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As stated in this question, it's normal for people to have interviews at multiple companies, and receive offers from some companies earlier than from the others.

I would like to negotiate the offers.

I wonder if it would be better for me to only start negotiating the first offer after all the other interviews have finished, or would it be sensible to already start the negotiation after receiving that first offer, i.e. this question is about the timing of the negotiation email, and thus hopefully different from the linked question.

Would there be any negative impact to the negotiation process if I don't mention anything about negotiating the offer in my message to let them wait, only to start it after a week of the employer waiting for me?

Another worry of mine is that if I don't get any additional offers by then, I'd probably be in a bad position for the negotiation, while if I negotiate when it's still possible for me to get other offers, it would put me in a better position.

Or is this thinking flawed and I should only mention and kick off negotiations after all my options are clear, so that I get more leverage?

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  • I see the question you linked, and I feel that it answers your doubts very well. It mentions how to negotiate in different scenarios where companies move faster/slower than others, stalling so you get other offers, etc... Please, read the linked question and its answers and clarify why it does not answer your inquires.
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    Jan 31, 2019 at 23:21
  • @DarkCygnus The word "negotiate" literally didn't occur a single time in the question or any of the answers there, so I'm not sure how you reached that conclusion.
    – user98941
    Jan 31, 2019 at 23:32
  • The word per se does not appear, correct. However, that doesn't mean they aren't talking about the offer negotiating process: "What is the proper and professional way to handle/coordinate/juggle the interviewing and offer process when pursuing a new job?" - The question asked (and the answers given) address the process of handling (negotiating, if you may) offers and interviews... suggesting things like how much to wait before negotiating and taking an offer, how/if use an offer to negotiate and pursue others, etc...
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    Jan 31, 2019 at 23:46
  • Anyways, I suggest you reread those answers and adapt the insights to your situation and your inquiry about how/when/if to negotiate. Also, let's see what other things users can share here :) Welcome to The Workplace btw
    – DarkCygnus ♦
    Jan 31, 2019 at 23:48
  • @DarkCygnus Yeah I guess my question is a bit longwinded and the only thing that I wanted to focus on is the timing to start the email for salary negotiation. Seems that I should take most of the advice out there as meaning I should just tell them to wait for a while before I can evaluate as many options as feasible, and after that start the salary negotiation then.
    – user98941
    Jan 31, 2019 at 23:53

2 Answers 2

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I would like to see all the offers and evaluate my options before I make a decision

That's usually just not practical. It'd be great if life worked this way, but it (usually) doesn't.

You may have had an offer from company A, but they may have 4 more good offers on the table and need someone to start ASAP. You may ideally prefer to work for company B, but the tech lead is on holiday until the end of the week and and so they won't interview until after company A's deadline. Company C may also have an offer, but rescind it as soon as you mention you have other offers on the table, as Janet from HR has had a bad experience with other candidates moving elsewhere.

The best you can do is be reasonably open everywhere you're applying - you can gently request that interviews are conducted ASAP, you can gently request that you have a little more time to consider a company's offer as you have others on the table. Hopefully if you take that strategy, you'll wind up in a place where you can at least compare a couple of offers side by side, and in return employers should be frank with you with a deadline for when they need to hear back.

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  • That's true. My question though is particularly about negotiating. So what you're suggesting is still that I start the salary negotiation process only before the deadline we agreed they'd hear back from me on?
    – user98941
    Jan 31, 2019 at 23:35
  • Also in my particular case company A needs to hire 6 devs with a relatively niche technology, but currently have nailed down none. So I would think I have a bit more wriggling room here.
    – user98941
    Jan 31, 2019 at 23:36
  • @user98941 I'm suggesting that you can wait a certain length of time before beginning negotiations so you have (hopefully) multiple offers on the table - but it's just not practical that you'll have all offers back before you can take your pick.
    – berry120
    Jan 31, 2019 at 23:36
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    Just to emphasize berry's last point: The opening offer is in my opinion the most relevant. I would suggest the research to start with a good offer is most important. Few negotiators will be willing to up that by a large percentage later. Anchoring very much is a thing, imo.
    – bytepusher
    Jan 31, 2019 at 23:40
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I would like to say that you should get yourself a sense of your worth in terms of what you want for a salary, benefits and any trade offs that may exist between those two things. This is needed so you have a starting point as to what kind of offers you would accept. This also allows you to enter into negotiation right away if you feel that is needed concerning the offer at hand.

On the other hand if you do not have a decent picture in your mind as to what your self worth really is you will be trying to use multiple offers as a calibration tool. This could totally backfire for you for a number of reasons:

  1. Multiple offers may not be forthcoming
  2. It is a pretty sure bet that your attempts to get hiring managers into a bidding war with each other will reflect badly on you
  3. The employer will certainly see front end salary negotiation as a hint that all you are in it for is the money and will have low confidence that you are really serious about the work, the job and your long term commitment.
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  • The thing is that company A is in a really early stage and is having a bit of trouble finding senior engineers. I will theoretically take a junior role and the pay is decent for a junior position, but not stellar either especially as they don't have a relocation package. I can easily envision myself taking on more traditionally "senior" responsibilities if I join the company this early. Might actually end up being the first engineer after the CTO. So ideally I want to negotiate a relatively higher salary. I understand that the situation at more established companies might be different.
    – user98941
    Feb 1, 2019 at 11:07
  • I don't agree that the employer would see the attempt to negotiate my salaries as a hint that "I'm in it only for the money". I can be interested in the project but also want to be paid accordingly. If I take the project seriously and expect to make a lot of contribution, the pay should also reflect that. Multiple guides on salary negotiation seem to have pointed out that many employers would expect the employees to do some sort of negotiation, and it is something quite normal. Your point about one's worth is reasonable though.
    – user98941
    Feb 2, 2019 at 0:11

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