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Negotiating Your Next Job Offer, with Marcia Torres

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Negotiating a job offer shapes far more than your first day on the job. On this week’s episode of Find Your Dream Job, HR expert Marcia Torres shares why your starting salary influences future raises, bonuses, and long-term earning potential — and why employers expect candidates to ask questions, review their offers carefully, and advocate for what they need. Marcia also talks about the value of taking 24 hours to read through an offer, getting clear on your bottom line, and using reliable salary data to understand where you should land in a range.

She then walks through what candidates can negotiate beyond base pay, including job titles, professional development funds, PTO, and other benefits that make up a full compensation package. Marcia offers practical, down-to-earth guidance on how to approach these conversations collaboratively, build rapport with recruiters, and make a thoughtful decision about your next role.

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Find Your Dream Job, Episode 531:

Negotiating Your Next Job Offer, with Marcia Torres

Airdate: December 10, 2025

Mac Prichard:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I’m your host, Mac Prichard. I’m also the founder of Mac’s List. It’s a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career.

Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.

An employer wants to hire you.

Congratulations!

Now it’s time to close the deal.

Marcia Torres is here to talk about negotiating your next job offer.

She’s the founder of Imagen Talent Solutions.

It’s a consulting firm reimagining HR and talent strategy for startups, nonprofits, and growing businesses.

She joins us from Portland, Oregon.

Well, let’s jump right into it. Marcia, why is it important to negotiate, especially your salary, when you get a job offer?

Marcia Torres:

You know, the biggest reason is that it follows you for years, right? The minute that you start with an offer or a salary, that will follow you into your progression of your career. So raises, bonuses, and all those future job offers are calculated based on your current pay.

So, depending on where you start, if you start lower, then you aren’t able to move and progress as quickly as maybe others that have negotiated. So that’s why it’s important that you start negotiating early on your salary and your career.

You know, and I’ve seen some studies that negotiating your salary can actually increase your long-term earning potential, between like $500K to a million dollars in a lifetime. Right, it’s just starting, even if it’s a thousand dollars the first time and $2,000 the next time, the little bit that you’re doing as you’re progressing through. That does make a big difference for you in building that generational wealth for you and your family.

Mac Prichard:

And that’s because once you start the position, most employers, unless there’s a big change in responsibility, you’re going to be looking at incremental raises every year, aren’t you?

Marcia Torres:

Exactly, right? So, depending on the organization or depending on if you’re working for a nonprofit or if you’re working for the government type of roles, they all have their own type of annual increases, whether it’s performance increases, whether it’s cost of living increases, all, you know, could be bonuses. Those pieces are all tied into your package.

And so that is something to consider, that as you’re progressing, you know and understand those pieces of your total compensation package, not just the salary you get every month, because there’s more than just the salary you get every month.

Mac Prichard:

So that’s one reason why you need to do it. When it comes to negotiation, Marcia, what gender differences do you see between men and women?

Marcia Torres:

Yeah, I’ll speak from my personal experience. I didn’t start getting comfortable negotiating my salary until about seven to 10 years ago. And that is just something that, for me, culturally wasn’t something that we talk about, about finances.

But in general, for women and especially for women of color, there’s still sort of this hesitation to advocate for ourselves. You know, we don’t want to assume or not feel grateful for the opportunity. And so we feel that sometimes we’re considered demanding. And so that sometimes conditions us to not ask for that increase. Typically, the statistics show that about 40% of men will ask for a raise or negotiation over women. When women do actually negotiate, it’s about 84 % of the time that they’re successful.

So how do we increase that rate for everyone? And how do we get everybody in there? And there’s still that gender pay gap that exists between women and men. There’s still, even when you start talking about BIPOC for Black and Latino women, the gap is much worse. And so over a full career, a lifetime of career, that’s a lot of money that’s lost.

And that you could be considering to add on to your package if you negotiated. And so it’s really starting to get comfortable in having that self-advocacy and confidence of showing about what you can bring to the table, right? What is it that you are able to bring to an organization?

Mac Prichard:

What expectations do employers have about negotiation, especially about salary? Are they surprised when someone negotiates with them, a man or a woman?

