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Salary negotiation scripts that worked for me and 11 juniors (copy paste allowed)

12 negotiations, average 14% above the first offer, zero offers pulled. Exact words included.

Kunal Bhatia@kunal_dsa

September 14, 2026 · 3 min read

#2 in Career Ladder Nonsense

Contents(8)

Over the last two years I have helped 11 juniors negotiate their offers, plus my own. Results from my spreadsheet: average increase over the first offer was 14%, range 0% to 31%. Two people got nothing extra. Nobody got their offer pulled for asking. That last line is the one I want freshers to read twice.

Here are the exact scripts. Change the numbers, keep the shape.

Script 1: "What is your current and expected CTC?" (first HR call)

"I'd like to understand the role and the band first. Could you share the budgeted range for this position?"

In India they will push. Then:

"My current fixed is X. Based on the role and what I'm seeing in the market, I'm looking for something in the range of Y to Z fixed."

Talk in fixed, not CTC. Know your own breakup before this call.

Script 2: When the offer comes

"Thank you, I'm really excited about this. Could you send me the full breakup in writing? I'd like a couple of days to review it."

Never accept on the call. Never. Excitement is how freshers lose 2 lakh in one sentence.

Script 3: The counter

"Based on our conversations and the scope we discussed, I was expecting a fixed component around Z. Is there flexibility there? If fixed is capped, could we look at a joining bonus to cover my notice period buyout?"

Script 4: With a competing offer (only if it is real)

"I have another offer at X fixed. I'd prefer to join your team because of A and B. If you can get to Y, I'm ready to sign this week."

Never fake an offer. In India many companies ask for the offer letter as proof, and the industry is smaller than you think.

Script 5: Silence

After you say your number, stop talking. Count to ten in your head. The other person will fill the silence, usually with something better than what you were about to say.

Script 6: "This is the maximum we can do"

"I understand. Could we agree on a compensation review at 6 months, with clear criteria, written into the offer?"

Verbal promises disappear when the HR person changes. Written ones mostly do not.

CTC traps

A 24 LPA CTC can look like this:

  • Fixed: 20.4
  • Variable / performance bonus: 2.0 (paid only if company and you hit targets)
  • Employer PF: 0.96 (12% of an 8 L basic)
  • Gratuity: 0.38 (about 4.81% of basic, and only paid after 5 years)
  • Insurance: 0.26

That adds up to 24.0. Your in-hand is driven by the 20.4, not the 24. Also watch for: joining bonus with a 12-month clawback, ESOPs valued at the last funding round price (worth zero until a liquidity event), and "retention bonus" paid after 2 years.

Checklist

  1. Know your current breakup and your walk-away number before the first call
  2. Ask for the band first
  3. Get the offer in writing, take 2 days
  4. Counter on fixed, with one specific number
  5. Use joining bonus for buyout gaps
  6. Get any future promise written into the offer
  7. Be polite the whole time. You will work with these people.
#salary#career#interviews#jobs

Written by

Kunal Bhatia

SDE 2 @ fintech, Hyderabad. 1100+ leetcode, 4 rejections from the same company, 1 offer that mattered. I mentor juniors for free on weekends. Interview Horror Stories is my therapy.

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Rohit Verma@rohit_codes4 rep in Career Ladder Nonsense
script 2, "never accept on the call", 90% freshers yahi galti karte hain. excitement mein "yes sir thank you sir" bol dete hain 😂🙏
5 net votes
Renee Whitfield@renee_em#1 in Career Ladder Nonsense
These are excellent and translate well to the US. One addition from the manager side: when you counter, tell me what would make you sign. "If you can get to Y, I'll sign this week" gives me something concrete to take to my VP. A vague "can you do better" gets a vague 2%.
9 net votes
Ankit Khurana@faang_or_bust14 rep in Career Ladder Nonsense
14% avg is low tbh. with a competing offer from a real product co you should get 25-30% minimum
9 net votes
Kunal Bhatia@kunal_dsa#2 in Career Ladder Nonsense
Most of the 12 did not have competing offers. That is the realistic case for most people, not the exception.
8 net votes
Sneha Kulkarni@laidoff_not_out#3 in Career Ladder Nonsense
saving script 6. also the clawback thing on joining bonus, my last company had 12 months clawback and i got laid off at month 14. so lucky. people check this
8 net votes
Divya Ramanathan@divya_ramanathan#7 in Career Ladder Nonsense
As someone on the other side of the table: please do negotiate. Most of us have 10-15% room in the band that we will not volunteer. The silence script works on me too, I will admit.
6 net votes
Kunal Bhatia@kunal_dsa#2 in Career Ladder Nonsense
An EM admitting the silence script works. Screenshot for the juniors 😄
4 net votes
Vikram Iyer@vikram_on_h1b5 rep in Career Ladder Nonsense
For people in the US on visas: you can and should negotiate too. Many H-1B folks think they have no leverage. Your leverage is that hiring anyone takes them months, and you already passed the loop. Be polite, be specific.
4 net votes
Meenal Deshpande@meenal_restarts#5 in Career Ladder Nonsense
I am returning after a 6-year break and was planning to accept whatever they offer. For script 1, what do I say when I have no current CTC? Kindly guide.
8 net votes
Kunal Bhatia@kunal_dsa#2 in Career Ladder Nonsense
Good question Meenal. Say: "I'm returning after a career break, so my last salary isn't a useful benchmark. Based on the role and my experience, I'm looking for X to Y fixed." Research the band from peers and salary sites. The break does not reset your experience to zero.
7 net votes
Meenal Deshpande@meenal_restarts#5 in Career Ladder Nonsense
Thank you so much Kunal. Writing this down exactly.
5 net votes
Rahul Deshmukh@rahul_d_jobhunt4 rep in Career Ladder Nonsense
laid off folks question: they always ask "why the gap" and then lowball. script for that?
10 net votes
Kunal Bhatia@kunal_dsa#2 in Career Ladder Nonsense
"My role was part of a company-wide restructuring in March. Since then I've been upskilling in Go and interviewing selectively." Then move straight back to the role. Do not apologise for a layoff. It is not a performance review.
6 net votes
Kelly Zhao@kel_zhao34 rep in Career Ladder Nonsense
canada co-op pay is mostly fixed per company so less room, but these work for new grad return offers. the silence one is so hard for me, i always fill the silence with "but i'm flexible!!" 😭
5 net votes
Mo Siddiqui@mo_boston2 rep in Career Ladder Nonsense
Data person note: with 12 negotiations, two zeros and a 14% mean, the median is probably the more useful number. Still, nobody lost an offer, which is the real finding here.
11 net votes
Kunal Bhatia@kunal_dsa#2 in Career Ladder Nonsense
Median was 12%. You data people never let us have a clean number 😄
6 net votes