ServiceNow Salary Negotiation - How to Negotiate a ServiceNow Job Offer
If you’ve recently decided to take a step forward in your career journey by pursuing a job at ServiceNow, then this guide is for you. Working at one of the fastest-growing enterprise software companies is a huge accomplishment, so if you’ve been fortunate enough to land a ServiceNow job offer then we can help you make sure it’s competitive before accepting.
Our goal in this article is to make sure you don’t accept the first offer that comes your way and instead maximize your compensation through a successful ServiceNow salary negotiation.
ServiceNow job offer negotiations are both incredibly common and if approached correctly very effective. Even if this is your first salary negotiation, there’s no need to worry. We are going to share the insights and strategies that have helped hundreds of career professionals just like you secure significantly improved compensation packages. We will walk you through exactly how to prepare for and execute a ServiceNow salary negotiation so that you can ultimately receive a better ServiceNow offer letter.
Want to Negotiate Your Offer? Get offer-specific guidance from a Salary Negotiation Coach. We help career professionals negotiate competitive job offers.
Or leverage our Salary Negotiation Courses and Templates.
Understanding ServiceNow Compensation Components
A successful salary negotiation will be impossible if you don’t have a clear understanding of what’s included in your ServiceNow compensation package. This means looking beyond just your base salary and evaluating all elements that contribute to your total compensation at ServiceNow.
For example, most job offers in the tech space include a wide range of compensation components, including annual target bonuses, equity packages, and sign-on bonuses. When it comes to ServiceNow offer letters in particular, the total compensation that you receive will be split across the following compensation components:
SERVICENOW BASE SALARY
SERVICENOW BONUS
SERVICENOW EQUITY GRANT
SERVICENOW SIGN-ON BONUS
SERVICENOW EQUITY REFRESH
The average total compensation for a ServiceNow software engineer salary might look like the following:
So why is evaluating the different elements of your ServiceNow compensation package so important? When you have a thorough understanding of each compensation components, you can calculate your total annual take home pay accurately before negotiating. That way you increase all components during the salary negotiation with ServiceNow.
Keep reading and we will break down the most common elements of the ServiceNow compensation and benefits package in detail.
SERVICENOW BASE SALARY
Let’s start with the compensation component you’re probably most familiar with – base salary. The ServiceNow base salary is the guaranteed fixed pay you receive in exchange for the work you do and it will stay the same unless you receive merit increases or a promotion.
Like most large tech companies, ServiceNow has fixed base salary ranges for each of their specific roles and the base salary that you’re offered can fall anywhere between these designated ranges. For example, the base salary ranges for a ServiceNow senior software engineer salary will look different from the ranges for a ServiceNow staff software engineer salary. The same is true even for ServiceNow job offers at the same level. For example, the pay ranges for a ServiceNow senior product designer salary will differ from the ranges for a ServiceNow senior product manager salary.
ServiceNow usually will provide their initial offers at the lower to mid-end of the base salary range for your role, so it’s important to negotiate for higher ServiceNow base pay.
SERVICENOW BONUS
Your ServiceNow job offer should also include an annual bonus. Similar to the performance bonuses in a Meta offer letter or Google offer letter, this ServiceNow bonus will be dependent on both personal and company performance and is calculated according to a percentage of your ServiceNow base salary.
The ServiceNow bonus can range between 10-25% depending on ServiceNow salary levels, role types, and departments (i.e., the bonus for a ServiceNow engineering manager salary could be higher than that for a ServiceNow data scientist salary). Receiving a ServiceNow bonus in your compensation package is a major win given job offers at other large tech companies, like a Netflix offer letter or Nvidia offer letter, do not include this type of bonus.
While the ServiceNow bonus percentages are non-negotiable, remember that the bonus itself is calculated based on your base salary. So the higher you negotiate the ServiceNow base salary, the higher your ServiceNow bonus will be.
SERVICENOW EQUITY PACKAGE
Many career professionals seek out tech companies because of the opportunity for employee equity and ServiceNow is no different.
