Breakdown that helped me sanity-check: base in the 40s, the rest was RSUs (4-year vest) plus a joining bonus. Public data (levels.fyi) had L4 India in the low-70s median and that matched. If a recruiter quotes you only base, ask for the full TC breakdown before you react.
Marooned_Manta_777· 27d ago
The base-vs-RSU gap trips up so many first offers. Always ask for TC, not base.
Watch the vesting cliff. Amazon RSUs vest 5/15/40/40 over four years, so the early years lean on sign-on bonuses to fill the gap. The headline TC is real but years 3-4 are where the stock actually shows up. Median SDE-2 India is around the high-50s to low-60s on public data.
Rejected_Raccoon_402· 32d ago
The 5/15/40/40 cliff is the part recruiters gloss over. Model your actual cash per year.
Steadier stock, less rollercoaster than the FAANG peers, annual refreshers matter more here than the joining grant. If work-life balance is your priority the tradeoff can be worth a slightly lower headline number.
Recruiter opened with "what is your current fixed?". I said "I am targeting roles in the X to Y band based on market for this level, happy to work within your range". Reframes it from my history to the role. Anchored higher than my old number would have.
Quiet_Quahog_512· 28d ago
This is the move. Never anchor on your old salary, anchor on the role.
Five of us job-hunting kept an anonymous sheet: company, level, base, stock, bonus, location. It killed every lowball instantly because we all knew the real ranges. Pay transparency between peers is the actual power move.
Salty_Seahorse_910· 74d ago
This is basically what SinkedIn should become. Numbers in the open.
One product company, one bank, both "SDE-2 equivalent" in Bangalore. The spread was enormous. There is no "market rate", there is what you can anchor and what they can pay. Talk to peers, the only cheat code is sharing numbers with each other.
Overqualified_Otter_290· 45d ago
Ranges are fiction and salary secrecy only helps the employer. Post your numbers, folks.
"I am really excited, is there any flexibility on the base to get this across the line?" Silence. Do not fill it. They came back the next day with the bump. The first "best we can do" is almost never the actual best they can do.
Weary_Walrus_006· 51d ago
The silence after the ask is the hardest part. Whoever talks first loses.
Talked, hinted, "explained my worth" for weeks, nothing moved. One real competing written offer and the counter appeared in 48 hours. If you want a bump, the market has to be in the room with you. Everything else is a nice conversation.
No RSU roulette, no "it is worth X if the stock does Y". A clear fixed number you can plan your life around. For some people that certainty beats a bigger-but-volatile FAANG package. Depends what you value.
Strike price? Current 409A/fair value? Total shares outstanding, so I know my actual percent? Vesting and cliff? Liquidity, is there any buyback or is this paper until an exit? If they cannot answer these, value the ESOPs at zero and negotiate on cash.
Foggy_Flounder_620· 61d ago
Value ESOPs at zero until proven otherwise. Saved this list, thank you.
Google
