Salary Negotiation Letter: Templates and Counter Offer Letter Examples

A salary negotiation letter is a short, warm, specific email that thanks the employer, names one number, and gives a reason that number is defensible. It should be under 200 words. It should contain exactly one ask. And it should be sent after the written offer arrives, because that is the moment your leverage peaks and never gets better.

Most people overthink the letter and underthink the number. Below are eight templates for real situations, what to put in each, and the benchmarks that make your figure credible. For the full framework with a benchmark table and the interactive tool, see the salary negotiation letter page. This is educational career coaching, not legal, financial, or HR advice.

What to include in a counter offer letter

Every effective salary negotiation letter has the same five parts, in this order:

1. Genuine enthusiasm. One sentence. You want the job, and you are not playing games.
2. One specific number. Not a range. A range tells them to pick the bottom of it.
3. A reason that is not about you. Market data and scope are persuasive. Rent and student loans are not, however true they are.
4. A signal that this closes it. "I would be ready to sign" is the sentence that gets your email forwarded to someone with budget authority.
5. An easy exit. Offer a call. Make saying yes low-friction.

How much should you counter?

The standard published guidance from Glassdoor and Indeed is to counter 10 to 20 percent above the initial offer. Treat that as expert guidance rather than a measured law of nature, and sanity-check it against the market band for your role, level, and city. If the offer already sits near the top of the band, a 20 percent counter reads as uninformed. If it sits at the bottom, 20 percent may be conservative.

Two numbers worth knowing before you decide it is not worth the awkwardness. In Fidelity's 2022 Career Assessment Study, 58 percent of young professionals accepted their offer without negotiating at all. Of those who did negotiate, 87 percent got at least some of what they asked for. The downside is mostly imagined. The upside compounds for the rest of your career.

Template 1: the standard counter

Subject: Re: Offer for [Role]

Hi [Name],

Thank you for the offer, and for the time the team put into the process. I am genuinely excited about [specific thing about the role] and I would like to make this work.

Before I sign, I would like to discuss the base salary. Based on the market range for [role] at this level in [city], and the [specific experience or scope] I would be bringing, I am looking for a base of [amount].

If we can get to [amount], I am ready to accept and can start on [date].

Happy to talk it through on a call if that is easier.

Best,
[Your name]

Template 2: the offer is a lowball

Do not express outrage. Express the gap, in numbers, and give them a way to fix it without losing face.

Subject: Re: Offer for [Role]

Hi [Name],

Thank you for sending this through. I want to be straightforward with you, because I would rather solve this than go quiet.

The offer of [amount] is meaningfully below the market range I am seeing for [role] at this level in [city], which runs roughly [range]. I do not think that reflects how the conversation went, so I want to give you the chance to revisit it.

A base of [amount] would put this in a place I can accept, and I would sign straight away.

Best,
[Your name]

Template 3: you have a competing offer

Subject: Re: Offer for [Role]

Hi [Name],

I want to be transparent with you, because your team is my first choice.

I have a written offer from another company at [amount] total compensation. I am not looking to run an auction, and I would rather join you.

If you can reach [amount], I will accept today and withdraw from the other process.

Best,
[Your name]

Only send this if the offer is real. The strongest counter letters tend to be written by people who genuinely have somewhere else they could go, and it shows in the tone even when they never mention it.

Template 4: base will not move, so ask for something else

Subject: Re: Offer for [Role]

Hi [Name],

Thank you for coming back to me. I understand the base is fixed at the top of the band, and I will stop pushing there.

Given that, could we look at the rest of the package instead? Any of these would get me to yes:

A signing bonus of [amount], an additional [number] days of paid leave, or a compensation review at six months rather than twelve.

Any one of those works for me. Which is easiest on your side?

Best,
[Your name]

Template 5: negotiating a raise with your current employer

Subject: Compensation review

Hi [Manager],

I would like to put some time in the calendar to talk about my compensation.

Over the past [period] I have [specific result with a number], [second result], and taken on [new scope]. Benchmarks for this role at this level now sit at roughly [range], and my current base of [amount] is below that band.

I am asking for an increase to [amount]. I would rather talk it through properly than over email, so let me know a time that works.

Best,
[Your name]

Template 6: the verbal offer, before anything is in writing

Subject: Thank you, and one question

Hi [Name],

Thank you for the call, and for the offer. I am excited about it.

Could you send the details in writing so I can review the full package properly? Once I have it, I will come back to you quickly with any questions.

Best,
[Your name]

This is the letter almost nobody sends, and it is the one that protects you. Never negotiate against a number you have only heard out loud.

Template 7: asking for time to decide

Subject: Re: Offer for [Role]

Hi [Name],

Thank you for the offer, I am really pleased. I want to give it the consideration it deserves rather than answer on the spot.

Could I come back to you by [date, usually three to five business days out]? I will have any questions to you well before then.

Best,
[Your name]

Template 8: accepting, and locking it down

Subject: Re: Offer for [Role]

Hi [Name],

Thank you for working with me on this. I am delighted to accept the role of [title] at a base of [amount], with [bonus, equity, signing bonus, start date] as discussed.

Could you send an updated offer letter reflecting those terms? Once it is signed I will confirm my notice period.

Looking forward to getting started.

Best,
[Your name]

Get the amended terms in writing. A verbal agreement to revisit your salary in six months has a way of never having happened.

Should you negotiate by letter or on a call?

Email first, in almost every case. Writing the number down means you cannot be talked out of it by tone, it gives the recruiter something concrete to forward to whoever actually controls the budget, and it creates a record of exactly what was agreed. Calls are for the follow-up conversation, once your number is already on the table and doing its work.

The exception is a raise with your current manager, where a written ask can feel like an ultimatum. There, email to book the conversation, then make the ask in person.

The mistakes that cost the most

• Giving a range. You will be offered the bottom of it, every time.
• Justifying with personal need. Nobody sets salaries based on your rent. They set them based on the market and the scope of the role.
• Countering twice. One counter is professional. A second one, after they moved, reads as bad faith and is the main way people actually damage an offer.
• Accepting on the call. "Thank you, this is great news, can I come back to you tomorrow?" is a complete sentence and costs you nothing.

Get the number right, and the letter writes itself

The letter is the easy part. The hard part is knowing what to put in it, which is a question about your market, your level, and where the offer actually sits in the band. Counteroffer benchmarks the role, sets a defensible counter number, and drafts the letter for your exact situation. See the counter offer email builder, read more on negotiating a job offer, or work out how much to counter first. Market figures here are estimates, and this is coaching, not legal or financial advice.