Microsoft Offer Negotiation Help:
I am a senior completing my final semester in B.S. (est. Dec 2023) while working towards my M.S. (est. Dec 2024) I recently returned from my MSFT internship and I received my FTE offer today.
Base: 118k
Stock :100k
Bonus: 30k
I wanted to know what the best way to negotiate while achieving the maximum TC for this role. They started me out as 59 but idk if It's possible to get an offer for a 60-level position as a Technical Program Manager. Any advice?
Do you have industry experience to support that you can operate as L60?
What do you mean L59/L60?
Check Levels.fyi and see where your comp package falls so you have fair expectations.
Levels and Glassdoor are both very helpful. Thank you!
That is an insanely high offer for a level 59.
Is that so? Other FTE offers have been higher
If the interns provided you the salary information regarding their pay grade. You should reach back out to inquire about their skills, experience, and projects that took place during the internship. You will need some type of justification why you should start at that pat level granted that it’s not provided to you.
Also keep in mind Microsoft had a series of layoff within the last prior year. These are situations that can impact the offer in lieu of budget.
I would love to go in more details but I know some people are big on on going to brand companies such as Microsoft, google, Amazon.
Let’s say that you don’t get the higher pay grade. Accept the position, plan strategically how your skills will be beneficial at another company within a year or two. You should be wanting to job hop at the early start of your career to prevent stagnation. Example, a lot of ppl were locked into a specific career path when Covid hit and many struggled with finding what’s next, how can move into a different position.
I say all of this to say, if they don’t give it you accept it. Move to the next phase in your job search when you’re ready for something else with experience
That’s really good advice. I will keep that in mind thank you
What location is offer for?
Sorry! Remote out of the Maryland area. Similar to D.C
The best way to approach it is to be prepared. Do your research on salaries for similar positions at Microsoft. This will give you a good starting point for negotiations.
You should also be prepared to talk about your skills and experience. What makes you a valuable asset to Microsoft? Why should they pay you more than the other candidates?
If you fit 100% of the job description minimum qualifications go for level 60. Usually the level is the hiring managers call though so you may be stuck. In a year you could be promoted a level when you prove yourself!
Update: they aren’t able to bump me to L60 however they are working on new numbers at L59
When i mentioned justification. Explaining based on the projects that you completed during your internship. Helping coworkers to improve processes, automating task, etc
That is way too high ratio for salary to stock.. Should be like Base:168k Stock:50k Bonus:30k
Sadly msft has been known not to budge at all in salary