Negotiating a Tech Offer: Benchmarks, Levers, and Scripts
Where to find credible compensation data, how to model total compensation across offers, and the negotiation moves that actually work.
Written by Ali HosseiniUpdated (published )
What you get
How it works
- 1. Establish the level, not just the title"Senior Engineer" spans a huge range across companies. Find the internal level the offer maps to; compensation is set by level.
- 2. Benchmark from multiple sourcesCross-check levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and any pay-range disclosures in postings for the same company and location.
- 3. Model total compensation over four yearsBase + bonus + annualised equity value + signing, per year, for each offer. Ravina's modeller does this arithmetic.
- 4. Counter with a number and a reason"Based on the range for this level in this market, I was expecting X": specific, non-hostile, and expected.
Where the credible numbers are
Compensation data varies enormously by company, level, and location, so a single "market rate for a software engineer" is meaningless. The most useful public sources for tech roles are levels.fyi (self-reported, but level-mapped and large for big tech), Glassdoor and Indeed (broader coverage, noisier), and, increasingly, the pay ranges companies are required to publish in postings in jurisdictions with pay-transparency laws (several US states, and EU countries implementing the Pay Transparency Directive). For non-US markets, national salary surveys from recruiting firms and government statistics agencies give a floor.
Whatever source you use, note the level. A staff engineer at one company and a senior engineer at another can be doing the same job with a two-times difference in pay. Match on level and location before comparing numbers.
Modelling total compensation
Offers are hard to compare because they split money differently. One offer might have a higher base and no equity; another a lower base, a large equity grant vesting over four years, and a signing bonus. The only fair comparison is annual total compensation over the vesting period: base, plus expected bonus at target, plus the equity grant divided over its vesting years at a defensible valuation, plus any signing bonus spread over the year it is paid.
Be conservative with equity. For public companies, use the current share price and assume no growth. For private companies, use the most recent priced round and apply a discount for illiquidity (you cannot sell it). Ravina's offer modeller takes each component and produces a per-year line for every offer, so you can see the shape of the money as well as the total.
| Component | Ask about | Typical flexibility |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | The band for the level | Moderate: usually within a band |
| Annual bonus | Target %, payout history | Low: set by policy |
| Equity grant | Number of units, vesting schedule, cliff, refreshes | Often the most flexible |
| Signing bonus | Amount, clawback period | High: easiest to move |
| Level | What level, and what the next level requires | Sometimes: a level bump moves everything |
| Start date, PTO, relocation | Specifics | Varies |
The negotiation itself
Companies expect a counter and almost never withdraw an offer for a polite one. The effective pattern is: express enthusiasm for the role, state that the compensation is below what you were expecting for the level and market, give a specific number, and give a reason (a benchmark, a competing offer, or a specific skill the role needs). Then stop talking. Vague asks like "is there any flexibility?" get vague answers.
If you have a competing offer, you can share it, but do not fabricate one. Recruiters talk, and an invented offer discovered later is a withdrawn offer. If you do not have one, benchmark data is a perfectly good reason. Negotiate one component at a time in order of what matters to you, and get the final agreement in writing before resigning from anything.
- Counter in writing or on a call, with a specific number and a reason.
- Ask for the level band; if you are at the top of the band, ask about the next level instead.
- Signing bonus is the easiest lever when base is capped.
- Never invent a competing offer.
- Get the final offer letter before giving notice.
Frequently asked questions
Can negotiating get my offer rescinded?
It is very rare for a polite, specific counter. Offers are rescinded for hostility, moving targets, or discovered dishonesty, not for asking.
How much should I counter by?
Anchor to the benchmark data for the level, not to a percentage of the offer. If the data says the band's midpoint is 15% above the offer, ask for that and cite the source.
Does Ravina provide salary data?
No. Ravina models and compares the offers you enter; the benchmarks should come from public sources like levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and pay-transparency postings. The role blueprint pages on this site give indicative ranges only and say so.