PromptZone - Leading AI Community for Prompt Engineering and AI Enthusiasts

Salary and offer conversations

Compensation conversations fail for a specific reason: the moment arrives before the wording does. You are asked for a number in the first ten minutes of a screen, or an offer lands with a deadline attached, and whatever you say next is worth thousands of euros a year for as long as you hold the job.

These prompts cover the moments where that happens — being asked your expectations, receiving a number below your range, weighing two offers, asking for a raise where you already work, and turning something down without closing the door. Each one drafts language from facts you supply. None of them decides what you are worth or what you should accept; they help you say the thing you have already decided to say, clearly and without apologising for it.

These prompts help you draft. They are not legal or financial advice. Pay transparency, notice periods, equity terms and tax treatment differ by country and change often. Nothing here tells you what a law requires or what you are entitled to — check the official source for your own jurisdiction, and take contract and equity terms to a professional before you sign.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Answering "what are your salary expectations?"

#chatgpt #prompt 
Act as a recruiter who asks every candidate for a number early because whoever speaks first anchors the negotiation. Write three ways for the applicant to answer, in ascending order of how much they concede: one that returns the question to the employer, one that gives a researched range with a justification, one that gives a range with a stated condition attached. Each under 40 words, none apologetic, none using the word "flexible". Situation: {{situation}}

Fill in: The role, your location, and any market range you have researched.

Known limits: The deflecting variant stops working once a posting or a jurisdiction requires a stated range — use the range variants there.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Asking for a raise where you already work

#chatgpt #prompt 
Act as a manager who has a limited budget and needs a defensible case to take upward. Write a one-page raise request under 250 words structured as: what the employee's scope was when the current salary was set, what it is now, three concrete results with numbers or dates, the specific figure requested, and a proposed date to decide by. No comparisons to colleagues' pay, no mention of personal financial need, no threat to leave. Situation: {{situation}}

Fill in: When your salary was last set, how your scope changed since, and three results with numbers.

Known limits: Deliberately omits cost-of-living and personal-need arguments; if those are your real reasons, this frames a different case than the one you hold.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Asking what the equity is actually worth

#chatgpt #prompt 
Write the questions an applicant should ask before treating an equity grant as compensation. Cover: number of shares versus percentage, the total outstanding share count, the current preferred and common valuations, the strike price, the vesting schedule and cliff, the exercise window after leaving, and what happened to option holders in any prior liquidity event. Phrase each as a direct question the applicant can paste into an email, grouped under short headings. Context: {{context}}

Fill in: The stage of the company and what the offer letter already states.

Known limits: Produces the questions, not the answers — an early-stage company may decline to answer several, which is itself information.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-30
Curated

Asking what the pay band actually is

#chatgpt #prompt 
Write the questions that establish where an offer sits inside an employer's own structure: the band for this level, where the offer falls within it, what distinguishes the top of the band from the bottom, when bands are reviewed, and what a move to the next level requires. Phrase each so it can be asked without implying the offer is unfair. Then close by naming which of these an employer may be least willing to answer, and pointing the reader at the official source for their own country's pay-transparency rules. Do not state what any law requires or what the reader is entitled to — you cannot know the current rules for their jurisdiction. Context: {{context}}

Fill in: The offered figure, the level or grade if you were told one, and the country.

Known limits: Deliberately does not tell you what your legal rights are. Pay-transparency rules vary by jurisdiction and change often — check the official source for your country before relying on anything here.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Comparing two offers on total compensation

#chatgpt #prompt 
Act as a compensation analyst. Given two job offers, build a plain comparison table covering base, bonus (state whether guaranteed or at-target), equity with its stated assumptions, pension or retirement contribution, paid leave, and any one-off payments, then state in two sentences which components are certain and which are contingent. Do not tell the applicant which offer to take and do not project equity values beyond the assumptions given. Offers: {{offers}}

Fill in: Every component of both offers, including the equity terms as written.

Known limits: Any component you omit is silently absent from the comparison — list everything, including leave and pension.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Countering an offer below your range

#chatgpt #prompt 
Act as a hiring manager who expects most candidates to accept the first number. Write a counter-offer message under 150 words that: thanks them without gushing, restates enthusiasm for the role in one clause, names a specific counter figure with a one-line reason grounded in market data or scope, and ends with a question that keeps the conversation open rather than an ultimatum. Never say "I was hoping for" or "is there any flexibility". Offer and context: {{context}}

Fill in: The offered figure, your researched range, and the role's scope.

Known limits: Produces a weak reason when no market data or scope change is supplied — give it one concrete justification or the counter reads as a wish.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Declining an offer without burning the bridge

#chatgpt #prompt 
Write a short message declining a job offer that keeps the relationship intact: thank them specifically for something real from the process, decline plainly in one sentence without a drawn-out justification, give a reason that is true but not wounding, and leave a genuine opening for future contact only if the applicant means it. Under 110 words. Do not offer to 'stay in touch' as a formality and do not disclose the competing figure. Context: {{context}}

Fill in: Why you are declining and whether you would genuinely consider them later.

