Negotiation and Offer Strategy
You negotiate from behind, a resume gap, a single offer, a last salary depressed by your exit, and pressure to restart income, and still walk in with a researched number, one focused ask, and the scripts for the live call, then sign a written offer that reflects every term you negotiated without putting the offer at risk.
Who it is for: You have one offer in hand and you are likely negotiating from behind: a resume gap, no competing offer, a last salary the circumstances of your exit pushed down, and real pressure to restart income and benefits. You want to counter once, cleanly, without risking the one offer. If you are juggling competing offers, equity, or a severance or exec package, take Premium Negotiation instead.
What you walk away with: A negotiate-from-behind kit: your one lever and collaborative counter, a reconciled floor, target, and anchor, the Offer-Call Playbook and Recruiter-Line Decoder for the live call, a priced benefits-timing gap, and a signed offer letter cross-checked so every negotiated term appears in writing.
Decide when and whether to negotiate
You decide whether and what to negotiate from your actual position, pick one defensible lever if your leverage is weak, and set the two preconditions, a written offer and a few days, before you say anything about money.
4 short sections · 5 action steps · copy-paste template: Get-it-in-writing and buy-time email
Curriculum
8 lessons · lesson 1 is free · the rest unlocks with Pro
- 1Decide when and whether to negotiateYou decide whether and what to negotiate from your actual position, pick one defensible lever if your leverage is weak, and set the two preconditions, a written offer and a few days, before you say anything about money. Includes template: Get-it-in-writing and buy-time email.FREE18 min
- 2Anchor on the market, not your last salaryYou replace your last salary as the reference point with a reconciled three-source market range, normalized and weighted into a floor, a target, and an anchor you can defend in one sentence. Includes template: Compensation research and anchor worksheet.24 min
- 3Send one clean counterofferYou send one consolidated counteroffer with enthusiasm first, a specific number with a reason, and a collaborative close, handle it the same way if it turns live, then hold your silence. Includes template: Master counteroffer email.22 min
- 4Negotiate the benefits, not just the baseYou put a dollar value on every flexibility lever, fold the two or three highest-value ones into your counter, and carry each into the acceptance lesson to be captured in writing. Includes template: Benefits trade-list worksheet.18 min
- 5Understand equity before you value itYou get the two numbers that tell you whether an equity grant is real money or a lottery ticket, and you protect your cash floor rather than trade it for paper, leaving the deep modeling to Premium. Includes template: Equity question checklist (email to the recruiter).18 min
- 6Lock down remote and hybrid terms in writingYou convert vague flexibility promises into specific written terms: exact days, any stipend, location rules, and a notice period before the arrangement can change. Includes template: Remote / hybrid terms confirmation email.15 min
- 7Set a start date that works for youYou propose a start date that protects both your cash and your health coverage, using the three-date gap check to price any insurance gap before you commit. Includes template: Start-date request + benefits-timing gap check.16 min
- 8Run the final acceptance checklistConfirm every negotiated term is in the final written offer, then accept cleanly and close out your other processes. Includes template: Final offer acceptance checklist and acceptance email.16 min
The full course unlocks with Pro
Pro is $49.99/month and opens soon. Join early access and you are first in line the moment checkout opens. Nothing is charged today.
See ProWhat you will have by the end
- A written offer in hand, so every number is being negotiated against a document, not a verbal promise.
- A market compensation range reconciled from at least three sources and normalized to base, with your floor, target, and anchor and a one-sentence value justification.
- One clean counter sent on value, not need, and, if you are negotiating from behind, focused on a single defensible lever.
- The live-call branches rehearsed from the Offer-Call Playbook and the Recruiter-Line Decoder, so a phone offer does not make you fold.
- A benefits trade-list with dollar values, and any agreed flexibility levers written into the offer letter.
- A completed equity go/no-go read (your real percentage and the strike spread), with your cash floor held, if equity applied.
- A start date set with any health-coverage gap priced on the benefits-timing worksheet before you committed to it.
- A final offer letter cross-checked clause by clause, with every negotiated point reflected, accepted in writing and countersigned.
Includes 7 copy-pasteable resources (scripts, checklists, worksheets) in the resource vault.