Programming Interviews Exposed: Secrets to Landing Your Next Job, 3rd Edition

Offers and Negotiation

When you get an offer, you’ve made it through the hardest part: You now have a job, if you want it. However, the game isn’t over yet. You’re looking for a job because you need to make money; how you play the end game largely determines how much you get.

When your recruiter or hiring manager makes you an offer, she may also tell you how much the company plans to pay you. Perhaps a more common practice, though, is for the recruiter or hiring manager to tell you that the company would like to hire you and ask you how much you want to make. Answering this question is covered in detail in Chapter 17.

After you’ve been given a specific offer that includes details about salary, signing bonus, and stock options, you need to decide whether you’re satisfied with it. This shouldn’t be a snap decision — never accept an offer on the spot. Always spend at least a day thinking about important decisions such as this; it’s surprising how much can change in a day.

Dealing with Recruiter Pressures

Recruiters often employ a variety of high-pressure tactics to get you to accept offers quickly. They may tell you that you must accept the offer within a few days if you want the job, or they may offer you an exploding signing bonus: a signing bonus that decreases by a fixed amount each day. Don’t let this bullying rush your decision. If the company wants you (and it probably does if it made you an offer), these limits and terms are negotiable, even when a recruiter claims they aren’t. ...