Your ServiceNow offer letter should include an initial ServiceNow employee equity grant that comes in the form of restricted stock units (ServiceNow RSUs), not ServiceNow employee stock options. These ServiceNow RSUs represent actual stock (i.e., you will receive shares of NOW stock) that you will own when the ServiceNow employee stock vest according to the ServiceNow vesting schedule.
ServiceNow RSUs have a four-year ServiceNow vesting schedule which means your initial stock will vest in equal amounts (1/4 of initial grant) annually over those four years. Just don’t forget that the value of this equity will fluctuate based on the market value of ServiceNow. If the NOW stock is doing great, so will its employees; but the reverse is also true for your ServiceNow RSUs.
The great news is that this ServiceNow equity package is fully negotiable. However, you should always negotiate equity alongside the other compensation components and not by itself or you will not increase the total compensation. Recruiters will just move money from one bucket to the other and your total compensation at ServiceNow will not increase as a result.
SERVICENOW SIGN-ON BONUS
You should also be eligible for a ServiceNow signing bonus, but unlike the automatic two year sign-on bonuses you’d get in an Amazon offer letter, receiving one at ServiceNow usually requires strategic negotiation.
The ServiceNow sign-on bonus is a one-time hiring bonus you could receive to incentivize you to join ServiceNow and to make up for any lost bonuses or unvested equity at your former company. However, even if you are not walking away from money at your current company or you’re currently unemployed, we’ve still had success securing ServiceNow sign-on bonuses. So don’t count a ServiceNow sign-on bonus out regardless of your situation.
SERVICENOW STOCK REFRESHER
Most ServiceNow roles will receive a ServiceNow stock refresher (more ServiceNow RSUs) annually. With that being said, we don’t include this component in our total compensation calculation because recruiters are typically unwilling to share the expected yearly amount for a ServiceNow stock refresher. This makes it difficult to know how much you’ll receive until you actually reach each refresher.
However, we still encourage you to ask the recruiter about the refresher to build negotiation leverage.
SERVICENOW EMPLOYEE BENEFITS AND PERKS
Your ServiceNow offer letter will also include decent ServiceNow employee benefits and perks – such as leading health benefits, ServiceNow 401k match, family leave, generous PTO, learning stipends, and other cool perks that you’d expect from a tech company.
While the ServiceNow benefits and perks are typically non-negotiable, we do still recommend asking about them during the due diligence phase of the salary negotiation process. We will cover that more in the next section, but it is a key step in the process for building leverage with ServiceNow in the negotiation.
Steps for a ServiceNow Salary Negotiation
Look – there's a lot of bad salary negotiation advice out there. Our goal is to give you proven strategies that actually work and are backed by hundreds of real salary negotiations. Our salary negotiation steps are based on years of successful negotiations and are designed to help you navigate the comp negotiation process at ServiceNow – that way you maintain a positive relationship with the hiring team and don’t jeopardize the opportunity.
While these steps are key to a successful ServiceNow salary negotiation, working with a ServiceNow Salary Negotiation Coach or taking our Offer Negotiation Course will provide all of our strategies and tools to help you navigate the process correctly.
1) UNDERSTAND THE COMPONENTS OF SERVICENOW SALARY
If you’ve been following along so far you should already have the first step to a successful ServiceNow salary negotiation complete – understanding each of the components in a ServiceNow salary package.
The main goal here is to make sure you’re clear on your ServiceNow total compensation before trying to negotiate a ServiceNow job offer. If you need help with this step then we highly recommend using our Total Compensation Tool to help with your ServiceNow compensation calculation and research.
Total Compensation Research Comparison Tool
- Understand Total Compensation – Use our tool to break down and calculate the compensation in your job offer.
- Research & Compare Offers – Organize your compensation research and determine the right counteroffer amount.
2) COMPLETE DUE DILIGENCE ON SERVICENOW OFFER LETTER BY ASKING STRATEGIC QUESTIONS
Next, you will want to begin asking strategic questions to the recruiting team to ensure you have all of the ServiceNow offer and benefits information. This step is all about building leverage before you start the comp negotiation and it helps by:
Gaining the insights needed to develop an effective ServiceNow counteroffer
Highlights to the hiring team that you are researching the offer and not coming out of left field when you do ask for better compensation
If you skip this step, your ServiceNow counteroffer won’t be as effective and won’t be taken well. The goal here is to show the recruiting team that you're doing your research and carefully evaluating the ServiceNow career opportunity. This demonstrates that your request for better pay is well thought out and justified to the ServiceNow recruiting team instead of just sounding like “I just want more money”.
