Prepare a salary negotiation strategy.
A negotiation needs three numbers decided before the conversation: what you ask for, what you will settle at, and the floor below which you decline. Anchoring the ask on the market midpoint plus a modest premium keeps it defensible rather than arbitrary. The settlement estimate is the midpoint between your ask and the higher of the offer or your floor, which is where most good-faith negotiations actually land.
Anchored negotiation range
Ask = market midpoint x (1 + premium); negotiation room = ask - walk-away floor; likely settlement = (ask + max(offer, floor)) / 2
Negotiation guidance only. Salary bands, pay transparency rules and the acceptability of negotiation vary by employer, sector and jurisdiction.
Five to fifteen percent is defensible when you can point to specific relevant experience. Beyond about twenty percent above midpoint the ask needs exceptional justification or it undermines credibility.
If you have good market data, yes — anchoring works, and the research on first offers is fairly consistent. Without reliable data, asking for the band and the midpoint first is safer than guessing.
Negotiate anyway, on the market gap rather than on need. An 8,000 gap to midpoint is worth raising even when the offer clears your floor, and the downside of asking politely once is close to zero.