Offers, counteroffers, and your final decision
Review written terms, coordinate deadlines honestly, negotiate priorities together, and decide using evidence rather than pressure or fear of losing out.
Author: ResumeYek team
Suggested practice time: 35 minutes, separate from reading.
A verbal offer is good news, but base decisions on written terms. Excitement, fear of losing out, and deadlines can displace the criteria you established earlier.
1. What should a complete offer include?
- Title, manager, and role description
- Contract type and start date
- Amount, currency/unit, and net or gross basis
- Insurance, bonuses, leave, and benefits
- Location, remote arrangement, hours, and probation
- Conditions such as background confirmation
- Response deadline
- Negotiated agreements
Do not assume an important unwritten promise is confirmed. Politely request that final terms reflect agreements.
2. Ask for time and coordinate other processes
"Thank you for the offer. I would like to review the details and respond by ... Does that timing work?"
If genuinely in another final-stage process:
"I received another offer with deadline ..., but remain seriously interested in your opportunity. Could you clarify or bring forward the final-stage timing?"
Do not bluff. This provides coordination information, not a guarantee of acceleration.
3. Negotiate coherently
Raise main priorities together rather than making successive new demands:
- Confirm interest and fit.
- Give two strong, relevant reasons.
- Make a specific request.
- Name one or two prioritized alternatives.
- Pause and listen.
"I am interested in joining. Given scope X and my experience in Y, my target is ... If base salary cannot change, my next priority is a written six-month review with clear criteria, or two remote days."
4. A current employer's counteroffer
Compare more than money. Has the original reason for leaving—authority, manager, growth, or environment—actually changed?
Ask:
- What exactly changes, and when?
- Is it written?
- Why was it unavailable before I announced departure?
- How would staying affect trust and future progression?
- With equal pay, which environment would I choose?
Counteroffers are not inherently good or bad; they need to solve the original problem.
5. Accept or decline professionally
Accepting: Confirm final details and next steps. Avoid irreversible resignation before principal conditions are clear.
Declining: Be brief, respectful, and definite:
"Thank you for the offer and the team's time. After reviewing it, I have decided not to accept because another option better matches my current priority of ... I appreciated meeting the team and wish you well."
Do not reveal another offer's confidential details.
The regret test
For each option:
- If I regretted it six months later, why might that be?
- Which risks can be corrected, and which are structural?
- What am I assuming without evidence?
- Am I deciding from fear or my pre-offer criteria?
A good decision does not guarantee results. It uses available information, clear criteria, and acknowledged risks.