You can use our Strategic Questions to Build Negotiation Leverage if you don’t know the right questions to ask. We also highly recommend beginning this step within the first 24-48 hours of receiving your ServiceNow offer letter to ensure the hiring team knows you are working toward accepting the role.
Strategic Questions for Negotiation Leverage
- Build Negotiation Leverage – Ask the right questions to strengthen your negotiation before sending a counteroffer.
- Email & Phone Scripts – Get our list of questions to ask and what to say if the recruiter wants to chat through them.
3) RESEARCH WHAT SERVICENOW COMPENSATION SHOULD LOOK LIKE
It’s absolutely essential that you take the time to research ServiceNow compensation data so you can determine the strength of your initial ServiceNow salary and identify how much you should counter for.
As we explained earlier, ServiceNow compensation structures are generally dictated by predetermined salary ranges for each individual role – meaning your research must be specific to your exact level and position. You wouldn’t want to come to the table with data on a ServiceNow software engineer salary if your offer was actually for a senior software engineer salary at ServiceNow.
Sites like PayScale and Comparably can be great resources for this compensation research. However, keep in mind that the salary ranges on public sites like these are often self-reported by current or former employees, so they may not reflect the most up-to-date offers for ServiceNow new hires. This is especially true given the changes in compensation from year to year due to the equity component (i.e., if you see high comp data on ServiceNow Levels fyi it might be due to equity appreciation and not what they typically offer a new hire).
For the most accurate data, we recommend cross-referencing pay data across multiple platforms. We created our Total Compensation Research Comparison Tool to help you streamline your salary research and effectively analyze pay ranges for your role in this step.
Total Compensation Research Comparison Tool
- Understand Total Compensation – Use our tool to break down and calculate the compensation in your job offer.
- Research & Compare Offers – Organize your compensation research and determine the right counteroffer amount.
4) SEND A SERVICENOW COUNTEROFFER TO THE RECRUITER
Now that you have your compensation research in hand, you should be ready to develop a strategic ServiceNow counteroffer and send it to the recruiter.
The goal of this step is to take a data-based approach and not just reiterate what you would bring to the team – remember, the hiring team already knows the skills you bring to the table which is why you received a job offer from ServiceNow.
We highly recommend sending your ServiceNow counteroffer through email to reduce the risk of going off topic on a call. Email also gives the ServiceNow recruiter something accurate and tangible to share and review with the compensation team.
So what should you include in your counteroffer? Begin by respectfully communicating how the benefits in your initial offer differ from other companies and/or your current role offer. You should then reference the top end of the pay ranges you’ve gathered and that you should be paid in line with the top end of those ranges.
It’s key to have proper communication in your ServiceNow counter offer so you can use our Counteroffer Email Templates if needed to help you with your strategic ServiceNow counteroffer.
Counteroffer Templates
- Proven Counteroffer Templates – Built from hundreds of successful job offer negotiations.
- Negotiate with Confidence – Remove the guesswork with our professionally crafted counteroffers.
5) HANDLE RECRUITER PUSHBACK ON THE SERVICENOW COUNTEROFFER
Finally, once you’ve sent over your ServiceNow counteroffer you will want to prepare yourself for some inevitable pushback from the recruiter.
In most cases, the recruiting team will come back saying that they can’t make any increases or changes to the ServiceNow offer package. Don’t be worried if this happens as it’s a normal part of the process. Instead, simply respond professionally by stating you understand their constraints, but ask again if they could take your counter back to their comp team for one last look (like how we explain in our Recruiter Objection Handling Scripts). You should still ask even if they insist their team will just say no.
Objection Handling Scripts
- Overcome Recruiter Pushback – Proven scripts to handle pushback and keep your salary negotiation on track.
