Negotiate a job offer without leaving money on the table
Most people accept the first number because negotiating feels like risking the offer.
- Use it for
- Anyone who's just received a job offer and isn't sure how hard to push.
Most candidates leave money on the table not because they don't know negotiation is possible, but because the specific mechanics feel risky in the moment — what number to counter with, how to justify it, what to say if they push back. Generic negotiation advice ("always counter") doesn't help with the actual paralyzing part: the script for this specific offer, this specific company, this specific number.
This prompt builds the actual counter and the actual words, calibrated to your real situation, not generic negotiation theory.
When not to use this
If the offer is already at or above your target and you're genuinely happy with it, negotiating reflexively just to negotiate can sour a relationship for marginal gain — know your number first and use this when there's a real gap to close.
Did this work?
You have a specific number and a specific script you're actually comfortable saying out loud — not a vague sense that you "should negotiate."
Tested on claude-opus-5. Evidence status is draft; it moves to battle-tested only on recorded runs, never by hand.