You should always try to negotiate offers, but never negotiate a verbal offer.
If you do get a verbal offer, your next step is to get the offer in writing. Why? Two reasons:
- Verbal offers are not documented, so it’s more likely the recruiter can play a “he said, she said” game and claim that they never made an official offer. If there’s no official offer, then why are you negotiating?
- Verbal offers usually do not have an expiration date. Without an expiration date, you’ll be more vulnerable and less effective negotiating, fearing that the other party can withdraw the offer with an errant negotiation ask or clarification question.
So get that offer in writing. And from there, you can negotiate your written offer using these 30+ negotiation email templates.
Photo credit: Joe Hall