- Communicate Effectively – Use expert responses to get recruiters to advocate for you with the compensation team.
After taking your thoughts back to their team, they should return with an improved offer. If the updated compensation package aligns with your goals and the ServiceNow salary bands you researched, then you should be ready to send over our Offer Acceptance Email to document it and lock it in!
Acceptance Email & Rejection Email Templates
- Accept or Decline Professionally – Expert crafted job offer acceptance email and rejection email templates to share your decision.
- Professional & Genuine Tone – These templates help you communicate in a professional manner regardless of what you decide.
Negotiation Mistakes to Avoid During a ServiceNow Salary Negotiation
As we mentioned earlier, there's a lot of bad advice out there from career coaches and ex-recruiters who haven’t actually managed hundreds of salary negotiations with tech companies like ServiceNow. Our goal is to help you cut through that noise and navigate your ServiceNow salary negotiation the right way.
We’ve outlined the most common mistakes to avoid in a ServiceNow offer negotiation below. While these tips are valuable and will help you, we still recommend working with a Salary Negotiation Coach or taking our Job Offer Negotiation Course to ensure you steer clear of pitfalls in your negotiation.
Avoid Sharing ServiceNow Salary Expectations Before Getting a ServiceNow Job Offer
Look – the ServiceNow recruiting team knows how much they can pay for their roles and by telling them your salary expectations it is not going to guarantee a certain outcome. That’s a fact so don’t think you’re negotiating when sharing salary expectations.
For example, if you share a lower ServiceNow principal engineer salary expectation with the recruiter than what they could offer, they will then be motivated to offer you that lower compensation or down level you (yes, down-level – very common at tech companies). On the other hand, if you answer with a number higher than what they are able to realistically offer for a ServiceNow principal engineer salary, they could become disinterested and decide to go with a different candidate.
Sharing your salary expectations before you have a ServiceNow job offer in hand makes it more difficult to receive a competitive compensation package in almost all cases – whether you share these details verbally or on job applications.
However, you should prepare yourself for pressure from the recruiting team because they will ask this and there is a right and wrong way to respond. We provide our Salary Expectation Responses for you to use so you can overcome their tactics and hopefully secure a competitive initial offer.
Salary Expectations Scripts
- Salary Expectations Responses – Expert scripts to overcome the recruiter salary expectation discussions and pre offer calls.
- Avoid Lowballing Yourself – These call scripts and email templates will help ensure you get a competitive offer.
Be Realistic By Doing Research When Evaluating ServiceNow Careers
It’s easy to jeopardize a relationship with the hiring team by coming off as too aggressive, so make sure that you don’t push for unreasonable compensation at ServiceNow.
Even though ServiceNow does pay well, you don’t want to negotiate for something that’s unrealistic and they cannot offer for your specific role. That’s why it’s so important to take the time to understand each element of your ServiceNow compensation package and research the ServiceNow pay ranges for your specific role. With the right data and insights, you should be able to come up with an appropriate and effective ServiceNow counteroffer.
Don't Be Afraid of a ServiceNow Salary Negotiation
The worst mistake you could make? Not negotiating a ServiceNow offer letter at all.
Negotiating a ServiceNow offer after the interview process can feel incredibly intimidating, especially if you’ve never done it before. But in reality, there’s nothing to worry about. You’re not going to lose out on your ServiceNow offer letter because of an attempted ServiceNow salary negotiation. We’ve helped facilitate hundreds of successful tech salary negotiations and we’ve never seen a company take back a job offer because a candidate tried to negotiate by following our strategies.
Regardless of the role level – whether it’s a ServiceNow data scientist salary or a ServiceNow SWE salary – you should negotiate your ServiceNow job offer. Don’t ever let salary negotiation fears keep you from advocating for competitive compensation at ServiceNow.
ServiceNow Salary Negotiation Coaching & Tools
Increasing your ServiceNow compensation requires a deep understanding of the company’s compensation philosophy and the right salary negotiation strategy. Our expert Salary Negotiation Coaching or Courses and Templates will help you navigate the ServiceNow salary negotiation process and secure the top end of the pay band.