Marcia Torres:

Being that I was a recruiter back in the day and then managed teams of recruiters for several years, we always know and expect negotiations to come in, right? And so when somebody is being provided an offer, for the most part, those offers should be fair based on your experience and skills.

However, those calculations are made on what was provided during the interview, what was shared in your resume, whether you took a skill assessment, if you had to complete something like that, and what your performance was on that skill assessment. All those components come into play to determine the salary based on the compensation range and the market rate, et cetera.

So for the most part, most companies have a range that they have approved in order to offer a role. And so, depending again on how you communicate, your skills and experience is where you land in that range. But most organizations typically have a little bit of wiggle room on how to negotiate. And sometimes it’s not on the salary side.

Maybe they are truly, and I will say like, for example, smaller organizations, nonprofits, small businesses, those types of things, startups. It may not be that they have more wiggle room on the cash flow side of things, but there could be other items that they can negotiate with you on.

And so those are opportunities for you to consider as well.

Mac Prichard:

I want to talk more about those opportunities. Before we get there, what would you say to an audience member who worries that if they don’t accept that first offer, they’re going to jeopardize the offer altogether and the employer will move on to another candidate?

Marcia Torres:

I always like to suggest giving it 24 hours. Ask for 24 hours to review the offer. Once an offer is extended to you, it’s exciting, right? Maybe you’ve been searching for several months, maybe even a year, in this market right now. A lot of people have been looking for a long time and are willing to take anything. But I always say take 24 hours. Ask for at least 24 hours to just review.

Read through everything, make sure that you’re comfortable, make sure you know what your bottom line is as to what you can accept in order to live, the basics that you need in order to live. And if that’s in agreement with what you’re receiving, then if you feel comfortable signing with that offer, then go ahead and sign with the offer. If you want to negotiate, it’s all about the tactic of how you negotiate, right? But give yourself 24 hours to review.

I’ve had a lot of people that, and I’ve been guilty of it as well, where I get the offer and I’m so excited, I’m like, yes. And then afterwards, I’m like, wait, I should have negotiated something else, right? Or in addition to that, can I get this? And there are some employers that even after you say yes and you go back and negotiate, they will consider some of your asks, but then there are others that won’t after you’ve agreed to it. So it’s really, I would say, 24 hours.

Mac Prichard:

Lesson number one: negotiate. Number two, employers expect you to negotiate. Number three, take that 24 hours to reflect on an offer before either accepting or making a counteroffer. And you mentioned negotiation tactics. Let’s unpack those.

When you’re thinking about making a counteroffer, how do you recommend people get started? What kind of research should they have done in creating that counteroffer? Perhaps let’s talk more about the bottom line. What is the bottom line, and why is it important to have one?

Marcia Torres:

So for me, when I talk about bottom line is we all have an amount that we can live –– rent, mortgage, those basics, right? If you added all that up for the year, what is the amount you would need to be able to do and support yourself and your family, however that may look in your household, right?

If you’re able to, with the offer given, if you’re able to meet that amount, then do you want to negotiate to be able to continue to move forward in your future career, which I always recommend again, negotiating is never off the table, always negotiate.

I will say there are exceptions. And the exceptions that I would say are really around, like if it’s a union role, if there’s an hourly role where there is a set limit that somebody that the company has set forward. So a lot of manufacturing roles, for example, if the entry point is, you know, $25 an hour, there is no negotiating it. That is $25 an hour, right? And then you progress in terms of your skills. So if you have one or two years of experience, maybe you’re at $27 an hour.

But it goes back to sharing those skills and experiences that you do have, so you get the right rate that you’re receiving. So, not negotiating, but communicating your skills and experience. Now, if we’re going back to the negotiating part, where we’re talking about: here’s my baseline of what I need to survive; here’s what I need to ensure I’m comfortable; and this work aligns with it, I would say don’t go to Glassdoor, number one.

Those market rates and those salary numbers aren’t necessarily accurate. And so, there’s definitely a lot of other areas that you can look at, like Salary.com, Payscale, those types of things that do have more realistic market rates, because it also is based on your area. So what may be offered in New York City isn’t the same as what’s going to be offered in Boise, Idaho, or in the middle of Montana; those salary rates are going to be very different just because of the cost of living.

