An offer is a letter with a number, and the number is the easiest part to read. The parts that decide whether you are glad in a year are the ones the letter does not say: who you will work for, what the first six months are, whether the company will exist, and what the role leads to. Take a week. Read the letter line by line, value the parts that are not base, answer five questions honestly, and compare against the other rows in the tracker. Then accept or decline in writing, within the date you gave, with the same grace either way.
Key points
- Take up to a week. Say the date you will answer by, and answer by it.
- Read every line. Base, bonus, equity, start date, probation, notice, non-compete, remote terms, conditions.
- Value a bonus at the amount actually paid last year, not the target. Value early-stage equity near zero.
- Five questions: the manager, the first six months, the company's runway, the next role, and your gut on the people.
- Decline well. The person who declined gracefully gets the call next year.
Reading the letter
| Line | What to check |
|---|---|
| Base salary | The number you negotiated, per year or per month, and the currency |
| Bonus | Target, criteria, when paid, and what was paid last year |
| Equity | Number of shares or options, strike price, vesting schedule, cliff, and the last valuation |
| Start date | Conditional on what: the background check, the reference check, a visa |
| Probation | Length, and what ends it |
| Notice period | Yours and theirs, which are often different |
| Non-compete or non-solicit | Scope and length. Unenforceable in some places, binding in others. |
| Remote or hybrid terms | Written, with the days, or verbal, which is not a term |
| Benefits | Pension or retirement match, health cover, holiday, the things with a cash value |
| Title and level | The one you were told, and the one the letter says |
Anything that was agreed on a call and is not in the letter is not agreed. Ask for it in writing before you sign.
The letter is the deal. If it is not in the letter, it is not in the deal.
Valuing the parts that are not base
A bonus at "target 15 percent" is worth what the company paid last year, which the recruiter can tell you, and which is sometimes zero. Ask.
Equity at a public company is worth the share price times the shares, over the vesting period, minus tax. At a late-stage private company it is worth something, discounted for the time to a liquidity event. At an early-stage startup it is worth near zero for the purpose of the decision, and anything it becomes is a bonus. The guide on startup jobs has the arithmetic for runway and equity, and the funded page on this site has the company's last round.
A pension match of five percent is five percent of base, every year. Health cover in a country without public cover is thousands a year. Add them to the base before comparing offers.
The five questions
- The manager. Did you meet them, and would you want to work for them on a bad day? The manager is the single largest predictor of whether you stay.
- The first six months. Can you say, in one sentence, what you will be doing and what done looks like? If the hiring manager could not say it, it is not known.
- The company's runway. For a startup, months of cash from the last round, which the guide on startups shows how to estimate. For a larger company, the layoffs page on this site and the last two quarters. A role at a company that cuts in six months is a six-month role.
- The next role. What does this role lead to, inside or outside the company? A title that does not exist elsewhere is a title that is hard to leave with.
- The people. The interviewers, the team you met, the one you would sit next to. Your read in the room was data. Trust it.
The week
Say the date you will answer by, and use the days. Call the manager with one question you did not ask. Ask the recruiter for the number from the bonus question and the equity details. Look at the other rows in the tracker: an interview next week at a role you prefer is a reason to ask this one for a few more days, honestly, and most will give them. The guide on how long until you hear back has what to send to the other company to find out where you stand.
Do not use the week to run a new negotiation. The guide on salary negotiation has why one conversation is the rule.
Accepting
An email the day you decide, before the date you gave: thank, accept, confirm the key terms in one line, the start date, and the next step. Then sign the letter. Then, and only then, resign from the job you have, which the guide on how to quit covers. Then close the other rows in the tracker with a two-line withdrawal to each, because the people on those rows are the network for the next search.
Declining
Two sentences, the same day you decide, to the recruiter and the hiring manager: thank you, I have decided to go another way, and one honest line why if there is one that helps them. No negotiation in a decline. The person who declined gracefully gets the call when the role reopens or the manager moves.
Track, on this site
Track holds every row at its stage, so the decision is made against the pipeline and not against the fear of an empty one. The offer row keeps the letter's terms and the date you gave. The market pages give the three numbers that say whether the base is fair: the wages page, the posted ranges on the board, and the employer's declared wages on the H-1B page.
Questions
Can I ask for more time?
A week is normal. Beyond that, ask once, honestly, with a reason: "I have a final interview on Thursday and would like to decide with the full picture." Most say yes.
Do I take the first offer I get?
If it passes the five questions and the number is fair against the market, yes. The search is for a good job, not for the best possible job. If it fails two of the five, keep looking, and the tracker says how many rows are still in motion.
What if the letter differs from what was said?
Ask for the letter to match, in writing, before signing. A discrepancy that is a mistake gets fixed in a day. One that is not a mistake tells you something.
Can I accept and keep interviewing?
You can, and it burns the company that hired you and the people who interviewed you if you leave in a month. Decide before you sign.
What about a counteroffer from my current employer?
The reasons you looked are still there. Most people who take a counteroffer leave within a year anyway. The guide on how long to stay has the pattern.