that are less than what they can ultimately afford. As a result, not negotiating almost certainly guarantees you’re leaving money on the table.
We wrote in depth about this in this past newsletter: The First Offer is Almost Never the Final
FAQ #4: How many times should I negotiate?
There is no magic number - it can be just one round of back and forth, or up to a dozen rounds! In our experience with our clients, at least 2-3 rounds of back and forth is typical, but it's often more.
A company of course doesn't want too many rounds of negotiations because it makes their lives easier, but almost always at your expense. It's in their best interest to wrap up the negotiations quickly so they can move on to spending their time and resources to filling other open roles. Many companies also have an internal recruiting metric called "time to close" - they're incentivized to close a candidate as quickly as possible after entering the interview pipeline, and this metric factors into many HR and recruiting employees' bonuses.
The norms around the recruiting and negotiation process naturally favor employers because job applicants assume that the companies hold all the cards. But remember, you as a competitive candidate have leverage too with your qualifications and optionality (i.e. by applying to multiple roles and getting other offers).
We covered how to actually get to the best and final offer in this past newsletter: “Best and Final Offer?” Not Necessarily True
Again, if you have your own questions you'd like to ask us, join us tomorrow at 12pm PT, RSVP link here: https://luma.com/tgz36527
Best,
Gerta & Alex
Cofounders, YourNegotiations.com
P.S. Are you job searching or have upcoming negotiations?
Book a free call with us, where we’ll learn more about your situation, offer some free tips, and explore if we’re a good fit to work together: https://calendly.com/alexhapki/call
P.P.S. Know someone who could use our help?
Refer them and earn $500.
We’ve paid out thousands to people who just made a simple intro. If your friend becomes a client, we’ll send you $500 - no strings attached; just our way of saying thank you for spreading the word.
Simply send an intro email to alex@yournegotiations.com and your friend.
See all the details of our referral program on our website here.
