The negotiation coach
Ninety seconds on the phone is worth more per minute than any other part of a job hunt, and almost nobody rehearses it. This gives you the words: what to say, the email to send afterwards, and what to ask for instead if the salary genuinely will not move.
Sign in to use this
The negotiation coach is part of On the Move, the paid plan. It is not one of the free plan's 15 AI actions a month, which cover follow-ups, thank-you notes, referee requests and "why this role" drafts inside the tracker. Sign in first, so your offers and your allowance follow you between devices.
The negotiation coach is part of On the Move
It writes from your actual offer and what you actually want, so the script has real numbers in it rather than advice. Paid plans are what keep Jobtracker free for people who are between jobs.
On the Move is $7.99 a month billed annually, or $9.99 month to month, and it keeps working after you land, for the next move. Everything you already use stays exactly as it is.
The offer
If the ad showed a range and the offer is below the midpoint, that is the single strongest thing you can point at.
Your position
Only put something here if it is true. You will never be asked to bluff, and a bluff that gets called costs you the offer you have.
A fixed salary band is often genuinely fixed. These usually are not, and they sit with the manager rather than with finance.
Your script
What the script looks like
An example for Sam Example, the invented Business Analyst in the demo, offered $128,000 for a role advertised at $120,000 to $135,000.
What to say on the phone
"Thank you, I am really pleased, and I want to say yes."
"Before I do, can we talk about the base? You have offered $128,000, and I was hoping for $135,000."
"The role was advertised up to $135,000, and I can take over the reporting from my first week."
"Is there room to get there?"
Then stop talking, and let them answer first.
The email to send after
Kia ora,
Thank you again for the offer for the Senior Business Analyst role. I am keen, and I would like to accept.
As we discussed, I am asking for $135,000 on the base. Everything else in the offer works for me.
Ngā mihi,
Sam
If they say no
Ask for one of these instead, one rather than all of them:
- An extra week of leave, worth roughly 2% of the salary
- A pay review at six months, in writing
- A training budget, or a professional membership paid for
How this actually goes
- Ask, then stop talking. The silence after the number is the whole technique. Let them answer first.
- Never bluff about an offer you do not have. It gets called more often than people think, and it costs you the one you do have.
- They expect you to ask. About half of Kiwis have never negotiated their pay, and the ones who do are not thought worse of for it.
- If the base will not move, move something else. An extra week of leave is roughly 2% of your salary and usually sits with the hiring manager, not with finance.
- Get it in writing before you resign. A verbal "we will review it in six months" is worth what it costs to say.
Want the long version? Salary negotiation in New Zealand covers the whole conversation, from finding the range before anyone asks to what to do when the offer arrives.
Written with AI, from the numbers you gave it. It does not know what the employer can afford and will not pretend to. Check the whole package after tax with the offer comparer.