TLDR: Both recruiter and director lied about compensation by calculating the "actual offer" based on some projected year over year stock growth. Blind tax: TC 310K after drop, senior IC level Just wanna vent/rant about a recent experience. I was approached by a recruiter from a mid-size non-faang ad-tech public company a couple weeks ago (hope that was specific enough). I told him up front that I was looking for $xx-xx to move. He told me that compensation is no problem as they were "very competitive even among FAANG". I asked him several times to confirm this over our initial phone screen and was assured each time. Fast forward to the offer stage. I was told that the feedback were "overwhelmingly positive" and that everyone loved chatting with me and the director would like to extend the offer himself (which was very strange as I had only received offers from recruiters before). He showered me with positive feedback and said my resume and interviews were very impressive. Then he dropped the ax with an offer that was 65% of what I was asking for. Oh and get this, there was also a "first-year cliff" where I wouldn't get any vested shares until the second year and would essentially be paid with base salary only (no sign-on bonus). And to top it off, he showed me a spreadsheet where he calculated my "actual compensation" based on a fucking PROJECTED yy% year over year growth of the stock because "the company is expanding rapidly, which separates us from other FAANG companies". Yup, take a moment and let that sink in. I looked up their stock and there's no upward trend since early 2021. As pissed off and annoyed as I was, I calmly told him that I would only consider CURRENT stock price and offer valuation as a sane person would. Also told him I had two other offers that were a lot higher than this. He brushed them off and said something like "yeah but these offers are from FAANG companies whose stocks have stagnated if not decreased so really our offer is better". Took everything I had not to lash out and tell this guy to shove that offer up his fucking ass. Told him I appreciated the offer and we ended the call. The recruiter scheduled another call with the director 2 days later to go over the offer again. Director dude gave the same passionate speech about stock growth bullshit and a revised 4% increase from the first offer and said this was "our final offer". At this point I straight up told him "if you believe in your projected values, why don't you just pay me exactly that in base salary and keep all your shares?". Dude said that's not how this works lol and I declined the offer. The recruiter later called and said he'll contact me if the offer improves but at this point I no longer gave a shit. That is it. Just wanted to share an experience. EDIT: company is "The Trade Desk". Hope you folks don't have to suffer through it. To be fair, I'm only criticizing the assumed growth compensation model bullshit, nothing to do with the company's product or its employees.
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It happened to me before. They wasted your time, but not much you can do. Just walk away.
What trash company is this? Affirm did this at some point.
Yeah, a lot of companies started doing the “assumed growth” as part of their TC calculations for offers. Wayfair was kind of notorious for this, not sure if they’ve stopped given the current downward spiral. 😜 It’s bullshit. RSU value for comp is current value and everyone should call BS on companies that model projected growth into offers.
Yeah I called their bullshit on the first call (with the fking director himself). If it was just a recruiter pulling this crap, i wouldn't be as mad And the director dude had the audacity to shit on FAANG stocks lol
I thought AMZN does the same thing with expected 15% yoy growth when they give an offer ??
I don’t know who works as a director in these companies. It seems like their job is tied to selling a pyramid scheme. The company could be the trade desk.
lol you nailed it. How did you know ? Did you have a similar experience?
Similar experience before the interview. I saw the trend and bailed out earlier.
Sorry about your experience. A note: I don’t think you should be so invested in the money that you feel like “lashing out” at the person providing an offer. Yeah, it’s suboptimal and you may feel like you wasted time, but that’s life. Wishing better offers for you in the future.
Wayfair straight up gave me an offer where they valued their stock at $300 when it was at that moment trending at ~$200. First I thought it was a mistake. Then realized these assholes are serious about it. Told them to f off, politely ofcourse
As you should have. honestly i don't know if they are required by HR/compensation team to pull this bullshit or whether they actually believe this crap.
I'd just mention that when you gave your TC range or whatever TC you were expecting you were using present values. If they want to use projected values then you would adjust your ask as well. In this case. 150% of the original ask.
So what was your target TC?
Why do employers think a bait and switch would do anything but chase the best candidates away. Good companies should start by building trust, not breaking it. SMH at people who fall for this and f**k hiring teams who use this tactic. I work for pay, it’s not a philanthropic endeavor and I may love the job but compensate me in regular increases or f right off.
It's some bullshit car salesman tactic that occasionally works and some asshole dinosaurs keep pushing.
Yes. Joining a company is a relationship, not a transaction. Companies who do this are doing it wrong. The interviewing process is like the first date(s) in any relationship. Don’t take me to dinner and forget your wallet or lie about having family money so that’s why you work at a Wendy’s when your profile says “wealth manager”.
Ouch
Yea, companies like those are always looking for suckers who will drink the cool-aid! Sad that some ppl actually fall for it.
Another company is Argo AI with their projected increase bullshit. Avoid.
Had Noom try to pull this with me. Hard pass.