Known limits: The closing line is only worth including if it is true; recruiters remember who meant it.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Deferring the number in a first screen

#chatgpt #prompt 
Write four ways to postpone naming a figure in an early screening call without refusing outright: each acknowledges the question, gives a reason for waiting that serves the employer's interest, and proposes when to have the conversation instead. Each under 30 words, all speakable without sounding rehearsed. Then add one line naming the point at which further deferral starts to look evasive. Context: {{context}}

Fill in: How early the question came and how much you know about the role's scope so far.

Known limits: Deferring past a second conversation tends to cost goodwill; the prompt flags the limit but the judgement stays yours.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Getting the full offer in writing

#chatgpt #prompt 
Write a short, warm email asking for a verbal offer to be confirmed in writing before the applicant responds. Request, as a list: base, bonus terms and whether guaranteed, equity with share count and strike price, start date, probation length and its notice period, notice period after probation, leave entitlement, pension contribution, and any conditions the offer depends on. Keep the prose around the list short — the list itself may run as long as it needs to. Frame it as wanting to give a considered answer rather than as distrust. Context: {{context}}

Fill in: What you were told verbally and by whom.

Known limits: A recruiter may send a summary rather than a contract; the terms that bind are the ones in the signed document.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Handling a same-week offer deadline

#chatgpt #prompt 
Act as a candidate given an unreasonably short deadline to accept an offer while another process is still running. Write two messages: one to the employer imposing the deadline, asking for a specific extension with a reason that serves them, and one to the other employer, disclosing that a deadline exists and asking whether their process can be accelerated. Neither invents a competing figure. Each under 110 words. Situation: {{situation}}

Fill in: Both deadlines, and how far along the other process actually is.

Known limits: Naming a rival company can backfire in small markets — the prompt omits names, and you should too unless you have a reason.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Negotiating a signing bonus to bridge a gap

#chatgpt #prompt 
Act as a hiring manager whose base-salary band is genuinely fixed but whose signing bonus is discretionary. Write a 100-word message asking for a one-off payment to close a specific, quantified gap — forfeited bonus, unvested equity, relocation cost, or a notice period served unpaid. Name the figure and what it replaces. Do not ask for a signing bonus as a substitute for a base increase without saying so plainly. Gap to bridge: {{gap}}

Fill in: The exact amount you are giving up and what it is.

Known limits: Works only where a real forfeited amount exists; invented gaps are easy for a recruiter to check.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Negotiating with no competing offer

#chatgpt #prompt 
Act as a negotiation coach advising someone with no alternative offer and no intention of bluffing about one. Write a 120-word negotiation message that creates leverage from evidence rather than from competition: name one specific result the applicant has delivered, tie it to a requirement in this role, and make one precise ask. Do not imply other offers exist. Do not use the words "market rate" without a figure attached. Situation: {{situation}}

Fill in: Your strongest measurable result and the specific ask you want to make.

Known limits: Only as strong as the result you supply; a vague achievement produces a vague message.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Promoted without a raise

#chatgpt #prompt 
Act as an employee who has accepted a new title and more responsibility without a pay change and now wants to correct it without appearing ungrateful for the promotion. Write a 150-word message that separates the two things explicitly: acknowledge the title and the trust, then state the scope difference as facts, then ask for the compensation review the promotion should have triggered, with a date. Do not frame it as a complaint about the past decision. Situation: {{situation}}

Fill in: When the promotion happened, what changed in your scope, and what was said about pay at the time.

Known limits: If pay was explicitly deferred to a stated date, lead with that commitment instead — this framing assumes nothing was promised.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Responding to "what's your current salary?"

#chatgpt #prompt 
Act as a candidate who does not want to disclose their current salary and does not want to sound evasive. Write three replies: one that declines and redirects to the role's budget, one that answers with a forward-looking expectation instead, and one for the case where disclosure is unavoidable and the current figure is low. Each under 35 words and each polite enough to say out loud in a first call. Context: {{context}}

Fill in: Where the conversation is happening and whether your current figure is below your target.

Known limits: Several jurisdictions bar employers from asking at all; check local rules before deciding how much to concede.

PromptZone Editorial
run 2026-07-29
Curated

Trading money for flexibility

#chatgpt #prompt 
Act as a negotiator whose salary ask has been refused and who wants to convert the refusal into something else of value. Write a 120-word reply that accepts the base figure without resentment and asks for one specific non-salary term instead — remote days, compressed hours, a training budget, extra leave, an earlier review date, or a title change. Make the ask precise and dated. Do not ask for several things at once. Situation: {{situation}}

Fill in: The refused ask and the one alternative term you would genuinely trade for it.

Known limits: Asking for several terms at once reads as a second negotiation; the prompt enforces one, so choose before you run it.