How to Counter a Job Offer: What a Recruiter Can Actually Move (2026)

Finally, a f**king offer letter! I bet your first thought is whether you’re allowed to ask for more. Your second is whether asking will make them pull it back. We’ve all thought about it, but this is a great time to actually take a step back and think through the scenarios clearly.

Ask.

In Pew Research Center’s 2023 survey of more than 5,000 US workers, only about three in ten said they asked for higher pay the last time they were hired. Of the ones who did, 28% got what they asked for and 38% got more than the first offer. That’s two-thirds walking away with something.

I’ve done it both ways. In 2024 I got through two interview processes and two offers in the same week. Sortly was the one I wanted: remote, with a small, tight design team. I used the other offer to get more money out of Sortly, then signed with them. A couple of years later, Veeva made me an offer and I didn’t counter at all. It was already more than I’d hoped for.

Know your number before the offer stage

Most of a counter gets decided before the offer letter exists. Work out your floor first. That’s the lowest base salary you’d actually move for. Then find out whether the role’s pay band reaches it.

The band alone won’t always tell you. At Veeva, the range for the role had about $100,000 between the minimum and the maximum. That’s an insane range. An offer could land anywhere in it, and nothing about the range itself told me where.

So I didn’t wait for the offer to find out. In one of my first interviews with the hiring manager, I laid out my salary expectations. He had no issues with them. That told me my number would be met, and the offer ended up well past it. I went through the rest of the interview process confident that I wouldn’t be taking a pay cut if I made the move.

Naming your number early is a check. You want to know that the band and your floor overlap before you spend weeks on interviews. Here’s how to get there:

1. Set your floor before the first call. Start from your current base and add whatever it would take to make the switch worth it, like a longer commute, a worse benefits plan, or losing an unvested bonus.
2. Look for the band. Check the posting first, then ask the recruiter directly if it isn’t listed.
3. Say your expectations out loud early, to the recruiter or the hiring manager. Keep it at or above your floor, so you’re never anchoring on a number you’d be disappointed to get.
4. Pay attention to the reaction. A shrug and “that works” is a good sign. A pause, or “that’s on the higher end,” tells you where the ceiling probably is.

What a recruiter can actually move

Before product design, I ran the full recruiting cycle at a large staffing firm, from sourcing a candidate through onboarding after the offer was signed. The offer stage is where a candidate’s ask turns into a recruiter’s pitch, and the pitch goes to people the candidate never talks to. Once you know who those people are, you can write a counter they can say yes to.

A job offer is a bundle. Each piece has its own owner, and some pieces are a lot easier to move than others. The recruiter is the messenger for most of them. They can pitch your ask, but they rarely get to approve it.

The band is the thing to find out. Colorado has required a pay range in job postings since January 2021, and 16 states plus Washington, D.C. now require range disclosure somewhere in the hiring process. I covered the range question from the earlier side of the process in the recruiter phone screen guide. If the posting showed a range and your offer sits near the bottom of it, you have room. If it’s already at the top, ask for a sign-on bonus or a start date instead.

Here’s how that plays out with example numbers. Pick what you bring to the role, then drag the handle to where you’d counter.

Why a written counter helps the recruiter

Here’s how it goes after you counter. The recruiter takes it back to the hiring manager, and sometimes to a compensation team, and makes your case. I broke down who holds which decision in recruiter vs. hiring manager.

A counter that says “I was hoping for more” gives them nothing to bring into that meeting. A counter that says “I’m asking for $118,000 because the posted range goes to $125,000 and I’m coming in with five years of B2B SaaS experience” gives them a number, a reason, and a sentence they can forward.

The recruiter wants this to close. They’ve spent weeks getting you here, and a signed offer is how their work gets counted. When you write a clear counter, you’re handing them the argument they’re about to make anyway.

How to counter a job offer, step by step

1. Say thank you and ask for time. “Thank you, I’m excited about this. Can I have until Thursday to look it over?” Two to three business days is a normal ask.
2. Get the whole offer in writing before you counter. Base, bonus, equity, benefits, PTO, start date. You can’t negotiate a number you haven’t seen.
3. Pick one or two asks, and put them in order. A counter with six items reads like a list of complaints. One main ask plus one backup gives the recruiter room to come back with something.
4. Name a specific number. Round numbers like $120,000 are fine. Put the number in the email with the reason right next to it.
5. Give the reason in one sentence. Posted range, market data, a competing offer, or a specific skill the team told you they need.
6. Say what happens if they meet it. “If we can get to $118,000, I’m ready to sign this week.” That line tells the recruiter the ask closes the deal, and closing the deal is what they’re trying to do.
7. Talk, then write. If the recruiter calls, take the call, then follow up with the counter in writing so it can be forwarded as-is.
8. Get the revised offer in writing before you accept, and before you give notice anywhere.

