Offer from Microsoft - Customer Engineer, Security

Yesterday 24 Comments

Hi all,

I’m looking to get some more context on an offer I got from Microsoft. The initial offer is for a Level 61 position as a ‘Customer Engineer, Security’ (formally known as Premier Field Engineer)
Offer is:
$125k base
$5k sign on bonus
$30k sign on stock over 4 years ($7.5 per year)
TC: $137.5k excluding yearly bonus and annual stock as I will be joining after the cutoff.

My background:
3-4 years experience (1 year paid internship and 2.5 work)
Certs: CCNA, SEC+, AZ-900, AZ-500
Living in medium CoL area

My initial thought was that this was WAAYYY lower than the market value. Doing research on levels, blind, Reddit, etc., I saw 3-4 years experience should be a L62 position with salary being $150k and TC of $225k. Being a L61 I was expecting $140k base with TC being around $180k-$200k. I tried to counter offer for a L62 with higher TC or atleast a higher TC for L61 and was turned down on both. The recruiter stated this was their best 1st offer and there isn’t room for negotiation.

There are several other reasonings behind me expecting a higher TC:
1.) Azure accounts for 1/3 of Microsoft’s total revenue per their investor report and cloud security is at an all time high in demand right now.
2.) Position is Azure security focused compared to other customer engineers being in Teams, 365, or server.
3.) Job description stated average salary (not TC) is between $103k-$216k in high CoL area.
4.) Inflation increased 8% in the past year.
5.) Hiring manager stated they are in desperate need of this position (more than one job posted)

Recruiter stated this is the final offer. While this is a small pay bump for me, I don’t want to be underpaid compared to everyone around me and the market value. Am I being extremely lowballed or am I being ungrateful and asking too much? Should I risk losing the offer to get a higher TC or accept due to benefits and increase in salary?

Anything helps, thanks all (:

#Microsoft #Azure #Security #Offer

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TOP 24 Comments
  • If it’s a non software engineer position the salary is on par, you can always jump to SDE position.
    Your job is in demand but there are thousands of who can get certifications . It’s a low barrier for entry.
    Good luck
    Yesterday 4
  • 1. Yes, TC seems too low for L61.
    2. Internship experience doesn't count towards YOE.
    Yesterday 3
    • Personally, I am a Software Engineer so I am not really familiar with average compensation for a Security Engineer. But if it is anything like Software Engineering salaries you can expect around 200k TC at least.
      Yesterday
    • I believe SWE’s are compensated higher than this role. However I wasn’t expecting this much of a gap. I greatly appreciate your input. Thank you
      Yesterday
  • I got an offer for a similar role a few months back and the numbers are the same as you have provided. Unless you break into an engineering job like a cloud network engineer or cloud security engineer, TC won't go above $200k IMHO.
    Yesterday 3
  • Accenture / Other
    KryptoNyte

    Go to company page Accenture Other

    PRE
    NortonLifeLock
    KryptoNyte
    Being what the role is, comp numbers seem in-line. If you want to jump TC numbers, you have to get more dedicated engineering roles like Cloud Security Engineer, Security Engineering, or etc. I think customer engineer doesn’t fall into the same realm as a security engineer.

    The way to look at this is, you can always move within Microsoft once you’re in the org. Also, having the Microsoft name on your resume - you can always hop to another tech org.

    Unless this TC is lower than your current one, I would take it. I wouldn’t reject it just because you think they should be offering you more for this role.
    Yesterday 2
    • Thank you for your opinion. I believe I may take the offer and try to move up to Cloud Security Architect in a few years. I agree that my resume will be more appealing after a few years of Microsoft under my belt. My initial concerns were that the offer is under market value or under what my peers are paid. Thank you for the clarity. I will update the page with my final decisions.
      Yesterday
    • Accenture / Other
      KryptoNyte

      Go to company page Accenture Other

      PRE
      NortonLifeLock
      KryptoNyte
      Yea, no worries man. Best of luck to you. Seize the opportunity and then hop to a more specialized role once you got the Microsoft name for a bigger bag.
      Yesterday
  • Microsoft doesn’t budge much in salary negotiations. I experienced it too.
    Yesterday 1