The counter, and the arithmetic behind it

The first offer is a position, not a verdict. Employers in the region generally build in room — sometimes a little, sometimes a lot — and a polite, well-argued counter is a normal part of the process that very rarely costs anyone an offer. The risk candidates imagine is much larger than the risk that exists.

Counter once, on everything at once

The most common tactical error is negotiating serially: getting the salary moved, then coming back about the start date, then about the ticket allowance. It exhausts goodwill and makes each subsequent ask harder. Read the whole offer, decide everything you want to change, and put it in a single message.

Give a reason that is not about you

"I need more" is weak. Market data, scope, and the specifics of what you are giving up are strong.

"Thank you — I'm genuinely keen and would like to make this work. Two things: on the base, what I've seen for this scope sits closer to 34, and I'd be leaving a bonus that pays out in March. If you can get to 33 with the start date moved to the 15th, I'll sign it today."

That message does four things well: it confirms interest, it names a specific number, it gives a reason external to your preferences, and it tells them exactly what closes the deal. Employers move most readily for candidates who make the close easy.

Know what is actually flexible

• Base salary is often the most constrained, especially inside a banded structure at a large employer.
• Sign-on is frequently the easiest thing to move, because it does not raise the band or affect anyone else.
• Start date, ticket allowance, relocation support, an extra week of leave, and a training budget are often available when cash is not.
• Title can be negotiable and is worth thinking about carefully — it affects your next role more than this one.
• A written review at six months, with the criteria stated, is a reasonable ask when the band is genuinely capped.

Do the arithmetic before you answer

Compare total annual cash, not monthly basic: base times twelve or thirteen depending on the structure, plus allowances, plus the realistic — not target — bonus, plus anything you would otherwise pay for yourself. Then subtract what you lose by moving: an unvested bonus, a gratuity accrual that resets, relocation costs, a notice period you must serve unpaid. That number, not the headline, is what you are comparing.

About your current employer's counter-offer

If you resign and they respond with more money, be careful. The reasons you started looking are rarely financial, and rarely fixed by a raise. You are also now, in their eyes, a person who was leaving. Some counter-offers are genuine and work out; take one only if the underlying problem is one that money actually solves, and be honest with yourself about whether it is.

The worst realistic outcome of a polite counter is that they say no and you accept the original. Candidates who never counter pay for that fear every month for years.