Ask HN: Do you negotiate salary in this job market? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Do you negotiate salary in this job market?

#21

Post by paulcole » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 2:35 AM UTC

JohnFen wrote: post #8

Always negotiate. The only effect the job market has on negotiations is it can lower the upper limit of what you can get out of it. But you should always negotiate, because if you don't, you'll almost always be getting less than you're worth regardless of market conditions.

If you absolutely positively can’t afford to lose an offer then don’t negotiate. Take the offer. It doesn’t matter if you’re accepting “less than you’re worth” (a nonsense phrase if there ever was one) when you absolutely positively can’t afford to lose an offer.

Re: Ask HN: Do you negotiate salary in this job market?

#22

Post by the_black_hand » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 6:25 AM UTC

Always negotiate no matter what. If you get an offer, it means the company WANTS you for something. Experience, skillset etc use that as leverage. Yeah, the market is tough but there's no harm in trying.

Re: Ask HN: Do you negotiate salary in this job market?

#23

Post by iExploder » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 6:59 AM UTC

foobarbaz33 wrote: post #20

Negotiate downward. They offer 100k, you counter with 90k. they meet you in the middle at 95 then you counter 85 and stand firm there.

This is the only true way to establish dominance.

Re: Ask HN: Do you negotiate salary in this job market?

#24

Post by kypro » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 12:57 PM UTC

Always ask for more and always try to sell it as a win-win thing to keep you motivated and untempted by "less interesting roles" which pay more.

Always ask how often the company does salary reviews. They'll not want to say "never" and anything they say you can note and use as a means to ask for a higher salary in the future.

In general, in this market, I'd argue it's worth taking the job either way. 5-10% extra pay isn't worth another 2-3 months of unemployment. But that's a calculus you as an individual will need to make depending on your confidence of finding something else and your own financial security.

Re: Ask HN: Do you negotiate salary in this job market?

#25

Post by ohman876 » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 1:03 PM UTC

kypro wrote: post #24

Always ask for more and always try to sell it as a win-win thing to keep you motivated and untempted by "less interesting roles" which pay more. Always ask how often the company does salary reviews. They'll not want to say "never" and anything they say you can note and use as a means to ask for a higher salary in the future. In general, in this market, I'd argue it's worth taking the job either way. 5-10% extra pay i…

> how often the company does salary reviews

result of salary review can be no raise, so this might be not very useful

> 5-10% extra pay isn't worth another 2-3 months of unemployment

imho it's not worth the risk, unless your base makes that 10% big enough to outweight the risks :)

Re: Ask HN: Do you negotiate salary in this job market?

#26

Post by JustExAWS » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 2:59 PM UTC

johnnyanmac wrote: post #19

JustExAWS wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rest of your career? When I want more money than a cost of living raise, I change jobs. Because of salary compression, you’re almost always going to be better off changing jobs.

Are you finding it easy yo change jobs these days?

Last two times were October 2023 with three offers within two weeks after I got Amazoned and October of last year. One offer with two weeks and it was based on an internal recruiter where I work now who reached out to me right before I got laid off.

Two of the three offers in 2023 were from my network. But honestly, it might be harder now. It’s more of shit show now then even last year. On the other hand, I am at point in life where I’m good with just cost of living raises as long as I stay remote and I don’t have to deal with too much BS.

Re: Ask HN: Do you negotiate salary in this job market?

#27

Post by gethly » Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 4:02 PM UTC

foobarbaz33 wrote: post #20

Negotiate downward. They offer 100k, you counter with 90k. they meet you in the middle at 95 then you counter 85 and stand firm there.

The Amy Wong negotiation tactics :D

Re: Ask HN: Do you negotiate salary in this job market?

#28

Post by johnnyanmac » Mon, Nov 03, 2025, 9:29 PM UTC

JustExAWS wrote: post #26

johnnyanmac wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you finding it easy yo change jobs these days?

Last two times were October 2023 with three offers within two weeks after I got Amazoned and October of last year. One offer with two weeks and it was based on an internal recruiter where I work now who reached out to me right before I got laid off. Two of the three offers in 2023 were from my network. But honestly, it might be harder now. It’s more of shit show now then even last year. On the other hand, I am at poi…

Yeah, sounds like you got in right before the bridge burned. It's amazing how quickly things torpedoed from there.

My last full time role in June 2022 and then that studio lost funding and laid off in June 2023. I took a few months off because this was my 2nd layoff in 2 years, and when I tried to resume in September I can already feel the difference. You got an offer in October and in that same time I was 6 interviews and over 5 weeks deep into a company that would proceed to ghost me (and I checked weekly with the recruiter who would simply say "yeah we're still evaluating".

Little did I know it was a precursor of the circus that was 2024. By 2025 I would simply give up and grab some part time work just to survive.

It's rough.