So it’s understanding where you live, what you’re making, the role, et cetera, in your experience, and trying to put all those pieces together.

Mac Prichard:

Let’s pause there, Marcia. I don’t want to lose that train of thought, but we’re going to take a break. Stay with us. When we return, Marcia Torres will continue to share her advice on negotiating your next job offer.

We’re back in the Mac’s List Studio, I’m talking with Marcia Torres.

She’s the founder of Imagen Talent Solutions.

It’s a consulting firm re-imagining HR and talent strategy for startups, nonprofits, and growing businesses.

And she joins us from Portland, Oregon.

Now, Marcia, before the break, we were talking about negotiating your next job offer, and we were diving into the tactics of salary negotiation. I love the points you were making about the importance of research and the practical advice you shared about places people can look online to find salary information in their own markets.

Again, you stressed the importance of having a bottom line. Is there any other research you recommend for setting that bottom line, other than looking at websites that share salary market information?

Marcia Torres:

Yeah, I mean, absolutely. You can look at comparable roles within your market as well. So again, not looking at roles that are open in New York City, where those salary ranges are much wider and larger than perhaps even in Portland itself. And so being realistic in terms of looking for not just the job title, but the responsibilities aligned to a similar job that you’re doing.

And the size of the organization matters. For example, if I were comparing my salary from a small business to a Google, it’s not going to be a match, right? And so you want to make sure you’re looking at a comparable size, a comparable role, and in the right area to understand what the whole market rate would look like on the salary side.

And you know, there are so many other things that you can look at, too, from a company standpoint. So, the different benefits they offer. So that’s a whole package of your compensation. It’s you know, health care benefits, it’s professional development funds, do they have different stipends for remote or hybrid work, do they have different wellness or commuting benefits, right? Do they pay for your parking if you have to go into the office?

Do you have extra PTO? Do you have unlimited PTO? Do you have a flexible start date? And then sometimes the title and leveling. For example, maybe it’s showing up as just a marketing manager, but you’ve got more experience, and you’d like it to be bumped up to a senior marketing manager. That’s another great tool to negotiate with and say, ‘You know what, I’d like to see if we could get our title to a senior marketing manager.”

And what happens when that happens is, your range jumps up a little bit. And so then you can have a different conversation from a compensation standpoint. And those are all things that you can talk about during your salary negotiation efforts with an organization. And again, know, nonprofits, startups, those salary bands, those offerings might be a little tighter, but there might be other areas where they’re more flexible.

Mac Prichard:

What do you recommend someone do if the salary offer is lower than what the market offers? Should you be looking at benefits? Should you try to boost that figure? What have you seen work?

Marcia Torres:

Yeah, I would look at the benefits. So I know I had a friend recently who wanted to move from Portland to another city. And with that conversation, initially during the interview process, there was confirmation of we will not provide you any relocation benefits. And then through the negotiation and through the salary accepted the offer, and then mentioned, is there any possibility I could get any support with relocation? And they said, yes.

Right? And so sometimes it’s just asking and knowing that the worst case those answers could be no. And are you willing to accept the no? And if it is a no, are you willing to walk away? And again, I think it also depends on where we are from the marketplace today and where jobs are, security of roles, right? We keep seeing a lot of layoffs and everything else.

And so is it at this time today the place that you need to do is like maybe you do and does meet your bottom line and you’re to go ahead and take that because it just meets your bottom line and we need it to survive today or is it that you’re willing to walk away and try to find something else you know knowing there’s all this competition.

Mac Prichard:

In your experience, how long do these salary negotiations take to unfold? Is this something that happens in 24 hours over the course of the week?

Marcia Torres:

Typically, with recruiters again, when I would have a team, I would give them a range of, if they come back and negotiate, this is as high as we could go. If they come back or if they’re asking for additional PTO, it might be company policy that we can’t give additional PTO. So they have a response right away to provide.

