Salary Negotiation Counter Offer Letter (Format & Example)

A salary negotiation letter has one main purpose. It’s written formally to request the salary you believe you deserve based on your experience and work background. These letters are written when a potential employee feels that the salary offered is too low. Salary negotiation letters can be used in nearly any industry and can be beneficial in a formal or more casual workplace setting.

When you write a salary negotiation counter-offer, it’s important to stay professional. This letter is your opportunity to provide relevant information as to why you feel like the offered salary should be adjusted. A counter-offer means that you’ve already been in negotiations which shows that you likely need to provide examples and specific information to back up your claims. Many salary negotiation letters are used to request a meeting to further discuss the offer. Be sure to stay positive and don’t bring up anything that could be misconstrued as negative towards the company or your would-be employers.

When writing this type of letter, several important points include getting your desired salary. You can briefly list your achievements to include specific information on why you believe your salary offer should be raised. A counter-offer can include data that compare your salary to others in the same field to provide backup evidence on your worth based on your performance against others who do the same job in the same industry as you. A salary counter-offer letter can also be used simply to request a meeting on the subject.

Your counter-offer letter can include a brief summary of other communications you’ve had with your would-be employers that are directly related to adjusting your salary offer. Don’t feel hesitant to include specific information and examples about why you believe your counter-offer should be accepted. Salary negotiations can make some potential employees feel uncomfortable. But you shouldn’t. This is your opportunity to talk about the success you’ve had and to provide reasons why you’re valuable enough to the company to earn those higher wages.

If you include information comparing yourself to others in your field as evidence to negotiate your salary, don’t speak about those people in a negative way. Keep your letter neutral towards others so as not to give off a bad impression of yourself. Don’t include information that talks about how you personally feel entitled to a raise in your salary offer. Keep your information directly related to job performance and leave out personal stories or anything about needing the extra money.

The tone of this type of letter should be formal and positive. Don’t include any information that could be misconstrued as negativity towards the company you want to work for. It’s also important to write your letter with a positive tone which will help your case and show that you’re reasonable and will be a good employee who keeps a positive attitude.

Salary Negotiation Counter Offer Letter (Word Template)

A salary negotiation counter offer is your opportunity to advocate for yourself. It’s important to include information that tells your superiors why you deserve a salary increase. Keep your tone positive and give specific examples of your work performance. This is also an appropriate time to include information that compares your salary to others who perform the same job in your field. Most importantly, keep it professional and brief.