What's a fair offer
Anchor to the market band for the role in your city, not a hike on your current number. Indian offers are framed as a 25-30% bump on last-drawn CTC, but the approved band for the role usually runs far higher. And negotiate the FIXED component, not the CTC headline - variable at target and employer PF pad a number that never lands in your account monthly.
Techniques you'll practice
- 1 Flip It Turn the question around - move the frame off your payslip and onto the role.
- 2 Anchor Name a specific, researched market band so the negotiation has a reference point that isn't your history.
- 3 Tag It Label the constraint the other side is hiding so it can be addressed out loud.
- 4 Plan B Bring a real alternative into the room - and be ready to show it when they ask.
These are NegotiateIt's eight techniques - Echo, Flip It, Silence, Anchor, Tag It, Get Ahead, Plan B, Narrow Down - built on research-backed methods: tactical mirroring, labeling, anchoring, and knowing your walk-away point. You drill them against an AI that reacts to what you actually say, so the move sticks under pressure.
What works - and what trips people up
Phrases that work
- "My current compensation isn't the right basis for this - let's price the role on its scope and the market."
- "For this role in Bengaluru, the market band runs ₹28-34 lakh. Where does your approved band sit?"
- "Walk me through the structure - how much of that CTC is fixed, and how much is variable at target?"
- "If we can get the fixed component right, I'm ready to close this week."
Common mistakes
- Answering "what's your current CTC?" in the first minute - once your number is live, every offer becomes a hike on your history.
- Negotiating the CTC headline instead of the fixed component - variable pay and employer PF inflate a figure you can't spend.
- Quoting a hike percentage ("I'm expecting 40%") instead of a market figure - you're still pricing yourself off your old salary.
- Naming a competing offer you can't show - a good TA partner asks for the letter, and a bluff costs you trust on the spot.
- Saying yes before the structure is concrete - "we'll close at 22.5" is not fixed, variable, and joining bonus in writing.
The setup
The moment you hand over your current CTC, the offer stops being about the role - and becomes a percentage of your past.
Read the full setup
Eighth floor, glass meeting room, monsoon tapping the window behind him. Arjun Nair, Talent Acquisition Partner, is genuinely pleased to see you - the panel loved you, the role is yours. Then, before the offer is even on the table properly, the question every Indian tech candidate knows by heart: "What's your current CTC - fixed and variable? Ballpark's fine." He'll tell you where it's landing anyway: around ₹22,50,000, which he'll call a strong hike, comfortably inside what he can do.
Here is what he will not volunteer: the approved band for this role runs far higher than any percentage of your last payslip, the "30% max" he quotes is policy theater, and the requisition has been open long enough that his skip-level is asking questions. The moment you hand over your number, none of that matters - the conversation stops being about the role and becomes arithmetic on your past.
Arjun is warm, reasonable, and completely in control of the frame. He has run this conversation a thousand times, and the anchor question works on almost everyone. Your job is to be the exception - politely, professionally, without ever giving him the number.
It starts before the first interview: the recruiter form with "current CTC" and "expected CTC" as required fields, the HR screen where the question lands in the first two minutes. In the Indian market the offer is not priced on the role - it's pegged to your last-drawn CTC plus a hike percentage, which is precisely how people who started underpaid stay underpaid through three job changes.
The asymmetry is brutal: the TA partner runs this conversation every week; you run it once every two or three years. And the window matters - payslip and relieving-letter verification happen AFTER the offer is priced, so the conversation where you deflect the anchor and name the market band IS the negotiation. By the time documents are checked, the number is set.
The fix is reps. Practice deflecting the CTC question tonight, out loud, against someone who pushes back the way HR actually pushes back. It's free, and it takes ten minutes.
Common questions
How do I avoid sharing my current CTC with HR?
Deflect and replace - don't just refuse. Give HR a number they can work with that isn't your payslip: "My current comp isn't the right basis for this role - based on the market for this scope I'm expecting ₹X." A bare refusal stalls the process; a market-anchored expected figure answers the legitimate need (a number for the approval sheet) without pegging you to your past. If a form demands it, fill the expected-CTC field and leave current blank or write "will discuss."
What if the recruiter insists on knowing my current salary?
Hold the frame politely: name the trap ("if we anchor on my current number, we're pricing my old role, not this one"), then re-offer your market-based expectation. Most recruiters need A number, not YOUR number. And remember the sequence: payslip and relieving-letter verification happen after the offer is priced - so the conversation where you hold this line is the one that sets your salary.
What salary hike percentage should I ask for in India?
The percentage question is the trap wearing a different hat - any answer re-anchors you to your current CTC. Ask for the role's market band instead: "for this scope in this market, the band runs ₹X-Y." If you're forced into hike language, know that the "25-30% max" line is a policy default, not a ceiling - approved bands for in-demand scopes routinely sit far above it.
Should I negotiate CTC or fixed salary?
Fixed. CTC includes variable pay at target (which pays out partially in a normal year) and employer PF and gratuity (which you never see monthly). Two offers with the same CTC can differ by lakhs in take-home. Ask for the split - "how much of that is fixed, how much variable at target?" - then negotiate the fixed component and treat variable as upside, not income.
Related scenarios
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