If it’s something new, so for example, it’s, you know, they’re asking for additional professional development funds or to pay for a conference that they’re planning on attending to broaden their skills or improve their skills, maybe that’s not something we have written in the company policy for what is approved to give. And that might require extra approvals. And it might be a yes. And it could be really quick.

So typically, once you’ve asked for some increase in any of those manners, I would say less than 24 hours is typically what it goes to, because we want to make sure from a company standpoint, we’re moving quickly and filling the role. And if you’re not going to accept the role, then we need to move on to the next candidate and see that the next candidate might be interested if there’s somebody in the background waiting, the silver medalist, right?

Mac Prichard:

Is that common that there’s always a second or even a third candidate waiting in the wings?

Marcia Torres:

Sometimes it depends. It’s not always 100% true that there is somebody else. Sometimes we have to reopen the search and look for somebody else. And there are other times where we might have somebody that maybe it was a very close tie between one person and the other. And the team decided to go with one direction, but is open to going in the other direction as well.

And that’s fine. That’s definitely sometimes the case, but there are as many cases where sometimes we don’t have anybody, especially if it’s a very specific or technical skill.

Mac Prichard:

Are there mistakes or one mistake you’ve seen candidates make in negotiating a job offer when you were in your recruiter role that you encourage people to avoid?

Marcia Torres:

It’s always a tone in the approach. So when I say that, it’s when a candidate comes in and comes in with a tone of a deserving tone of, and I’m not saying to say that you’re not worth it, but just come in and approach it with providing the facts.

I would say I’m trying to think of the right word. I don’t know if cocky is the right word or what the right word is, but sometimes when we have those types of approaches, it doesn’t always pan out as well, right? And you have to remember the recruiter is the person that is representing not only the organization, but they’re also representing you as the candidate.

And so whatever you’re telling them and however you’re treating that recruiter is really how they’re going to be able to talk and say, you know, this person really came to me with the solid package of reasons why they should receive an increase. And I really think that, you know, we should give that first. If I come aggressively to somebody and say, “I deserve X amount, and this is why,” you’re not going to get the same response. Right.

So remember that your recruiter is there not just for the company’s sake, but for your sake as a candidate. So, developing that rapport and that relationship with the recruiter is pretty important.

Mac Prichard:

Terrific. It’s been a great conversation. Marcia, now tell us what’s next for you.

Marcia Torres:

What’s next for me? It’s continuing to build Imagen Talent Solutions and really focusing on working with startups and nonprofits, small businesses, and even some larger organizations on talent process and operations. And so having a lot of fun with testing out new things, working on new things, and supporting a lot of different organizations here in Portland and throughout the U.S.

Mac Prichard:

Terrific. Well, I know that our audience can learn more about you and your work by visiting your website, imagentalentsolutions.com. We’ll be sure to include that in the show notes as well. And that you also invite audience members to connect with you on LinkedIn.

When you do reach out to Marcia, please tell her you saw her on Find Your Dream Job.

Now, Marcia, given all the great advice you’ve shared today, what’s the one thing you want our audience to remember about negotiating your next job offer?

Marcia Torres:

Don’t forget who you are in terms of the value you bring to the organization. And then don’t forget about the importance of that relationship between you and the recruiter. It is truly an important relationship as you begin your job search with an organization is building that rapport because they will truly support you throughout your interview process.

Mac Prichard:

Next week, our guest will be Swati Parikh.

She’s the founder of Greater Good Careers. It’s a career and leadership coaching business for mission-driven professionals and lawyers.

It’s never been easier to apply online for jobs.

In fact, it’s so easy that many candidates do nothing but use job boards like the one we run at Mac’s List.

That’s a mistake, says Swati.

Join us next Wednesday when Swati Parikh and I discuss why you need to talk to others to get the job you want.

Until next time, thanks for letting us help you find your dream job.

This show is produced by Mac’s List.

Susan Thornton-Hough schedules our guests and writes our newsletter. Lisa Kislingbury Anderson manages our social media and creates our transcripts.

Our sound engineer and editor is Anna McClain. And our music is by Freddy Trujillo.

This is Mac Prichard. See you next week.

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