Microsoft offer
Posting for a friend A prior colleague of mine recently received an offer from MSFT. He is sde 3 at his current role and has 5 years of experience. At Msft, he has been offered a level 60. Isnt that a low offer? How can this be negotiated? Also, what should be the expectations for base, options and sign on bonus for lvl 60 at Msft?
Level 60 is SDE 1
That's an incredibly low offer. I started at 59 with zero experience and got to 60 after 6 months. Average is about a year. With 5 years' experience you should at least be somewhere in SDE II, but most of the guys I work with that have ~5 years are seniors. I don't know what negotiation options there are, but that's a shitty offer
what team/ group are you in?
I'm in C+E. Would rather not specify the team
Thanks guys. What should be the expectations for RSUs and joining bonus?
You can negotiate, but it's hard to negotiate a level-up. It's easier to negotiate a higher pay, but within the same level. Good luck.
No
Microsoft tends to discount external experience and hire external candidates relatively low - or they used to. Hired as L61 when I was a Principal at my previous job. I wanted a change so I took it but that was ridiculous in my opinion.
probably L60 was offered either based on the interview performance or position availability. I would accept the offer and work my way up. If he does well he can quickly move up.
5 years of relevant experience maps to 60 or 61. unless he excelled in the interview.
comp is standard. he can only negotiate joining bonus unless he has an offer from Google or Facebook
Not uncommon these days. I have seen people with more years be at lvl 60. Expectations are about 110k-115k base, with everything else negotiable.