Negotiating your salary without losing the offer
Most people in the region accept the first number offered. Employers know this, which is why the first number is rarely the highest one available.
Negotiating does not cost you the job. An offer withdrawn because a candidate asked politely once is vanishingly rare, and tells you something useful about the employer.
Find out what the role actually pays
- Read a month of adverts for the same title on Ajirika and note the ones that publish a range.
- Ask two or three people doing the job — not what they earn, but what the range is for the role.
- Ask a recruiter who places in your field. They will usually tell you.
- Separate gross from net. In Tanzania and Kenya, PAYE, NSSF and health contributions make the difference substantial.
When they ask first
Whoever names a number first anchors the negotiation. Try once to return the question — politely, and only once. Refusing twice reads as evasive.
Never quote your current salary
It is not a fair basis for the new role and it caps you at your last employer's judgement. If pressed, say you would rather discuss the market rate for this position.
Countering an offer
Ask for the offer in writing before responding to anything. Then take a day — nobody sensible withdraws an offer because a candidate asked for 24 hours.
One counter, one number, with a reason attached. Reasons that work are about the role and the market. Reasons that do not work are about your rent, your school fees or another offer you do not actually have.
When the salary genuinely cannot move
Government scales and donor-funded posts often really are fixed. Other things usually are not.
- A salary review at six months rather than twelve, written into the offer.
- A transport, housing or airtime allowance.
- Medical cover extended to dependants.
- Paid professional membership and exam fees — ACCA, CPA, CPS, engineering registration.
- Additional leave days, or flexibility on where you work.
- A title that will be worth something at your next move.
Get it in writing
Anything agreed verbally that is not in the offer letter has a way of disappearing when the manager who promised it moves on.
Asking for a raise in a job you already have
Different conversation, same principle: bring evidence, not need. Ask for a scheduled meeting rather than raising it in a corridor, and go in with what you have delivered since the last review, written down.
Time it after something has gone well and before budgets are set — not in the month the accounts close badly.
Common questions
How do I answer 'what are your salary expectations'?
Will negotiating cost me the job offer?
Should I tell them my current salary?
What can I negotiate if the salary is fixed?
Practise before the real thing
Sit a mock interview with a three-person panel built from the actual job advert, answer out loud, and get a written report on what landed and what did not.