What to leave out: your rent, your student loans, and any threat to walk you don’t mean. The company is pricing the job, and your personal budget isn’t part of that math. Only mention a competing offer if you actually have one, and be honest about the deadline.

Counteroffer email template

Subject: [Role] offer, a question on base

Hi [Name],

Thank you again for the offer. I'm excited about [team or project], and I want to make this work.

I'd like to ask for a base salary of [$ number]. The posted range for the role goes up to [$ top of range], and [one reason: years of relevant experience, a specific skill the team needs, or a competing offer at $X].

If we can get to [$ number], I'm ready to sign by [date].

If base is fixed, I'd be glad to talk about a sign-on bonus of [$ amount] instead.

Thanks,
[Your Name]

Rewrite it in your own words. Keep the number, the reason, and the “ready to sign” line.

If they come back with less than you asked for, you can take it, or you can make one more ask on something that isn’t base. “Could we do [$ amount] as a sign-on bonus to close the gap?” After that second round, stop. Your goal is to start the job with the people you’ll be working with glad you’re there.

For the reply that accepts the final number, and for how to decline cleanly if the answer doesn’t work, see how to decline a job offer. It has an acceptance template too.

If the offer came through a staffing firm

The number you’re negotiating is the firm’s pay rate. The client pays the firm a higher bill rate, and the gap covers the firm’s costs and margin. Your recruiter can sometimes move the pay rate within the firm’s margin without going back to the client. Anything past that means asking the client to raise the bill rate, which is a bigger ask and a slower one. Ask your recruiter which one you’re asking for.

What to do if the offer is lower than expected

A low offer is still an offer. Before you counter, work out which kind of low it is, because each one gets a different reply.

If it’s below the posted range, ask why before you ask for more. Usually the company leveled you below the role in the posting, or the range covers several locations and yours pays less. Sometimes someone just made a mistake. Ask plainly and in writing: “The posting listed $110,000 to $135,000. Can you help me understand where this offer falls against that?” The answer tells you what to counter. If it’s a leveling call, you’re arguing for the higher level, with examples of work you’ve already done at it. A location adjustment is harder to move, so that’s usually where a sign-on bonus comes in. A mistake just gets fixed.

If it’s below the number you gave them, this is where naming your number early pays off. Point back to it: “When I spoke with [hiring manager] in [month], I shared that I was looking for a base of $X, and I’d like to get there.” Now the recruiter is asking the company to meet a number the hiring manager already heard and didn’t push back on. That’s a much easier conversation for them to have.

If it’s below your floor and base won’t move, ask about the rest of the offer once: a sign-on bonus, a salary review at six months written into the offer, or more equity. If none of it closes the gap, you’re allowed to say no. You set your floor before you got attached to the job, and it’s still the right number. How to decline a job offer has a template for that.

When your current employer counters

The other kind of counter offer is the one your current job makes after you give notice. “Counter offer from current employer” is its own search for a reason. It’s flattering, and it’s quick.

Ask yourself one question before you consider it: why did it take a resignation to get this? If your manager could find the money now, they could have found it at your last review.

Also think about what happens to the new offer. You signed it, and a recruiter has told a hiring manager you’re starting. Backing out after accepting is its own decision, and I cover how to handle it in how to decline a job offer.

If you’d stay for the right number, it’s better to find that out before you accept anywhere. Once you’ve signed, the counter usually just makes the exit messier.

Reflective Coda

An offer is sturdy by the time it lands. A company that’s put you through a phone screen, a portfolio review, a panel and a reference check has spent weeks and a lot of salaried hours getting to “yes.” A polite, specific ask doesn’t undo that.

The part you control is whether the recruiter has something to work with. A number, a reason, and a promise to sign if they meet it. Write those three things down and let the recruiter do the part of the job they’re already paid to do.

Two out of three people who asked got something. Ask.

kthxbai.