Salary negotiation, Quantity Surveyor, Arjun Mehta to Brightline Constructions

Salary negotiation letter written after a job offer

A salary negotiation letter names one number, gives the reasons for it and keeps the offer alive by making clear the candidate wants the job. This one page letter from a quantity surveyor asks for $92,000 against an offer of $84,000, sets out three grounds in a table and offers an alternative if the base cannot move.

Create a document with OneCraft1 A4 page, editable, then download as a PDF

The document, page by page

Every page as it renders and as it prints, with nothing summarised. Read the wording before you reuse it.

Arjun Mehta

8 Harbour View Close, Westmere · arjun.mehta@mailbox.example

Monday 28 September 2026
Ms Kate Ellison, Commercial Manager
Brightline Constructions, 61 Gantry Street, Westmere

Your offer of the Quantity Surveyor role

Dear Kate, thank you for the offer of 24 September. I want to join Brightline, and the hospital project is exactly the work I hoped to move into. Before I accept, I would like to ask whether the base salary can be $92,000 rather than the $84,000 offered.

Basis	Detail
Qualifications	Both chartered qualifications your advert listed as desirable, held since 2022 and 2024
Market range	The current published salary guide gives $88,000 to $97,000 for this role and region
Experience	Cost planning on two health projects over $40 million, which the role description names

If the base salary cannot move. I understand bands are sometimes fixed. In that case, either of these would make the decision easy: a one off sign on payment of $5,000, or a salary review at six months against agreed targets, with the review date in the contract.

I can start on the date you proposed whichever way this goes. Could you let me know by Saturday 3 October? I am glad to talk it through by phone if that is quicker.

Kind regards

Name

Arjun Mehta

Section by section

What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.

Monogram letterhead: The candidate's name, initials, address and email.
Addressee and subject: The commercial manager by name and the offer being discussed.
Commitment and ask: Thanks, a clear wish to join and the request for $92,000 in one sentence.
Basis table: Qualifications, the published market range and relevant project experience.
Alternative: A sign on payment or a six month review if the base salary is fixed.
Reply date: The start date unaffected and a reply asked for by 3 October.
Sign off: The candidate's name under the signature line.

Alternatives to base pay

Many employers set salaries in bands and cannot move a new hire above the band without approval from further up. A good negotiation letter anticipates that and offers a route around it. A one off sign on payment costs the business once and does not compound. A review at six months against written targets lets the employer test the claim before paying for it. Other options include extra annual leave, a professional development budget, a vehicle or travel allowance, or a later start date. Offer one or two, not a menu, and say which you would prefer.

Evidence that persuades

Three kinds of evidence carry weight, roughly in this order. First, anything the employer itself asked for: qualifications or experience listed as desirable in the advert or role description. Second, specific results from your past work that bear on the job, with numbers. Third, published market data, such as a recruitment firm's salary guide or official earnings statistics for the occupation. What does not persuade is personal cost, such as a mortgage or a commute, and comparisons with what a friend earns. Put the evidence in a small table so it reads as facts rather than pleading.

How to adapt this document

Change the names, role and offer date, then replace the two salary figures with the offer and your single ask. Rebuild the table with your own three grounds, starting with whatever the advert listed as desirable. Choose an alternative you would genuinely accept and delete the other. Give a reply date three to five working days away, so the employer has time to seek approval. Keep the first paragraph's commitment even if you are weighing another offer; if you are not prepared to accept at the higher figure, do not send the letter yet.

What makes this document work

Commitment comes before the ask

The first paragraph says he wants to join and names the hospital project he hopes to work on, then asks the question. An employer who reads that the candidate is keen is far more willing to go back to the budget than one who reads a demand.

One number, and the gap is modest

$92,000 against $84,000 is a single figure inside the $88,000 to $97,000 guide range in the table. Asking for one number near the middle of a published range is easy to approve; a range invites the bottom of it.

A fallback that costs less to grant

If bands are fixed, a one off $5,000 sign on payment or a written six month review gives the employer two ways to say yes without breaking its pay structure. The letter also says he can start on the agreed date either way.

Questions people ask

How do I negotiate salary in a letter?

Thank the employer, say you want the role, ask for one specific figure in one sentence, then give two or three reasons rooted in the job and the market. Offer an alternative if base pay is fixed, and give a date to reply by. Keep it to one page and keep the tone collaborative; the letter is the start of a conversation, not an ultimatum.

Can negotiating lose me the job offer?

It is rare when the request is reasonable and polite, because the employer has already chosen you and restarting the search is expensive. It becomes a risk when the ask is far above the market, when the tone is combative, or when the candidate keeps adding new requests. One clear, evidenced request, as in this letter, is normal practice in most professional hiring.

What if the employer will not raise the base salary?

Ask for something that does not change the pay band: a sign on payment, an earlier review with agreed targets written into the contract, extra leave, a study allowance or a later start date. Choose the one that matters most to you and offer it in the same letter, so the employer can say yes in one reply instead of two.

Where can I find evidence for a salary request?

Recruitment firms publish annual salary guides by role and region, and national statistics offices publish average earnings by industry and occupation. Use the guide that matches your role and location, quote the range rather than the top figure, and pair it with something specific about you, such as qualifications the advert asked for. Evidence about yourself persuades more than market data alone.

Should I negotiate by phone or in writing?

Writing first works well because it lets you choose the words, gives the hiring manager something to forward to whoever approves budgets, and keeps a record. Offer a call in the same letter so it does not feel cold. If the employer phones you with the offer, it is fine to thank them, ask for a day, and then send this letter.

Build your own in about a minute

The button below opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own, generate, then edit anything you like.

Make one like this

Sources

Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked 21 October 2026.