ChatGPT Salary Negotiation Script Prompt
You are a career coach who has helped 1,000+ professionals negotiate 15–40% above initial offers.
Category
🎯 Career
Difficulty
Intermediate
Models
2
Last Updated
2026-06-28
Works with
📄 Example output
⚠️ Common Mistakes
❓ FAQ
⚙️ Fill in your variables
📋 Prompt
You are a career coach who has helped 1,000+ professionals negotiate 15–40% above initial offers.
Role: [job title]
Offer: [offered salary]
Target: [your target salary]
Evidence: [competing offer or market data — Glassdoor/LinkedIn Salary/competing offer]
Task: Write a complete salary negotiation playbook:
1. PRE-NEGOTIATION: What to research and prepare
2. THE EXACT SCRIPTS:
- How to respond to the offer without accepting immediately
- The counter-offer (phone script + email version)
- When they say 'That's our maximum'
- When they ask 'What's your best number?'
3. NON-SALARY NEGOTIABLES: 10 other items to negotiate if salary is stuck
4. DANGER PHRASES: Words that weaken your position
5. THE CLOSE: How to accept in a way that builds goodwill
Role: [job title]
Offer: [offered salary]
Target: [your target salary]
Evidence: [competing offer or market data — Glassdoor/LinkedIn Salary/competing offer]
Task: Write a complete salary negotiation playbook:
1. PRE-NEGOTIATION: What to research and prepare
2. THE EXACT SCRIPTS:
- How to respond to the offer without accepting immediately
- The counter-offer (phone script + email version)
- When they say 'That's our maximum'
- When they ask 'What's your best number?'
3. NON-SALARY NEGOTIABLES: 10 other items to negotiate if salary is stuck
4. DANGER PHRASES: Words that weaken your position
5. THE CLOSE: How to accept in a way that builds goodwill
NEGOTIATION PLAYBOOK: Senior PM | Offer: £82K | Target: £95K | Evidence: Competing offer £88K + Glassdoor range £90–110K
PRE-NEGOTIATION:
✅ Exact Glassdoor/LinkedIn data for this role in this city
✅ Competing offer letter (even informal) — your strongest lever
✅ 3 quantified achievements you'll reference
✅ Know your BATNA (current role/competing offer)
STEP 1 — RECEIVING THE OFFER (say this immediately):
'Thank you — I'm genuinely excited. Could I have until [date, 2–3 days] to review the details carefully?'
If pushed: 'I want to give you a considered response. Is [date] okay?'
STEP 2 — THE COUNTER (phone first, then email):
'Based on my experience — specifically [specific achievement with metric] — and current market data for Senior PMs in London, I was looking at something in the range of £95,000. Is there flexibility to get closer to that?'
Then: silence. First person to speak after silence usually concedes.
WHEN THEY SAY 'THAT'S OUR MAX':
'I appreciate you being transparent. Is there flexibility elsewhere — signing bonus, equity, or additional leave — that might bridge the gap?'
WHEN THEY ASK 'WHAT'S YOUR BEST NUMBER?':
Never answer directly. 'I want us to find something that works for both sides. What's the most you can do?' — return it.
NON-SALARY ITEMS:
Signing bonus | Equity/stock | Extra leave | Remote flexibility | Title upgrade | Development budget | Earlier performance review | Equipment | Start date | Relocation
DANGER PHRASES:
❌ 'I need at least X' — reveals your floor
❌ 'My current salary is X' — anchors you to the past
❌ 'I just want to be fair' — you're the only one using that standard
PRE-NEGOTIATION:
✅ Exact Glassdoor/LinkedIn data for this role in this city
✅ Competing offer letter (even informal) — your strongest lever
✅ 3 quantified achievements you'll reference
✅ Know your BATNA (current role/competing offer)
STEP 1 — RECEIVING THE OFFER (say this immediately):
'Thank you — I'm genuinely excited. Could I have until [date, 2–3 days] to review the details carefully?'
If pushed: 'I want to give you a considered response. Is [date] okay?'
STEP 2 — THE COUNTER (phone first, then email):
'Based on my experience — specifically [specific achievement with metric] — and current market data for Senior PMs in London, I was looking at something in the range of £95,000. Is there flexibility to get closer to that?'
Then: silence. First person to speak after silence usually concedes.
WHEN THEY SAY 'THAT'S OUR MAX':
'I appreciate you being transparent. Is there flexibility elsewhere — signing bonus, equity, or additional leave — that might bridge the gap?'
WHEN THEY ASK 'WHAT'S YOUR BEST NUMBER?':
Never answer directly. 'I want us to find something that works for both sides. What's the most you can do?' — return it.
NON-SALARY ITEMS:
Signing bonus | Equity/stock | Extra leave | Remote flexibility | Title upgrade | Development budget | Earlier performance review | Equipment | Start date | Relocation
DANGER PHRASES:
❌ 'I need at least X' — reveals your floor
❌ 'My current salary is X' — anchors you to the past
❌ 'I just want to be fair' — you're the only one using that standard
🏆
💡 Pro Tips
Best model for this prompt
Claude
Claude (Opus 4 / Sonnet 4)
Always negotiate — 84% of hiring managers expect it; only 37% of candidates actually do
Get the final offer in writing before giving notice — verbal offers are not offers
Negotiate before you've signed, not after — leverage disappears at signature
The best moment to ask for more is right after you've received the offer, not weeks later
Apologising for negotiating — signals that you feel the ask is unreasonable
Providing salary expectations early in the process — anchors the negotiation before they've decided they want you
Bluffing about competing offers — can be called and destroys trust
Accepting the day the offer comes — always ask for time, even if you're ready to accept
- Will they rescind the offer if I negotiate?Almost never. In 10+ years of career coaching, this has happened less than 0.1% of the time — and in those cases the candidate had a lucky escape from a company with poor culture.
- What if I don't have a competing offer?Market rate data (Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, Levels.fyi) is a legitimate anchor. 'Based on market research for this role in this city, I was expecting...' is a genuine counter even without an alternative offer.
- Phone or email for the counter-offer?Phone/video for the counter — emotional tone and silence only work live. Email for confirmation once you've agreed verbally. Never negotiate via text.
- When is the best time to negotiate?After the offer, before acceptance. The moment you say yes, negotiating power disappears. The offer period is specifically designed for this — use it every time.