How to Negotiate a Job Offer as a Software Engineer

How to Negotiate a Job Offer as a Software Engineer / Developer? “I don’t care about it, I am happy with what I got!”. Okay. Maybe. Then you should never worry about hikes, performance bonuses & sometimes even promotions. If you do, then you need to negotiate well. If you are able to get the right job offer, that will be equivalent to few hikes and full bonuses.

I was paid X 3 years ago, then 10 months later I had an offer with 60% hike, used that to get a 100% in another company. So 10 months later I was at 2X.

When I moved out of my second company after 2 years of employment, I had another job offer with 5.2X which was countered by my current pay – 6X.

So, how should you approach? Let’s see:

First things first, you have to crack the interview. You won’t be able to ride multiple offers without cracking interviews.

Suppose you had good technical rounds and finally you are having your final round with Hiring Manager / Director / Architect. This is where it starts. No matter what anyone says, you hiring manager kind of decides salary. It depends on how much he/she wants you be in their team. They will convey their desire to the HR.

So, you want to have a very good final round. These are not very technical in nature, so just try to find out what he/she likes in a candidate. Show your willingness to learn those, or show some past experience with that.

Till now it is the easy part as far as salary negotiations are concerned. HRs are tough human beings so you have to tough as well. You are trying to negotiate a job offer with someone who does that every hour.

• Do your homework. I will recommend levels.fyi, leetcode discussions & team blind to see the exact salary for the level you are being offered. You can post your question on blind and folks with similar experience will reply. Sometimes from the same company. Ask for similar numbers with maybe 10% – 20 % more.
• Remember that the salary that you should get in a company should not depend on your previous pay. If you have low current pay, just deny revealing your salary to HR. If it is high then it might work in your favour. If you had a good interview then the ball is in your court, they will send you an offer no matter what.
• If they send you an offer but ask you to join early, ask for a joining bonus. It doesn’t make sense to avoid all other interviews without an extra reward.
• If they insist on certain fixed pay because of certain rules or caps, try to adjust the rest in the stock bonus or joining bonus.
• Okay. They sent me an offer less than what I asked, what should I do? Talk to HR and explain why you need that offer. It makes just no sense to you to accept the current offer. They will revise it for you if they are paying someone else. If they don’t revise, accept it. Keep looking for another opportunity, use this as a counter offer.
• Your chances of getting a good offer are high if you are close to the end of your notice period. Companies know that you will join immediately, less time for looking out.

What if your firm is not listed on levels.fyi, leetcode discussions & team blind? No problem. Just visit these and try to look for a similar company or similar years of experience, and then go with salaries of any of the top companies.

Your salary is not what you think you deserve or what others think you deserve. Your salary is what the best company can afford to pay at your level. If that is not enough then change the company. If two people talk about their salaries then one person is always disappointed. Don’t be that person.