Salary Number Prep

Walk into the offer conversation with 3 numbers, not 1 — so you negotiate confidently instead of guessing.

Open tabs for Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn Salary alongside any role-specific community salary sheets you have saved. List your target salary, your reach goal, and your walk-away floor on a blank sheet or digital doc.

Gather 5+ data points for your target role/level/location. Note the 25th, 50th, 75th percentiles for base, bonus, and equity. Then write 3 numbers: Floor (the lowest you'd take without resentment, based on your real expenses), Target (market 60-70th percentile + your reasons), Ambitious (top 15% you'd accept happily). Write a 1-sentence rationale for the Target number tied to specific strengths or comp parts you're trading.

You can't negotiate a number you haven't said out loud first. Practice saying the Target number to a mirror.