Practice salary negotiation out loud with AI

How a practice session works

1. 1Pick your situationJob offer, counter offer, raise, promotion or the “What are your salary expectations?” question.
2. 2Describe it in under a minuteYour job title, US state, years of experience, the offer or your current salary, and your target if you have one. No account needed yet.
3. 3See your numbersThe U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics pay range for your job (state data where available), a suggested target and the number to open with, and three talking points.
4. 4Create a free accountEmail, Google or Apple. Your setup is kept. You must be 18 or older.
5. 5Check your microphoneAllow the mic, run a quick level test — or type instead. Your audio is processed in real time and not stored.
6. 6Negotiate out loudThe counterpart opens the call. Hold the talk button (or the Space key) while you speak; press it to interrupt. A timer shows your remaining minutes. The free round lasts up to 3 minutes.
7. 7Get your debriefYour score, your mistakes with exact quotes and better phrasing, what went well — and with a pass, how high the employer could have gone, your script and your email.

The hidden budget

Before each call, PayCall generates a private brief for your counterpart: the highest number it can approve, what else it can offer (sign-on bonus, PTO, remote days, start date, an earlier review) and how many good arguments it needs before it moves. The ceiling is randomized within realistic limits, so every round is different. It concedes in shrinking steps and never goes above its limit — that is enforced on our server, not just in the prompt. After the call, the debrief reveals it: “The employer could have gone up to $X — you got $Y.”

Your counterparts

• Friendly HR

  Warm and collaborative, with a real but limited salary band.

  Moves when you: The candidate names a specific number, backs it with market data, and shows enthusiasm for the role.

• Tough manager

  Short answers, pushes back on every claim, wants proof of impact.

  Moves when you: The candidate quantifies results, stays calm and does not fill silences.

• Tight budget

  Genuinely limited base budget, open to other parts of the package.

  Moves when you: The candidate trades: sign-on bonus, extra PTO, remote days, earlier review, title, equity or learning budget instead of only pushing base.

• Lowballer

  Opens low, uses pressure and deadlines, tests whether you fold.

  Moves when you: The candidate holds the anchor, uses market data, asks for time and politely refuses exploding deadlines.

Three difficulty levels change how many objections you hear before a move, how big each concession is, and how much silence and time pressure you get. Easy and Realistic are free to try; Hard needs a pass.

What the debrief scores

Two AI evaluators from different providers score your call independently. Your score is the average; where they disagree by more than 20 points, we show the more conservative score. Every quote in your debrief is checked to be your exact words.

How we suggest your target

We start from the BLS OEWS May 2025 wage percentiles for your job — your state when we have it, otherwise national — and pick a range by experience. The suggested opening number (anchor) is the top of the range plus 5%, rounded to the nearest $1,000, and never above 1.1× the 90th percentile unless you have a reason such as a competing offer. It is guidance, not a guarantee.

More on our data and how we use AI