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At <strong>the</strong> <strong>Interview</strong> | The Offer and Beyond<br />
Congrats! You got <strong>the</strong> offer!<br />
If you’re lucky enough to get an offer (and you will be!), congratulations! You may now be<br />
stressing over which offer to accept and all that fun stuff, so just remember that most likely,<br />
all of your options are great and you’ll be happy at any of <strong>the</strong>m<br />
As far as which offer to take, well, we could tell you that money isn’t that important and blah<br />
blah blah… but we’ll skip over that and let you make your own decision about <strong>the</strong> importance<br />
of money We have some o<strong>the</strong>r advice for you<br />
Negotiating<br />
It’s Always Negotiable! Ok, maybe not always, but usually an offer is negotiable even if a<br />
recruiter tells you o<strong>the</strong>rwise It helps if you have a competing offer But, don’t lie – Microsoft<br />
knows what Google offers, so it just won’t be realistic if you make up numbers Also, technology<br />
is a small world, and people talk Be honest<br />
What’s <strong>the</strong> money like, really?<br />
Think about <strong>the</strong> full offer package Many companies will have impressive salaries, but small<br />
annual bonuses O<strong>the</strong>r companies will have huge annual bonuses, but lower salaries Make<br />
sure you look at <strong>the</strong> full package (salary, signing bonus, health care benefits, raises, annual<br />
bonus, relocation, stock, promotions, etc) It’s very confusing, and it’s often not clear which<br />
company is offering more<br />
What about your career options?<br />
Even if money is all that matters, think about <strong>the</strong> long term career If you’re lucky enough to<br />
have several offers to pick from, consider how each one will impact your long term career<br />
The company with <strong>the</strong> lowest salary but where you’ll learn <strong>the</strong> most may just be <strong>the</strong> best<br />
move, even financially<br />
I can’t give you some magical formula to compute which offer to accept, but here’s what I’d<br />
recommend thinking about (in no particular order):<br />
» Career Path: Make a plan for your career What do you want to do 5, 10 and 15 years<br />
out? What skills will you need to develop? Which company or position will help you<br />
get <strong>the</strong>re?<br />
» Promotion Opportunity: Do you prefer to move into management, or would you prefer<br />
to become an increasingly senior developer?<br />
» Money and Benefits: Of course, <strong>the</strong> money matters (but if you’re early in your career, it<br />
probably doesn’t matter much) As mentioned above, make sure you look at <strong>the</strong> full<br />
package<br />
3 7<br />
<strong>Cracking</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Coding</strong> <strong>Interview</strong>