Single Suitor

You can end up in a situation where you are unable to land multiple offers or even if you do have multiple offers, the companies do not compete with each other. For instance, if you had an offer from Box and Google, then you may have an upper hand in negotiating with Box but not with Google because Box is not in the same pedigree as Google. However, the attractiveness of a company as a workplace also changes over time. IBM used to be a coveted destination for fresh grads but not anymore. Similarly, after Satya Nadella took over the reins of Microsoft, the company again became popular among top-notch software talent.

Let’s consider the case of Vikas, a friend who was interviewing at a bunch of companies and found himself negotiating with Salesforce without multiple offers. Since he did not have offers from any other big tech, he did not have the luxury to pit one against the other. But he had thoroughly researched the market and was targeting the Principal/Staff/E6 leveling. To his credit, his interviews had gone really, really well. When he and the recruiter got on the phone, Vikas set a number he expected to be compensated at. He did not divulge whether he had any other offers, whether he was still interviewing or what he was currently making rather simply what his expectations were. At the time, Vikas asked for $425K in total compensation, which was the higher end of compensation across FANGs. A little back and forth, and the recruiter was able to get an offer for the said amount.